Avatar: New Legends (IC)

[Trev]

Angelique Everett & Xiu Lim

---

Angelique wasted no time in going right into the fray of her attackers, jumping up above their extending grasps to land down on one of them with a knee right to the chest. As the attacked guard attempting to grab her, she flipped forward out of his reach and spun around, facing the other two who came at her swiftly. She jumped back and flung three cards at each, slicing them on their arms but not slowing them down as much as she needed. She ducked under a punch from both and delivered a front kick to the face of the other guard who was attempting to stand up. She faced the other two, who were recovering from their missed attack. "You guys are supposed to be professionals, right? This isn't very professional."

"Great, another mouthy one. How many of these have we had to deal with today?" One complained, holding his hand up. Angelique stepped back as the glove began humming before a massive shot of something blew her back down the street, causing her to tumble and roll until she slammed into the railing.

She groaned and pushed herself up, her side screaming in protest. "Jeez, I need one of those." She ran back once again, this time lighting her hands on fire as the two drew closer. She aerial-flipped over the next two punches and landed behind both them, continuing the momentum by flow-spinning around and punching one in the head before dipping down and roundhousing the last one, who blocked it somewhat. He reached for her once again, but she flipped out his way. "This is just sad. The people they hire for your job must be really underpaid."

The guard sent a punch flying at Angelique, which she ducked under and delivered a punch to the guy's gut. However, she definitely overestimated her power behind it, and he kneed her in the stomach, almost making her keel over, before pushing her down on the street. "Actually, we're paid a great deal depending on who we capture. You're probably worth a lot, although that temper of yours could be better."

Meanwhile, Xiu had traveled several meters and had surfaced outside the the arena at a distance she deemed safe and scanned the area in front of her. She could see many Equalist look-alikes guarding the front door, but she could also see much of the side of the arena was for the most part unguarded. Near the back there was some sort of activity, but she couldn't quite see what was happening from this angle. Interesingly enough, there was one stretch of ground along the side of the arena that was almost empty except for a single Equalist who seemed to be taking a break, considering the fact that they had their glove off and were smoking. Xiu found it a little strange that someone would take a smoking break in the middle of what she presumed was a big operation, but thinking back, she remembered how impulsive her decision to visit the arena was. It seemed that this group had been either waiting until she reached an area that was fit for attack, or that this specific attack was cobbled together last minute upon their learning that she was going to see the match. How they knew was irrelevant for now, but the fact that this attack was identical to the one seventy years prior and the fact that there was someone taking a break just to smoke and looking very unprepared while doing so both seemed to support the latter theory.

Xiu continued scanning the area around her when she noticed a flash of light from where she had come from. Actually, it was more like several small flashes. It seemed that Angelique had been found, the lights probably being from the Equalist's gloves and Angelique's firebending. Realizing that her only ally could be in danger, she decided to return and help. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to get back as quickly as could potentially be necessary so she instead turned to the water falcon swimming nearby. Tamed birds were more responsive when spoken to, so she figured that she could try ordering it to go ahead of her and help. "Hey, little guy," she started, getting the bird's attention.

She thought for a moment about what to say and remembered a couple things, specifically that she mentioned a guy who flirted with her at the arena and that she seemed to really dislike this bird's master. Considering what she knew about her personality, it was probably safe to say the two were one in the same. "I know you probably don't like that girl from earlier, what with her trying to strangle you, but your master really likes her and he wouldn't want her to get hurt." At this point she was just taking a stab in the dark, but she hoped that the guess was educated enough to have some sort of validity. "She's in trouble right now and needs your help. You don't have to do it for her or you, but at least do it for your master. Also, I'll see if I can get you a treat as a reward, okay?" She smiled as she finished her attempt to convince the bird to help her. Water falcons took effort to tame, so she assumed that the bird's master really cared about the bird (although why they were separated was a mystery to her and something that could potentially ruin this if it wasn't an accident) and focused on that for her plea. The reaction from the falcon seemed to imply that it had worked, as it paused for a moment before bursting out of the water, rocketing to Angelique's location. Now she just needed to think about how she would handle things when she made it there.

Before the guard could finish off Angelique with a nice little shock to the neck, his attention was drawn to a blue projectile flying right towards his face. Despite his quickest attempt to grab it, said projectile crashed into his face, causing him to stumble backwards before tripping and falling on the ground. Falco skidded to a halt on the ground, flapping up and squawking angrily at the guy.

"Ah jeez, we're fighting with a bird now?" The guard groaned, jumping up at the same time as Angelique. "This wasn't in my job description..."

"Was getting beat up by a teenage girl in your job description? Because if so, lucky you."

Instead of going directly to where the action was, Xiu moved off to the side far enough so that they wouldn't immediately notice her in the middle of their battle since they were too focused on Angelique. Even if they did, she would have space to get away. Fortunately, it didn't seem like she had been seen so she moved over behind a building where she could see what was happening and think of a plan. While she did so, she began to move water from the bay to where she was in the form of a very small stream along the ground, slowly accumulating it between her hands into a growing sphere. After a little while, her sphere had grown to an acceptable size, at least for what she planned to use it for. Peeking out from behind the corner of the building she had been using as cover, she saw that the Equalists had gotten over the surprise from the falcon's arrival and prepared themselves once more for battle. Now would be a good time to hit them with yet another surprise.

Xiu stepped out from her cover slightly to be able to move and aim better before propelling the large glob of water forward where she then threw it towards the Equalists, expanding it so it was more like a wave. The end result was that the enemies had become wet. At first her opponents gave a look of surprise at the wave, but after realizing it had done nothing to hurt them, they turned their attention to its source. However, before they could respond to the arrival of yet another combatant, Xiu began to bend the water directly from the bay nearby and sent a trio of aquatic tendrils to snare the feet of each attacker and drag them into the water where she promptly heard the crackling of electricity. She waited several seconds before she pulled the people back out of the water, dropping the unconscious bodies a good distance from her. "Are you okay, Angelique?" she asked her companion.

Angelique was somewhat bewildered - did a water octopus just devour those people? Well, now it was hard to dispute that Xiu was the Avatar. "Yup, perfectly fine. I'm glad I didn't eat. That kick would've made me throw up." She shook her head. "Did you get to the arena? What's going on down there?"

"I didn't manage to get far before seeing what was happening here, but I did see something." Xiu paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts. She figured whether or not this attack was planned on-the-spot was of little concern to Angelique, so she decided to focus on what probably did matter to them here and now. "While I wasn't able to see exactly what they were doing, the Equalists were definitely doing something at the back of the arena. That happens to be where the supplies and other stuff is brought in, so if I had to guess, they're using that to either transport weapons or reinforcements in, or they're shipping something out. Either way, it means two things: there's a lot probably going on there at any given time, and there's a way into the arena from there."

Xiu crouched down and slowly metalbent the equalist glove off of its wearer, not quite wanting to touch a metal object that used electricity while it was all wet. "I'm thinking we might be able to use disguises, but that's risky. We could always wait for Thokmay to get back, hopefully with reinforcements, before making a move as well, but I think that the back is probably our best chance at getting in."

"Disguises? Xiu, you do realize that these people are wearing regular everyday clothing, right?" Angelique noted. "What kind of disguise would we need?"

"Equalist gloves, masks, and not nice dresses," she said, gesturing to her current outfit.

"Oh... well, the dress I can understand. And I should probably change too, since I doubt this outfit is common in Republic City." She sighed. "Alright, so where are we gonna get the clothes we need? I don't think we can steal them from these guys."

Xiu was silent, considering that that was exactly what she had planned to do. "Why not?" As she spoke, she blew air forcefully at the gloves she had pried off the Equalists by now, trying to dry them off.

"Well... they're guys... and we're girls... and they're a lot bigger than we are. They're gonna be really, y'know... baggy. That'll probably come off suspiciously."

"Good point." Xiu was under the impression that any clothes suggesting a lower class would do, but what Angelique had said also held true. She could try adjusting the size, but she used a machine to sew for the most part, one that was at her study. Stealing from any nearby stores was probably not an option either, so that left only a few options. Steal clothes from other Equalists closer to their size, try to alter the size with a makeshift needle and thread, wherever she would find that, or wait for Thokmay. She looked back at the unconscious bodies in front of her and then back to Angelique. There was another option, though. "This will probably be even more risky than disguises, but how good would you consider yourself when it comes to stealth?"

"Eh, I'm pretty good. I'm light on my feet. Why?"

Xiu realized that she should stop assuming that other people would be able to figure certain things out and just operate under the assumption that they couldn't unless told otherwise. "If we can't get disguises, we'll just have to sneak in. I take it you don't exactly want to wait for Thokmay to get back with Julienne in danger."

"I was already planning on sneaking inside, so yeah. You don't always need a complicated plan to do something right." She replied, walking towards the arena.

Xiu followed suit, walking behind. She turned to Angelique and asked, "Are you sure you don't want to go underwater? It'll be faster and you can see all the fish underneath! Well, it's night now so probably not, but it's still kinda fun!"

Angelique fondly thought back to this morning, when Bird Freak had hit her with the hybrid fish rolls. Not a great memory. "I don't like the water. And fish smell."

With an exaggerated sigh, Xiu smiled and replied, "Your loss. I think fish can be cute sometimes."

"Yeah, they're so adorable when they're flopping on the beach and gasping for air like idiots. I like fish better in a deep-fryer, honestly."

"Aww, that's no fun. Tasty, but not fun." Xiu almost pouted, but realized that they were approaching their destination and began to prepare, changing her mindset a little and lowering her voice further. In reality they were actually still fairly far, but she preferred to be prepared sooner. Better safe than sorry. "Have you never been to the beach or something?" She spoke in a hushed tone, trying to maintain the cheerful voice while keeping quiet.

"Yeah, I've been to the beach. It was fun for almost half an hour until a kid kicked sand in my face while I was trying to sunbathe. And then there was the creepy perv who was trying to sneek peeks at me. After that, I decided that I wasn't a beach person."

Honestly, Xiu had never actually been to the beach, only having read about it. In all the books it sounded like a center of fun, almost essential for summer vacations and such, but hearing it described like this made her apprehensive about taking any recreational visits there. "Hmm, maybe a pool is the place for you then."

"Well, living in an apartment doesn't leave a lot of room for pools. The most interaction I get with water is turning on the sink or taking a shower." Xiu seemed to be, well, pretty uncomfortable in her manner of speech. From the way she talked through her sentences, she sounded like she hadn't really gotten out in while. Of course, she seemed shy as is, so it made sense sort of.

Xiu thought of a way to continue the conversation, but figured that the topic of places to swim or watery hangouts had been exhausted. She was ready to think of a new one, but noticed that they were approaching their destination rapidly. "I think we should split up here and meet back up at the back entrance, or at least the closest safe area to it. That way if one of us is found, the other isn't and still has the element of surprise on their side."

"Xiu. You're making this too complicated." Angelique explained. She stopped them when they were somewhat close to the arena grounds. "Do you know a lot about humans? They can be easily distracted and deceived very easily. Do you have anything that would make a loud sound when it hits something?"

Xiu stopped walking. "Don't laugh, okay?" She started shuffling through her bag (which was quite wet at this point) and pulled out a slingshot and a bag containing the metal balls she had bent earlier. "I've got this thing. It's important to me, so its not just a toy."

"Chillax, don't go full-blown diva on me." She took the slingshot and loaded a metal ball into it before pulling it back, aiming in the direction of the grounds, closing one eye to help her accuracy. "Point me in the direction of a guard that's close enough to all the others. If I can hit him and have him cause a lot of noise, we can sneak around to the back without being noticed."

Would something so simple really work? If so, Xiu had been far overestimating these enemies. Of course, she had already entertained the possibility of this being a last minute attack, but a paramilitary organization that can be overcome by teenagers with slingshots was a little much. Stories of the Equalists made them out to be far more formidable. Thinking back, she noticed that just about all of the Equalists here were using the gloves, implying that they couldn't chi-block since such a skill would be inhibited by a heavy gauntlet. All in all, she figured that such a simple plan could actually work here. "We've got to get past the front first, so how about that one?" She pointed at a guard standing by the far side of the arena entrance. "The sides aren't very heavily guarded, actually. But can you aim higher than the actual guy? That way I can bend it so that it hits him from a different direction than it was shot."

"Whatever floats your boat." She pulled the slingshot back just a bit more before firing the ball, watching it swiftly fly through the air... before it whished behind his head and then smacked into him roughly as it curved around from Xiu's bending. Most of the other guards nearby jumped up and went over to check on their commerade that had fallen on the ground from the mysterious shot, leaving the side's perfectly open for sneaking around.

"Well, that's that then." She handed Xiu the slingshot again. "Let's get moving. The shrubbery should give us some cover."

Realizing just how different theory and practice were at this point, Xiu decided to simply follow the more experienced Angelique's lead and hopped behind the shrubbery as well. Once the guards were busy searching for their mystery assailant in the wrong place, she decided now was the time to move. She dashed, using airbending to make her steps lighter, but was pulled back by something. She looked back and realized that her dress had been caught by the shrub. Unfortunately, she didn't exactly have anything to cut with and didn't want to risk snapping the small branch so she began to wrestle with detatching it. The movement resulted in a shaking that was probably worse than a simple branch snapping.

Angelique looked back at Xiu when she heard the shrubs shaking, and immediately rushed back. "Xiu, what the hell are you doing? They're gonna see us! Just rip the stupid thing off and let's go before they come over here!"

That was a bit too late, because Angelique immediately heard shouting coming from the other side of the shrubs, as well as hasty footsteps. "Great. Okay, I really, really hope you don't get mad at me for this. Sorry, girl." Angelique reared back her first and punched Xiu in the face, knocking her to the ground, before grabbing her arms and dragging her down. "Play along!" She whispered.

As the bushes parted, Angelique loudly exclaimed, "Sorry sister, no one catches the Avatar that easil- oh... crap."

The guards sneered as they stared down Angelique. "Well, that cuts the workload in half considerably, guys. Let's get this on with then."

The guards leapt over the shrubbery, tackling down Angelique on the ground as she struggled and shouted very rude verbal insults at all of her assailants. A guard came over to Xiu and helped her up, doing his best to remove her torn dress from the branch. "Ma'am, are you okay? What are you doing back here?"

Xiu had never been punched before, adding onto the fact that she wasn't exactly built like a brawler, so the impact left her incredibly dazed. She could barely keep track of what was happening around her, only hearing incoherent shouts. Great, so this is what I get for deciding to trust another person's plans. Next thing she knew, someone was helping her off the ground. "Y-ye-" She couldn't even get a single word out before she nearly tumbled to the ground again, being caught by the man. "Not... really."

The man pulled her up, letting her lean against him for somewhat indecent support. "Hey, you guys! This girl is really hurt! I think she needs some medical attention."

Another guard came over, inspecting the nearly-collapsed Xiu. "Is she a bender? ... Well, it doesn't matter now. We can't let her escape. We should just get her to the medical tent and then throw her into the crowd with everyone else. She's seen more than enough, so let's just keep her here."

Two other guards came over, bringing along Angelique, who was currently handcuffed and hair amess. "So, you're Xiu, huh? You were described as a lot frillier than... well, that. Is that some kind of disguise?"

"It's a disguise, morons." Angelique growled, flipping her bangs from her eyes. "Do you think I'm dumb enough to stay in my ridiculously bright dresses when sneaking around? If Miss Cow-Feet over there hadn't snuck up on me, I probably could've gotten inside before you idiots realized that I hit your friend over there with the metal ball."

"... Good point, I guess. Either way, the Boss will be happy to see you. Now we just gotta deal with all these civilians." The guard looked back at Xiu. "Like I said, get her to the medical tent and let's get this invasion thing over with."

Xiu listened to the exchange, baffled at how completely unprofessional these invaders were. It seemed that she had been treating every enemy as if their intellect matched her own, which was definitely not the case. It also seemed that she had underestimated Angelique's own wit. While she probably wasn't informed, she was probably the sort of person whose experience made them very "street smart". While this plan relied much on one person while endangering them both, it did get them inside quite easily and unharmed. For the most part. Regardless, she didn't appreciate the punch or the insults, as effective as they were, something that she'd have to take up with her after this was over with pouts and absurd hand gestures, maybe adding some fake tears into the mix.

The guards took Angelique away, leaving the two guards with Xiu. "Hey, can you help me with this one? She's pretty out of it. Guess that Avatar chick hit her hard."

"Yeah, I gotcha." The other guard grabbed Xiu's legs and lifted her up, allowing them to carry her across the grounds. "It didn't seem like too big of a struggle, though. Maybe this girl's just really, really weak?"

"No one's that weak, man." The guard laughed. "She had to use some kind of bending on her. Maybe she hit her in the face with some Earth pillar?"

"... You really have no idea how bending works, do you?"

 

[Foxrally]

Ryan Cutlass - Water Bender
Kalden - Air Bender

[h2][/h2]​

[h2][/h2]

After having dealt with their captors and Ryan having unlocked his own and Kalden's cuffs, the two of them stood up and stretched out, Kalden flexing his fingers a little while glancing around himself again.

"Well, that wasn't too difficult. I had no clue the Equalists could pull off something like this... you've barely heard anything about them, like... ever. This is very weird."

He stepped over the unconscious form of the aptly named Dumb and proceeded to push the door open, peeking outside, his eyes widening as he steps fully through the doorway.

"... Huh. Pirate-boy, I think you'll be surprised as to where we are right now."

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "And what is that?"

Kalden poked his head back through the doorway and flashed Ryan a grin. "I think I'll let you see for yourself." Before heading out again.

Ryan shrugged, and stepped over the unconscious bodies of the two Equalists. Then, right before exiting, he stopped and turned around, noticing the peculiar gloves on Dumb and Dumber's hands. He smiled to himself.

Those look like the ones they used on us in the arena... Well, I don't get to do this everyday, so let's make the most of it.

As soon as he got out of the cabin, an all-too-familiar sense awoke him. "Waitamainute..." He looked around. "WE'RE ON A BOAT MADA-" he started singing, before Kalden rushed over and clamped a hand over his mouth, pressing a finger against his lips and then pointed towards a smaller cabin than the one they had been in, at the front of the ship. "I think Dumb and Dumber's got a friend here."



Ryan sighed as Kalden put down his hand. "Oh, sorry. But check this out though." Ryan stretched his fingers outwards, smiling. Immediately a small flash of electricity appeared. Using his other non-electric hand, he reached in his pocket, pulled out a pair of yellow-tinted sunglasses, and wore them. He gestured towards Kalden. "Flashing, right?"

Kalden's brows raised in surprise at the sight of Ryan's new gear, but quickly gave a little grin of approval. "Wow, nice. How about we go give our driver a tip and a pat on the back?"

"Yeah, he does deserve a reward for being such an awesome bender-kidnapping-ship-driver." Ryan took a while to figure out how to control the electricity, but after a few tries, he got it. The two benders quietly snuck to the driver's cabin. Luckily for them the door was slightly ajar. Slowly they pushed it open, carefully to not alert the driver. The latter was mumbling angrily to himself about "hating this job" and "should've been a janitor like my dad". After getting close to him, Ryan swiftly stood up and patted the driver on the neck, instantly electrocuting him and knocking him out.

"Well, now that's done... ONWARDS TO REPUBLIC CITY, MY CREW!" Ryan yelled in a triumphant pose, even though his only "crew" was an eye-rolling Airbender who had better things to do than getting kidnapped.

---

After about ten minutes of sailing and a combined effort of Kalden and Ryan, the ship came to a stop beneath the bending arena, next to a platform in the water beneath the pier. Kalden hopped off of the ship and onto the platform, walking over to what looked like a control panel, looking it over before glancing back at Ryan.

"This is where the arena receives stuff shipped via... well, ships. You can call down a lift here, which I bet is how they got us onto the boat. Probably a couple other benders as well, maybe even some civilians." He explained, tilting his head back and peering up at the underside of the arena, everything beneath the pier being nearly pitch-black.

"... We need to get up there and make sure everyone's alright. And hey." He turned around to face Ryan again, his hands placed at his hips as a look of realization painted his expression. "I just realized, I don't even know your name. And I don't know if you want me to call you pirate-boy all night." He added with a wry grin.

Ryan jumped off the ship onto the platform. "Pirate-boy's fine, really. But the name I might write on future autographs is Ryan. Ryan Cutlass. But honestly, pirate-boy sound way better."

Ryan sighed, and wiped his sunglasses which had gotten all foggy due to the humidity of the place. "Where do you think our stuff is? I couldn't find it anywhere in the driver's cabin and neither of the other Dummies had them." He took out the set of keys he had taken from Dumb (or Dumber, he couldn't remember) and examined them. "There are three of them, what do you think they're for? One if for the cuffs, but about the other two?"

"Hmh..." Kalden rubbed his cheek thoughtfully, folding one arm across his chest as he did. "I don't know. Maybe a weapon's locker, or the place they store all the stuff they take? Maybe it's for their headquarters? In any case, keep a hold of them."

He turned back to the control panel and pressed a couple of buttons, which prompted the smaller platform-lift, which must've been part of the floor of the basement of the arena to slowly descend towards them, held in place by some chains, seemingly. "For now though, we have to go find whoever's in charge here, and promptly boot them in the head for interrupting my championship!"

"Meh, it was done anyway. In my opinion the kidnapping made it more interesting. That last combo move your team did though, I guess you could say it was... breathtaking."

Kalden let out a laugh, raising a hand to give Ryan's back a pat, grinning as the lift came to a stop right next to the platform, which he and Ryan the proceeded to step onto, Kalden then pressing a button on the control pad on the lift itself, which prompted it to start rising towards the arena again. "Hah! That's pretty good! Huh, I'll have to remember that."

Ryan was surprised Kalden actually enjoyed his puns. "That's interesting, you actually liked that one! By now most people would be giving me the... cold shoulder."

He burst out laughing at his own joke followed by Kalden, which kept the two of them busy as the lift rose up and came to a stop in a nearly pitch-black room, aside from a small, yellow lamp hanging over a door off to the side. Kalden wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, still snickering as he stepped off of the platform. "Man, that was -good-. You're a pretty... cool guy, Ryan."

Ryan, who was choking right now, stopped himself from vomiting as Kalden told his joke. Faintly, he raised his hand in order to tell him to stop. "Okay... now we stop..."

---

After a few minutes of sneaking in corridors and avoiding anyone they thought they heard, the two benders walked into a small room with a few chairs dispersed around the place, and a dozen lockers, all painted with the Beetlefrogs insignia. On the other end of the room, there was a closed door. "This should be the Beetlefrog's locker room. This door should lead us to the arena, right?"

Kalden nodded and went "Yeah, it should. This looks pretty much like our locker room, so I guess so. Go on, take a peek through the door."

Ryan gave a worried look at the door, then looked back at Kalden. "Why me? You know the place better than I do! You go!"

"What's there to know? You just sneak a peek through the door, see if your sword, the Avatar or anyone else is back there, then we head off again!" Kalden replied, giving Ryan's shoulder a pat and an overly-wide, encouraging smile. "Besides, you're the brave, adventurous pirate!"

Ryan considered that final point. He's got a point. Sighing, Ryan slowly walked up to the door, and held the handle. "On the count of three. One, two... three."

He quickly opened the door, and poked his head through the opening. Staying on the other side of the opening, Kalden stuck close to Ryan, muttering out a quiet "What do you see?"

Ryan eyes grew wide. He was staring directly at three black-clad Equalists. "Oh sh**." He pushed away Kalden, and slammed the door behind him, his back to it. "We're screwed." Just as he finished his sentence, a slam was heard and the door trembled as one of the henchmen tried to kick the door open. Ryan shot a panicked glance at Kalden, with a "what do we do?" expression.

Kalden swiftly looked around the locker room, trying to figure out some kind of plan of attack, but aside from some chairs, a bench in the middle of the room and the various lockers, there wasn't anything they could use as such. He looked back to Ryan and stepped back, taking a deep breath as he raised his hands, flat-palmed, in a fighting stance, giving the pirate boy a firm nod.

As soon as Kalden gave his signal, Ryan jumped forward in a roll, just as the strongest of the three men smashed the door. Ryan swiftly stood back up, and instinctively reached for his cutlass. He felt around for it, but couldn't find it. He realized it was still with the Equalists. "Oh, man. This isn't gonna be easy." he muttered.

The three men spilled into the room, quickly surveying the situation, one of them raising a hand and pointing at Kalden. "The airbender! He's escaped!" to which Kalden replied "... Oh sh**.".

With this pointed out, one of the thugs ushered another towards Ryan while two of them ran straight for Kalden, one with a glove, and another wielding some type of stick, with visible arcs of electricity running up and down along it.

The most bulky Equalist had gone for him. Ryan quickly dodged the thug's punch by jumping to the side. "Hey come on, we can't have any hate between yellow-sunglasses-people! I guess you could say we're both Equalists, right?" Ryan chuckled as he ducked to avoid the chair being thrown at him. He then leaped forward at the thug's head, sending both of them to the floor, Ryan using the thug as a cushion. The Equalist angrily stood back up and activated his electric glove, his palm facing Ryan. "Oh sweet! High-five!" Ryan exclaimed as he jumped back up and immediately high-fived him with his own electric glove. Both of them briefly stood there for a moment, electrocuted by their own weapons, before each slumping to the ground unconsciously.

Meanwhile, Kalden ducked underneath the stick that was swung horizontally at him, followed by him kicking himself backwards to avoid a lunge by the other guy. "Whoa there! Be careful with that thing, you could really hurt someone!" The airbender continued ducking, dodging and jumping his way backwards, peering behind him for a moment to see the wall rapidly approaching.

After avoiding another swing of the stick, Kalden turned and ran, full-speed at the wall, with the Equalists right behind him. As he reached the wall, he didn't even stop, as he used his airbending to run up the wall, and, with a burst of air, sent him flying over the heads of the two guys who skiddingly turned around to face Kalden again, who landed on one foot and a knee, his hands pressed to the ground in front of him. He then promptly kicked a leg backwards, sending a gust of air into the glove-wielding guy, which slammed him into the wall behind him, making him slump over.

The stick-guy also had a burst of air shot at him, but he managed to leap over it, spinning in the air as he swung the stick downwards, Kalden wincing and only just managing to roll off to the side as the stick collided with the floor next to him. The Equalist continued swinging the stick downwards, trying to hit Kalden as the boy rolled and squirmed his way across the floor, until he had his back on the floor and the Equalist being too close for him to dodge the air-powered kick, which sent him skidding into the lockers at the back wall.

Kalden quickly got up, the guy with the stick preparing to charge again, at which point Kalden's eyes widened in a bright idea. He spun around himself once before raising his leg in a kick, which sent a gust of wind along the lockers, all of which flew open, one of them smacking square into the face of the Equalist, who slumped over on the floor.

"Hff... hff... looks like... you guys got the wind knocked out of you!" He grinned and placed his hands on his hips, looking around the room full of unconscious people and finally at Ryan. "... Dammit."

A joint post of Sir Bastian and Foxrally​

 

[Sir Bastian]

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Basically everybody | Bending Arena hallways

​

"... It sounds like someone might be inside." Julienne whispered, her gloved hand rested on the slightly-ajar door. "Do you think we should still go in? It's really dark, and if it's those stupid Equalists, they'll probably spring on us from the shadows."

"Well, it's not exactly like we can go back the way we came." Davian replied, sparing a glance back to the main platform while he metalbended his Omni-Orbs back to the balcony.

"Well... yeah, guess you're right." Julienne gently slid the door open a bit more, to where she could just barely see inside. pleasedon'tbeanequalistpleasedon'tbeanequalistplease

Inside of the dressing room on the other side of the door, three Equalist-looking types were lying scattered on the ground, clearly knocked out, and near the middle, Kalden was hunched over the unconcious Ryan, removing the gauntlet from Ryan's arm just in case. He lightly smacked Ryan's cheek to try and wake him up, brows furrowed in worry. "Come on Ryan, get up. You can't rest now, what if there's more Equalists around?"

"... Is he seriously trying to wake up those guards?" Julienne questioned, squinting hard. "He's gonna get himself killed if he does that. Do you think we should stop him?"

"Are you sure that's what it's about? He can't be that stupid..."

"... You're really overestimating some of the people you meet." Julienne shook her head. "Okay, well, I don't want him waking that loser up and getting us captured. I'm going in." Before Davian could stop Julienne, she kicked open the door and... threw her glove right at Kalden's head while she screamed, "Knock it off you moron! You're gonna get us captured!"

As the door behind him swung open, Kalden barely even registered the words being yelled at him as he dove off to the side, just barely avoiding the glove which came crashing on top of Ryan. Using the momentum, he pushed himself onto his hands, his lower body raising into the air; he proceeded to spin around, lashing out with a kick that sent a horizontal gust of air flying towards the doorway, in case any of the possible new assaulters had made their way inside.

Julienne screamed as the guy she had almost hit with her glove immediately jumped up and kicked a gust of wind at her, which caused her to get flung into the wall very roughly. "Ow ow ow ow ow, what the hell are you doing?! I'm not a bad guy, you idiot!"

Kalden pushed himself off of the floor with his hands, landing on the floor with one hand pushed further out than the other in a combat-ready stance. However, the girl's words caught him off-guard, leaving him blinking in surprise for a few moments. "... Why the hell did you scare me like that, then?! And you threw something at me too!"

"You were trying to wake up that gu -" Julienne froze, looking at the guy lying on the ground as he was slightly electrocuted by the glove. "... wait a minute. He's a... waterbender..." She looked back at Kalden, and then at the fallen guy, and Kalden again. "... Well that didn't give you a right to slam me into a freaking wall! Do you have any idea how much that hurt?! I just hit my head on a concrete wall because of you!"

"Well, what do you think someone should do if something gets thrown at them with no warning? What happened when someone got the drop on us?" Davian interjected, leaning with apparent disinterest against the doorway.

"Shut up Davian, this doesn't involve you!" Julienne snapped, before turning back to Kalden with an angry expression. "That seriously hurt! I could have busted my head open! Did you even think before you attacked?"

"Well... uh, sorry." Kalden replied, straightening out and relaxing again, placing one hand on his hip and the other behind his head, rubbing his neck while looking rather sheepish and apologetic. "I kinda just... thought we were under attack again. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Julienne huffed loudly. "Fine, whatever. I guess when my head stops throbbing I might forgive you. So what's the story with the unconscious one over there?"

"Well, we-" Kalden started, just as the previously unconcious Ryan stirred, letting out a loud, pained groan.

"That... was a pretty..." Ryan panted, groaning as he sat up. "SHOCKING HIGH-FIVE!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, grinning and jumping back up, as if nothing had ever happened. He looked around, scratching the back of his neck. "Hey Kal, I see you got a bunch of new -" He stopped smiling when he noticed Davian leaning against the doorway. "- friends."

"Friends is a very innacurate word." Julienne commented, still glaring at the Sweating Kalden.

Davian's left eyebrow twitched at the look Ryan gave him. Why did the little peace that was in this room just drain away... He took his weight off of the wall and rubbed his still-sore wrist a bit. "I hate to stamp the saplings of friendship before they can really grow... or whatever, but I'm pretty sure me and the damsel here just woke up all the guards in the arena a minute ago."

"Why are you calling me a damsel?" Julienne complained. "I saved you three times."

"It just means a young, unmarried woman..." Davian explained.

Ryan quickly dusted his shirt off angrily and stomped towards the metalbender. "Okay listen, big-mouth. I don't want you muttering a single hell of a word from now on. The sound of your voice makes me seasick. The look of yer rotten, filth-covered face makes the rum in my hull go bad. Your very smell is stench to the dirtiest sailors in the country. So after this little ordeal is done with, me and you are gonna have a little talk about how you treat ladies. More specifically my lady. You dig, or do I have to punch it in?"

He was now in Davian's face, holding him by the collar, threateningly raising a fist to his face.

Davian kept his expression of apathy while the freshly-awoken Waterbender stomped up to him and began flinging insults and threats in his face. At first he just listened but the moment the punk grabbed his collar he backhanded the guy's arm away from him. "I don't know what your problem is, but I've had enough of pointless fighting for today. And also: Don't. Touch. Me."

"Whoa whoa whoa, you guys." Julienne immediately went into mediator mode once she noticed that things were about to get physical. "You guys really shouldn't -"

"Shut it, lady. Just because you know Angelique doesn't mean -" Ryan snapped back at Julienne. Oh, wait. She's her best friend; how could I be so - Ryan paused, and then sighed. "Sorry. Just a disagreement. We'll talk about it later."

Kalden glanced back and forth between the three and as the argument began to escalate rapidly. However, things seemed to cool off as Ryan backed down. Taking a deep breath, he rubbed the side of his neck and stepped closer, raising his hands in a sort of 'let's all calm down now' gesture. "... Right, now that that happened... we should probably find somewhere to hide now that every guard in the arena is out looking for us. And from what the lady and the guy here said, they're probably on their way here now. So, uh... who's up for getting out of this room and find a better place to hide out for the time being?"

"Yeah, I like that idea." Julienne agreed. "How about we all leave the training rooms, with Unconscious Guy in the back of the group and Davian in the front? We might make it out without them trying to kill each other."

"Sounds like a plan to me. As long as we reach Angelique." Ryan agreed.

"Apparently nobody was listening when I said I don't want to fight, but whatever. As long as it helps us move. Once Julienne and Angelique are reunited, I can look for the Avatar." Davian shrugged, refusing to get worked up.

Kalden blinked in surprise at the supposed metalbender's comment, clearing his throat quietly. "Yeah, uh, about that... actually, I'll tell you when we're somewhere safe." He stepped over to the door leading out into the hallway, which he opened and peeked out of. "Right, so... I figure we should try to get to one of the smaller storage rooms. I doubt there's anyone in there, and if there are, we can probably take them out. It's down this hall to the right, then a left, and it's the third door on our -."

"Kalden, why don't you just lead us there instead, since you know where it is?" Julienne interrupted. "Seems a lot easier than having us memorize it for no reason."

"... Good point. It's just that your plan with those two sounded good and I didn't want to go against it, heh." He gave a little grin and shrugged his shoulders before putting on his serious face again.

"... Right, yeah. Davian, how about you go on ahead then? I'll stay at the back with this one." She suggested.

"Sure, just try not to castrate him if he pisses you off." Davian said as he moved closer to the doorway. He was as worried that she would get in a fight with Ryan as they were about him, what with how much he and she had argued earlier.

As Davian and Kalden both departed from the doorway, Julienne turned around to face Ryan to give him an angry glare. "Listen. If you ever tell me to shut up again, I will strangle you. And if you think you of all people have a chance with Angelique, you are sadly mistaken. I can guarantee that there is no possibility of you getting with her, ever. If anything, you should just keep quiet and stop causing so much trouble. Let's go."

She turned back around, satisfied with her sass, and walked off down the hall.

Ryan sighed and shook his head, looking at Julienne as she stormed away. Angelique seriously needs to improve her social skills. If the only person she can get along with is THIS girl, of all others, I'm surprised. He looked around for his glove, in the hopes that it hadn't been short-circuited. He found it a few feet away, slightly scorched but apprently still in a wearable state. He quickly picked it up and ran off towards the others.

While he followed Kalden through the hall towards wherever he was taking them, Davian couldn't help being curious about the whole scene in the locker room. "It figures that after all I've been through today, somebody would still be after me for one reason or another." He muttered only loud enough for Kalden to hear.

"Heh, sounds like you've had a pretty rough day. Though honestly, I bet pretty much everybody here's had that." He replied quietly to the guy behind him, carefully peering around the corner before scurrying around it, making sure there weren't any guards or thugs nearby, before looking over his shoulder, ensuring everybody was still with him.

"Alright, it's not far now, just a l-" The sound of trampling footsteps cut him off, coming from somewhere in front of them down the curved hall. His eyes widened as he looked around the hallway, spotting a door just to their left. He ran over to it and pulled it open, revealing a not-too-big janitor's closet, full of buckets, old rags and the usual cleaning supplies. "In here, quick!" He whispered to the others.

As Julienne came around the corner with Ryan close behind, she noticed that Kalden and Davian were jumping into a closet. "Guys, what are you... oh ****, there are people coming." Much like she said, two guards came running around the corner, stopping when they noticed the two of them. "Oh great... Pirate Dude, gimme your glove thing."

Ryan spun around. He saw the two guards coming, and Kalden and the Metalbender jumping into the storage closet. He quickly tossed the electric glove to Julienne before charging shoulderfirst into one of the guards, knocking him onto the ground before he could take out his electric weapon.

The second guard took the opportunity to dart past Ryan as he crashed into his partner towards Julienne, who was completely unprepared for the attack. The guy crashed into her, pushing her into the ground and attempting to grab her with the glove. She swung her hands and kicked her legs wildly, trying to hit the guy anywhere she could. The guard eventually grabbed her by the ankle and delivered a shock to her, making her scream in pain. She fell limp as he let go of her before he turned back to face Ryan.

Only a few seconds after he closed the closet door behind him Davian heard shouting and scuffling. "They didn't make it! We've gotta help 'em!" He whispered before reaching for the handle of the door.

Kalden managed to grab Davian's wrist before he grabbed the handle, whispering out a, "Hold on! You can't just go barging out there!" He gave the guy cramped into the tiny closet a little look before letting go of his wrist, taking a hold of the handle himself, pushing the door open just a crack, peering out at the scene playing out. He winced and murmured back to Davian; "... There's not alot we can do right now. We're not going to abandon them. Let's follow, and see where they're taking them."

Davian paused when Kalden stopped him and explained his preferred course of action. He had seen first hand that some of these jerks knew what they were doing in a fight, and if they were outnumbered it wouldn't be a good idea for him to jump in. Besides, maybe if we follow them well enough they'll get taken somewhere we could find more allies... He sighed. "I suppose it's the best option we've got right now."

Ryan swiftly stood back up and glanced back as he heard Julienne getting shocked behind him. Well, here goes nothing. Noticing a small stick attached to the belt of the guard he had just taken down, Ryan ducked as the second one threw a punch at him. He quickly snatched the stick and jumped back, holding the weapon like a sword. He noticed a small button at the bottom, and pressed it. The stick started glowing dark blue, as well as slightly buzzing and emitting small shocks of electricity. He took a step forward, and saw that the guard was backing away from him. Taking this as an opportunity, he ran forward and slammed the stick on the side of the guard's head, swinging it like a baseball bat. The impact was so strong it had slightly bent the stick, making it useless.

"Shouldn't have broken that!" The other guard, who was supposed to be knocked out, came from behind Ryan and put him in a chokehold, trying to knock him out. Ryan struggled roughly, trying to pry the guy's arms off, but sadly he was a lot weaker and couldn't get him off. Eventually, Ryan felt himself losing conscious, and his struggles died down before he finally passed out and the guard dropped him onto the ground in front of Julienne.

---

Davian had nudged Kalden out of his way a bit and was leaning against the door, listening carefully to the outer procedings. There was clearly a struggle but it wasn't all that long before it was over. Afterwards, he waited until the sounds of dragging were no longer audible to push the door open and inch out. "Alright, they're going further down that other hall. We have keep up without being noticed."

"Down that way? Hmh..." Kalden replied, looking both curious and rather worried for the two that were just dragged off, his brows furrowed as he finally gave a little nod. "Alright then, let's go save them." Kalden wasn't quite happy with going to where the thugs were keeping their hostages, considering he simply might get captured again, which wasn't something he was looking forward to. This time though, he was ready for them, and if they played it cleverly... they might just pull through without more than a few scratches.

He placed his palm against the door and slowly pushed it open, inching his way out of it and waiting for Davian to do the same, listening intently for the guards walking off, down the hallway. He glanced back at Davian, looking over the guy. If anything, he was happy to have someone watching his back, so he gave the boy a smile, reaching back to give Davian's shoulder a pat. "Don't worry; we'll save them, or my name isn't Kalden. I promise you that."

Davian wasted no time exiting the stuffy storage closet after Kalden. They had to help them. Whatever the watertard's problem was, Julienne deserved his assistance. He wanted to shove Kalden out of the way and run after them, but it was likely the Airbender was lighter on his feet than Davian and probably knew the stadium better.

Before they could go any further, however, a figure dropped down in front of them, landing only a few meters away. It was clear that this man was different from the Equalists who had attacked them not too long ago; he wore a concealing black robe and a face-concealing hood. The man lifted his hood just enough for the pair to see the bald, tattoed head underneath. The motion caused his long sleeves to shuffle down enough to reveal that his hands and arms bore the same markings. He opened his mouth and spoke, but the words that came out were sparce and barely audible. "Xiu is here, Angelique was caught in her place."

Davian formed his quarterstaff the moment the mysterious person made their entrance, taking a defensive stance. He kept on guard but visibly relaxed when the man showed them the distinctive arrow markings of an Airbender. Xiu... Xiu... oh! "That's the Avatar's name, right? We could definitely use the help... is there any chance either of them were brought to the same place our friends are going to?"

As soon as the figure had dropped down in front of them, Kalden had gone into a defensive position as well. However, he quickly put down his guard again as the man revealed his identity, Kalden's eyes widening. "... Uncle Thok! So Xiu -is- here!" He folded an arm across his chest, raising his other hand to rub his chin, putting on a thoughtful expression. "So this Angelique was caught instead of Xiu? They probably brought her to the boss' place... but from what I'm guessing, is that Ryan, Xiu and... uhm, angry-girl are most likely being brought to where the rest of the hostages are, which is down this hallway. The only place big enough for that is the big gym."

Taking a moment to let this sink in with the other two, he turned to Thokmay, now more than confident enough that they'd be able to save the others, as he put on a bright grin, glancing over to Davian afterwards. "Shall we go save the Avatar and our friends?"

With a plan finally decided upon Davian couldn't help feeling the thrill of oncoming battle fill his mind. He clenched his fists and his staff melted and the liquid metal moved down his arms and covered his hands, forming into a pair of large guantlets with heavy-bolted knuckles. He smirked back at Kalden and thumped the gauntlets together. "Let's."
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[Mana1]

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Kanko worked alone. He weaved between members of the crowd, picking out targets whilst drawing no attention to himself. His heavy, dark red coat hid his weapon well - his clothing was nothing like the black, fitted uniform of his subordinates. He was his own man in this mission.

Across the room, a soldier, clad in black, raised his hand - there was a problem. Trying not to draw attention to himself, Kanko made his way across to a narrow doorway - guarded by two of his men. Better keep up appearances he thought as he strode forward, the guards were clearly able, fit and strong, but there was a reason that Kanko was their superior.

"Excuse me, I think there's been a mistake, you see..." he paused, smiled, his sentence ended there. His arm, bulked up with muscle, shot forward, grasping the first guard by the neck. They both froze, confused as to what was happening. Kanko was disappointed in their response, "You can't act for sh*t," he whispered, inaudible to the gathering crowd. With one, forceful push he flung one guard against the other, pushing through the door and out of the eyes of the growing audience.

"We really need new lackeys," he said to himself, foraging through the pockets in his coat until he found the transmission device.

"This is Kan, what's the problem?" He spoke clearly and calmly, a very sudden change in demeanor.

"T-there's been an escape, they lynched us, I'm sorry sir bu-" The apologetic minion tried to justify his failure, but he was quickly cut off.

"Return to the dock, I'll sort this."

- - - - -​

He had been following them for some time, lurking in the adjacent corridor, in the shadow of a doorway, awaiting the perfect moment. An older man, hooded, had joined the teenagers - he was a prime target, his revealed, bald head and distinctive tattoos gave him away.

We've got an airbender to play with, Kanko thought, amused, it had been a while since he'd faced a nomad. Time for a grand entrance.

His first footstep, emphasised by a thick, hardy boot, echoed down the corridor. That was all the monk needed to sense his presence, straight away the airbender reeled round to face him. Kanko chuckled, getting a clearer view of his opponent proved him right - he wasn't particularly fussed about the younger boys, he wanted to enjoy a good fight before recapturing them.

Flashing open his cloak, Kanko revealed a fitted, blue jacket. It was designed specifically for combat, fighting benders in particular. Fireproof, nonabsorbent, hardy and protective - it eliminated a lot of immediate threats on it's own. His hand rested on his favourite piece though, a gold-hilted katana. Without even drawing his sword, the commander smirked and strode forward.

His opponent hesitated, looking between the boys and the fierce swordsman. "Go! Save Xiu, save your friends," he barked, removing his own hooded cloak and preparing for battle. Davian and Kalden retreated to the large gymnasium.

"Come." Thokmay spoke, his face composed and emotionless. His white lotus uniform was a clear identification of his ability - this man was an able bender.

"If you wish," Kanko said, an air of humour hinted in his voice. Bursting forward, the elite powered towards the air nomad. His sword was still sheathed, but an eager hand twitched at the hilt as he neared his opponent.

A disc of sharp, whirling air skimmed by, Kan weaved around it - all too familiar with airbending techniques. He had studied for many years, studied their tactics, their range and their weaknesses.

Thokmay did not waste another attack, charging forward himself with devastating, wind-propelled, force. Kanko grinned, drawing his sword just as the two were about to collide - causing the white lotus airbender to jump away.

Five metres was as much space as they could separate in the confined corridor. "Superb dodge," Kanko congratulated, holding out his sword, the tip pointing at Thokmay's chest. He smirked, this battle was over.

Squeezing the hilt, a sudden bolt of electricity erupted from Kanko's blade - firing directly at his opponent's chest. There was no time to dodge, no time to limit the damage.

"As much as I'd rather kill you by my own hands, the boss has a thing for airbenders." Retrieving the transmitter from his cloak, the commander called for backup. Thokmay was out of action, slumped against the wall, unconscious and ready to be taken in.

- - - - -​

"I can't believe we caught the Avatar," the guard said to his colleague in disbelief, pushing Angelique to the floor, "We're going to be promoted, we'll get so much holiday for this - think of the bonus packet!"

Another pair of guards were close behind them, carrying a limp Xiu, leaving her sprawled on the floor with the other captives. "Shouldn't we get a blocker for that one?" A masked man questioned, pointing to the disheveled 'Avatar'.

"She came calmly! Jeez, don't sweat it. We've got this."

"Commander? Commander wait!" A young woman was heard shouting outside, eager to inform her boss of the recent events - he was already up to date and headed straight for the main prize.

Kanko thrust the door open, almost throwing it entirely off its hinges, entering the gymnasium with a bang. The captives looked up in fear, the majority of them young, weak, helpless. "Which one is it?" He ordered, the once gleeful guard was now timid and scared himself - pointing at the ruffled Angelique.

Storming over he grabbed the young girls face, pulling her up and twisting her from side to side to get a good look. Unsatisfied, he threw her back to the floor.

"Oh you idiots," He growled, "Why would she be the Avatar?! She's nothing special." Picking the girl up, by the scruff of her tank top. "Apologies, but your time is up." His free fist clenched.

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Notes:

• All 'captured' characters have had their additional equipment and weapons confiscated - they can be recovered from a pile of bags at the side of the room.
• There are civilians, in this case mostly children, in the room so be careful.
• All characters are now in the big gymnasium. It is up to Bast and Seph on how theirs got there after being told to leave. (I would recommend them hiding there, so they can observe the above). Ryan was amongst the children, somehow managing to be quiet for a bit.
• Kanko can be attacked, propositioned, etc. by anyone - just make sure to consider other roleplayers. Order of posts is essential here.
• Kanko may not be defeated, his fate will be decided during the next update (next weekend).
• There is a total of six guard accompanying Kanko, you may kill them or have them flee.

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[Trev]

Angelique Everett

---

One would think that the "Avatar" would be treated with more respect, but Angelique soon realized that was a complete lie. She was glad she had sacrificed herself in place of Xiu; that girl wouldn't have survived this long.

The first thing that happened immediately was that Angelique had the **** beaten out of her. Six guards sprang on her at once, and even experienced fighters couldn't get out of that. As she was dragged away from the collapsing Xiu, Angelique noticed several bruises on her arms and legs forming. They'd probably go away soon, but boy did they hurt. Even worse, the idiots totally screwed up her hair and now it was just getting in her way.

As soon as she was inside, she was handcuffed with bending-proof locks and her bag was confiscated, which included her cards. Her pockets were cleaned and her main weapons were taken away. Afterwards, she was forcefully shoved into the gynamsium, which was filled with very young hostages, where she tripped down the stands and busted her shin on the stairway.

So at this point, she wasn't in a pleasant mood. "Jeez, you'd think people would treat the Avatar better than this. If my hands were locked I would be snapping all of your necks right now."

"Oh chill out, not like you'd get very far with this many guards around." A henchman laughed as he sat on one of the seats. "You might be a great fighter, but let's face it, you can't take all of us at once."

Another guard nearby held Angelique's bag; he enjoyed going through it and looking at everything she carried. "You got a lot of stuff in here, girl. What do you do with it?"

"Usually it's just to keep stuff in. That's what bags are for, idiot." Angelique snapped, flipping her hair out of her face. "Stop going through it already. The only interesting thing in there are the packs of cards I have. Maybe you guys should play Solitaire with them and cut your hands up?"

"Nice try, but -" the guard's quip was immediately interrupted when the door to the gymnasium flung open roughly, causing every guard to jump to attention. From behind the door came a huge, bulking boss-like guy that didn't look too entirely happy. He was storming right over in her direction, causing the guards to quiver slightly.

"Which one is it?" He barked, causing the guards to jump. The one who was holding her bag pointed to her, causing the boss guy to come over and grab her by her face, which made Angelique shout out various obscenities and kick him in the stomach to no avail. He dropped her back down on the ground, making her growl with rage. "You idiots. Why would she be the Avatar?! She's nothing special."

"Excuse me, *******, I am very special, even if I'm not the Avatar. And I don't know who you think you are, but you better - hey!"

Boss-guy didn't have time for Angelique's unrelenting anger. He grabbed her by the front of her tank top and held a fist up to her. "Apologies, but your time is up."

"Uh, I don't think so, buster! Get the hell off of me!" She snapped, placing her feet against his chest and pushing herself out of his grip. She skidded a few inches down the edge of the walkway, assuming her usual combat stance minus the position of her arms. Her shin was wailing for her to stop moving. "I can still firebend, y'know. I don't need my hands. If you think you're scary, you're wrong."

"I could handle three firebenders, more skilled then you, even with the use of their hands," the commander was disgusted that such a small girl deemed herself equal, although perhaps her lack of action said more than her overworked mouth. "If you firebend against me, I will have to break all of your limbs until you've got nothing left to work with." he threatened, with a smile.

"Wow, how many times have I been threatened like that?" She mocked. "Like I said, you don't scare me. No one scares me."

"I wonder how tough you'd be without that fire in your belly, little girl." Kanko was tired of the girl. He played with the thought of having an angry, fireless pet to take home. His fingers twitched; if the blockers didn't arrive soon, he'd have to get his hands dirty.

"Actually, I'm pretty tough, thank you." She scoffed. "I think you're underestimating me. With or without fire, I can fight. Someone like you doesn't even pose a challenge. You're nothing but another steamhead. Spare yourself the agony of embarrassment, because this entire endeavor is pointless and you won't succeed."

He smiled. How amusing. "I take it you know a certain hooded airbender I met earlier? Apparently, he likes the company of kids your age. Would you like to share a cell with him?" His exterior was calm, aware of the audience of captives around them. He would not show a flicker of doubt in his own superiority. The girl posed no threat in her state and the escapees were nowhere to be found.

"I have no idea who you're talking about, unless you mean Kalden. And I highly doubt you would actually capture him." She laughed. "Seriously dude, you could just end this whole thing, the entire operation, right now, and you won't end up looking like an idiot. Although, in your case, that might be harder than it seems. You're not gonna find who you're looking for here, so just give up."

Two guards rushed forward, taking up positions behind Angelique. "It's always the firebenders who kick up a fuss." Kanko sighed. "I'll leave her with you. I've got a boy to find... Kalden, what is?"

Angelique attempted to lunge forward, but the guards held her back by her arms. "Don't even think about trying to find Kalden! If you hurt him, I'll kick your face in! He's too smart for someone like you to find him anyway." The boss-guy simply ignored her threat, making her growl as he walked away.

Just you wait... she thought bitterly as the guards put her back in her captive spot.

 

[Lumbah_Rye]

Prolouge
A pearl of sweat formed at her hairline. It continued to move down her forehead until being diverted by a slim brow, causing it to roll off and drip onto the cold tunnel floor. It could have turned night outside and it wouldn't have occurred to Gaea at all. Her muscles tensed as she slammed her palms together, making a clean cut about 6 feet straight into the solid rock in front of her. Then, after slowly inverting her hands until the backs touched each other, she grappled the air tightly with her fingers whilst taking a deep breath, planting her feet solidly on the ground. For a moment, the mines were filled with the sound of sheer nothingness as if the cold wall held its breath in anticipation. Without any notice, a deafening cracking sound filled the hollow tunnels as Gaea yanked her arms far apart as if tearing open a heavy gate, causing the stone ahead to split up on the middle and disappear into the sides of the tunnel, giving her an acceptable 3 feet wide, 6 feet long addition to her already existing workspace. It wasn't much, sure, but it had been a long day's work already and productivity had descended on her list of priorities for the time being. Occupation of the mind was the prime motivation at this point, and so Gaea stepped forward, resumed the stance and slammed her palms together anew, her thoughts in an entirely different place.

The city? Republic City, even? I mean, I get that we need some new spare parts for the Sato-mobile, but for what purpose? The only reason we ever use the sato' is to go to town to get spare parts for the motor cycle. So stupid... Gaea wasn't usually prone to complain, but she failed to see the logic in a day-long trip with such a lack of purpose. And why are they sending ME? Another few feet of tunnel appeared with a resounding crunch. I would get lost within a couple of minutes. Besides, I'm of far more use here in the mine. Close to home. The expression on Gaea's face changed after a split second of replaying her last thoughts inside her head. ... Home! With a sudden realization of the concept of time, she turned tail and sprinted back through the tunnels that she knew so well and back towards home.

By the time she arrived home, the sun had set and Gaea realized to her regret that it was long past the hour to which she was permitted outside. The boar-hounds in the area turned increasingly vicious prior to the moon's light breaching the clouds, even if it was only close to half full tonight, and so that would probably be her father's excuse for telling her straight. Sneaking through the village as silently as able, the confidence that she might get away with this grew as most of the cottages were blacked out. One of those that weren't, however, was her own home. You gotta be kidding me.

"This has got to stop!" - A strong voice tore through the chilled evening air. Gaea had barely reached for the doorknob before her father had beat her to it. Now she stood just outside the door, one foot on the threshold, bowing her head submissively. She knew he was right. For the past couple weeks, she had returned home later and later yet almost every evening. "I... I didn't mean to worry you, Pa'. It's just th-",

"It's just that NOTHING.", he interrupted. "Go to your room. It's the middle of the night and tomorrow is a big day.". Nodding her head in silence she stepped through the door and into the warmth of her home, although somehow she felt as if the cold air's grasp followed her inside as she opened the door to her room, closing it carefully behind her to not cause too much of a riot.
____________________________________________________________________________________

The day before the Probending Arena was taken
The sun high upon the sky, a quarter past noon on the day of her departure. Gaea had already said her goodbyes, packed a bag of necessities and kick started the engine on the old motorcycle which sputtered uncontrollably before settling into a deep, rumbling growl like a mad Boa-Bear. Her parents had kissed her on the forehead and wished her safe travels. They were all a bit nervous about the whole affair, seeing as how this was Gaea's first trip ever into town. But it was too late to turn back now. After a good hour and a half of driving, the landscape had turned even bulkier and rockier than back home, which, she had been told, was a good sign of being close to Republic City when approaching from the north-east, the tell-tale mountains reaching towards the sky surrounding the large city.

Regardless of being used to the continues shaking of the years-old motorcycle, Gaea decided that her behind deserved a break sometime soon. Then, as if on cue, a nice looking spot of green appeared not too far away in front of her on her right. She shifted her weight and turned the bike in a wide curve, rolling a dozen feet onto the grass before coming to a stop and turning off the engine. She wiped the visor on her helmet off of bug-goo with a sleeve and a disgusted sigh before relieving herself of the coverup, freeing her loose hair for the first time in what had felt like HOURS! (Which, more or less, it was). The air was chilly as the day before but now as the sun was at its highest, the warmth of its rays compensated enough to make it a comfortable setting for a power-nap. She was now starting to feel the consequence of her late nights the last couple days, and every time she had blinked, her eyes had stayed close for just a split-second longer, hence the break. She fetched a blanked from one of the satchel-bags on the bike, which she then rolled up and placed behind her head as she laid down on the field. She was sound asleep within half a minute.

Half an hour passed. The sun's rays touched Gaea's face and the warmth in her cheeks evoked a slight blush. But then; A snarl and the stench of a foul breath. At first they seemed to be just part of a bad dream, but Gaea quickly came to realize that that was not the case. She leapt up, pale-faced, and stared fearfully at the Badger-Hawk that had flown down and landed just a couple feet away from where she had slept.

"Whoah there, girl. Eeeasy now. I don't know if you're nesting close by or what, but I'll just be on my way.", she tried her best, still groggy from the nap. Her pleads for peace, however, had no effect on the angered beast. Leaning slightly down on its front talons, the muscles in its rear legs tensed as it spread its fur-featherly wings widely, positioning itself for a charge. Oh no, you don't...

But it did. And with a howling squeal it plunged itself forward, right towards Gaea, with a strong flap of its wings. She barely dodged the toothy beak but she was a tad too slow and was struck across the thigh with a sharp talon which drew a dark string of blood tailing the Badger-Hawk a few feet past her until it landed on the ground again.

"DAMN you! Argh, you stupid creature! I'm going, I'm GOING!", she exclaimed angrily and naively turned her back to the creature to slowly make her way towards the motorcycle. She had just turned her back as the beast leapt at her again, which this time she completely avoided. Now there was just the issue that the path out of here was blocked by this winged pest.

Running out of options, a heavy sigh escaped Gaea's lounges. "I'm really not in the mood anymore, Birdie." - She kneeled down, the badger-hawk blinked confusedly as Gaea slowly placed her open right palm on the ground. She inhaled deeply before shifting her weight onto her arm, pushing downwards in a sudden movement. All the muscles up her bare arm visibly flexing as she did so. The spectator flapped its wings as the ground by Gaea let out a loud crack as she pushed her hand 3-4 inches through the rock, leaving a crater in the shape of a hand. The rock then started to slide closed around Gaea's hand until it was sealed entirely.

Patience had in the meantime ran out for the badger-hawk as it repeated the previous maneuver and lunged forward with open beak. Gaea looked up from the ground and fixed her gaze on the approaching target. When the distance between the two had been reduced enough, she swung her arm from the right and straight at the badger-hawk, pulling a rather large chunk of flat stone out of the ground as an addition to her own palm. The poor creature was hit square on the side of its head and the power of the impact smacked it several feet straight to the left and into the side of a sturdy tree, with the result of small branches and leaves drizzling down over the still figure in the shadow of the tree.

Damn it... I didn't mean to... Damn. She got up and brushed her hair back with slightly shivering hands. Although the intention had been to inflict a bruise and a scare, she had in reality struck slightly harder than she had meant to. She couldn't dwell on this matter now though, as there was in fact business to attend to and she had already wasted too much time unproductively. She ripped a piece off of the blanket and tied it tightly around her wounded thigh as a temporary solution for covering up the cut. With a last glimpse in the direction of the tree, Gaea mounted the motorcycle once more and kick started it. The roaring sound of the old engine was the only thing interrupting the silence of nature and as she speeded uphill, Gaea felt like she had already experienced enough adventure for one day... And so far, she hadn't liked it one bit.

 

[Sephear]

Davian & Kalden

​

Kalden and Davian had come to a stop after having run down a very narrow little side-corridor further down the hallway from where they had been hiding in the closet. Kalden took a breath of air as he leaned back against the wall, staring ahead of him with a thoughtfully worried look on his face. I really hope uncle Thok'll be alright... I'm sure he will, he's one of the most amazing benders alive. Having put his worries to rest, he stood up straight again, clapping his hands together and turning to Davian.

"Alright! So, here's what we're going to do. We'll do what my uncle told us and go save the others. From what seems most likely, they're going to be in the gym," he raised a hand and gave the stone wall besides him a pat. "And the Equalists probably haven't figured out there's more ways than just the doors in there. It might get dangerous. -Really- dangerous in there. You still up for it?"

Davian smirked at Kalden. "Oh I'm up for it, I didn't go through all that just to let the girl and the Avatar get taken away. If you can get me where I need to be I'll do my best." He patted the pouches that contained his Omni-Orbs. "I'm prepared for just about any job that needs doing."

Kalden flashed Davian a bright grin and half-turned away before blinking in realization and turning back to him. "Oh! Almost completely forgot in the heat of things." He smiled, pressing his fist against his palm and bowing lightly. "I'm Kalden."

Davian lightly thumped his own head. "Oh yeah, silly me. I'm Davian, it's nice to meet you. The most professional of benders. Too bad I can't be one." He looked around the room a bit more. "So Kalden, what's our secret way in?"

A wry smile crept across Kalden's face, the sort of expression that says 'I know something you don't', as he turned and took another few steps down the narrow, one-person-wide hallway, before stopping, turning and pointing up at a metal grate near the ceiling.

"That's our secret way in, my friend. Think you can bend that thing off, quietly?"

After examining the grate for a moment Davian waved his hand dismissively. "Of course I can." He pointed one index finger at each screw on one side of the grate and made little spinning motions with them, the screws spun and fell into his hands. He repeated the process with the other two screws and used a quick bit of bending to make sure the grate gently floated to the floor. "After you, you're probably better at jumping than I am."

"Actually, there's probably another grate on the inside of the gym, and we -definitely- don't want them to hear that one, so... I think you should go first. I'll give you a hand, though!" Kalden gave a smile and took a step back before lowering slightly down onto one knee, collecting both his hands together in preparation to give Davian a boost up to the grate.

Davian's smile grew a bit distorted, he loved having an excuse to show off a bit for once. "Nah I can get up fine, look at this little trick I mastered." He pulled out his Omni-Orbs and formed them into the quarterstaff shape with one fluid motion. When it was ready he held one end to the ground and pushed up with his hands, using bending ot keep it upright. After boosting himself up he stood up on the other end of the staff and climbed into the vent. After he moved forward a bit he called back down to Kalden.

"I'm ready, just make sure you give me directions after you get up here."

Kalden let out an impressed little whistle. "Wow, not bad! Remind me to ask you about... uh, whatever those things are, when this is all over." He then bent his knees and leapt upwards, catching the very edge of the vent, which he then swiftly clambered into, making sure to keep a good bit of distance between himself and Davian's rear, lowering his voice in the echoey vents. "Alright... straight ahead, make a right, and then the second left, and we should be at the grate leading into the back end of the gym."

"Got'cha." Davian crawled forward a ways until he saw a split and went right, forward until the next turn and finally they were at the grate. "I'm glad that wasn't too far, it's stuffy in here." He began the same process he had used to open the first grate, but it was a bit more complicated from the other side. After each screw came loose he had to slow their descent with bending so they wouldn't make any noise when they hit the floor. When he had finally set the grate as carefully as possible on the gym floor, Davian hopped down with a slight roll to lighten the impact.

As Kalden quickly wriggled up to where Davian had been laying a moment before, he took a quick look around the gym, his eyes widening as he hurriedly slid out of the hole, landing lightly next to Davian before grabbing his collar, dragging him a few steps to the left, behind a wooden vault. Letting go of him, he pressed a finger to his lips and leaned to the side, peering around the vault. At the other side of the room, there were alot of kids and teens tied up two and two, as well as Ryan, Julienne, a person he didn't know, and... Xiu! All of them were cuffed, it looked like, and the area him and Davian were in, was where the thugs, currently standing near the double doors, had moved all of the equipment to.

The guy that had surprised them and forced Thokmay into a duel was standing over a dishevelled-looking girl, and from what Kalden could hear, and much to his shock and despair, he had apparently dealt with Thokmay, in record time.Uncle... Pushing away the worry for his uncle for a moment, he surveyed the situation, biting onto his lower lip.

"... Any ideas? I have a few, but they... aren't that good. We're kind of outnumbered here."

Davian put two fingers to his chin as he tended to do when thinking hard. I've never tried it before but... maybe if I flow my liquefied Orbs into a lock and then solidify them I can jury-rig a key. "I think I can free the others if big bad palooka over there doesn't smash my face in first, Airbenders seem to have a speed advantage, ya think you could distract him for a bit?"

Kalden glanced over at the group of guards with the rather intimidating guy standing among all of them. That's probably the best plan we have, but... if he could take out uncle Thok in just a few moments... His fist clenched slightly and he took in a deep breath through his nose, turning to Davian again, nodding his head firmly while sending him a wry little grin. "Making distractions is a favourite passtime of mine. You can count on me. Wait until I give the signal and see what you can do."

With the same grin, he gave Davian's arm a pat before sneaking around the vault, creeping along the various props and gym items that had been stacked up in this side of the room, keeping himself hidden. As he had nearly reached the wall with the double doors leading out, he peeked out behind a large mattress standing upright against the wall at the thugs that were standing slightly spread out, muttering to themselves, afraid their commander would hear them.

A quick buzz of worry and a feeling that he should turn around and just make a run for it went through him, but he shook it off, gritting his teeth. He couldn't leave the others behind, least of all Xiu! With a final deep breath for preparation, he moved out from behind the mattress, hopping on top of it and taking a seat while placing two fingers in his mouth, letting out a sharp whistle.

"Hey boys! If you'd have told me this was a costume party, I would've dressed up as well!"

Davian risked a glance around his hiding spot to see what was up when he heard the shrill noise of Kalden's whistle assault everyone's ears. Many of the regular guards wasted no time in running straight at him, it didn't leave a lot of room to maneuver but they were getting in each other's way plenty. Alright, now if that boss guy will just go after him too I'll have a window... shouldn't be too long, he'll see how useless it is to go after Kalden all at once.

Giving a grin as the guards scrambled to get after him, Kalden pressed his hands down against the top of the mattress, hauling himself over the back of it, using the momentum of his swinging legs and a bit of airbending to slam his feet against the back of the mattress, causing it to fly forwards at the thugs storming at him, the large mattress slamming into two of them as it toppled over with Kalden vaulting off of it, leaping to the other side of the room, landing square on his feet.

"Come on guys, you have to be quicker than that if you're going to catch an airbender!" he taunted as he turned, raising his hands, flat-palmed, in front of him in his usual combat stance, flashing the lot a playful grin despite the sinking feeling in his chest as the commander turned to send him a piercing stare.

His chance showed itself when the jerk in charge of the situation finally focused on Kalden, he'd have to be careful, that guy was too smart to let Kalden be his only concern. But Davian couldn't waste any time, as soon as the man's eyes locked onto Kalden he bolted from the hiding spot towards the mess of prisoners, hoping Kalden would make a bigger impression on the leader before he made any noise.

While two of the thugs were squirming out from under the mattress, Kalden turned his attention to the commander still staring him down without any inclination to rush to attack him, as the guards were already on their way. So that's how it is, huh? He took in a deep breath before thrusting his right hand forwards, followed by his left, ending with a high, right kick, which both sent blasts of air darting towards the commander, while Kalden used the momentum to spin himself around and lean down, pushing his hands to the ground and lifting himself up in a handstand, ready to follow up on his attacks.

The commander, however, wasn't impressed. He didn't even break a sweat as he swiftly stepped right, left and leaned slightly backwards, easily dodging all of Kalden's attacks. He gave his minions a sharp glance. "Must I do everything myself? -Get him-."

Leader dude finally had more than a passing interest to keep him from noticing Davian, maybe they'd pull this off after all. He was already out of cover so he didn't have a lot of time to think, it looked like 4 guards had been smart enough to keep watch on the prisoners even in all the confusion. Luckily, the guards that were left had all focused intensely on the foolish bender their boss would surely defeat in moments. Davian pulled out his Omni-Orbs and crossed his arms in a sweeping motion to create two 3 1/2 foot long batons and kept running. Once he had closed enough distance he slammed the batons into the backs of the heads of the first pair of guards and dove for the second pair without checking to see if the first two went down. Davian pointed the ends of the batons directly at the guards' solar plexises and the momentum from his jump took them down hard.

After catcing himself and avoiding a dangerous slide towards the fight, Davian looked back at the first pair of guards and smiled when he realized he had in fact knocked them out cold; he had scored direct hits on the second pair so if they were still awake they'd be too busy trying to breathe and not spill their guts out to do anything for a while. He went to Angelique first and began feeding a small amount of liquefied Omni-Orb into the locks on her cuffs, sparing a few words while he worked. "Don't get any ideas... but I'm glad to see you're alright, as soon as you're loose make a break for that stuff over there, we're pretty sure it's where everyone's weapons are." After the locks were full he solidified the metal and turned, popping the cuffs open.

The second Angelique was free he went to Ryan, whatever the guy's problem was the combatants had to be freed first, and Davian didn't know which person was Xiu. He used his makeshift keys on the locks and had him loose quickly as with Angelique, pleased that it was working. "The second you're out of these follow Angelique to where everybody's stuff is." And once Ryan was free Davian finally got to Julienne. "Sorry about that, gotta get the people who can fight out first. I hope you never doubted me, can't go through all that jsut to ditch you can I? Once you're free please help the other people stay calm and keep them out of the way." His tone left no room for argument, it was not harsh but commanding, Davian was in crisis mode. Once Julienne was out he got the last girl free as quickly as possible and gave her the same advice as the other benders, adding in. "If you're who I think you are we could use your help too... but don't put yourself at too much risk." I can't really remember, but I think she looks like her... After finishing he returned the key to his orbs and formed his dual blades to cut the ropes around the citizens.

With everyone finally free Davian had only one goal left. Victory. The other lackeys had most assuredly seen Davian getting everyone out and were storming towards him and the others. He put his left sword forward and facing to the right across the front of him, with the right blade behind him pointing over his shoulder at the guards in his preferred dual-wielding battel stance.

At this point, Kalden had dealt with one of the two guards attacking him, just barely evading an attack by the remaining thug's baton, spinning off to the side while bending his knees. He brought both his hands up to his chest before thrusting them forwards against the guy, sending a blast of air square into his chest, launching him across the room and into a pile of dumbbells.

Taking a breath of air, he swiftly turned around to have a look at Davian's progress. At first, he was happy as seemingly almost everybody had gotten freed, but the two guards he had seemingly knocked out earlier were slowly getting up, and the other benders were on their way over to get their weapons. He was just about to call out to Davian, but just as he opened his mouth, he noticed something moving just out the corner of his left eye. He threw his torso backwards as a blade came whizzing past his face, his eyes wide as he stumbled backwards, facing the large, intimidating man lowering the blade again while looking over Kalden rather condescendingly.

"... Seems like you're more trouble than you're worth, unlike that other airbender."

Kalden's hands clenched into fists at this obvious taunt, but before he could make a retort or even a move, the man swung his sword in a diagonal, upwards strike, which Kalden only managed to avoid by throwing himself onto the floor, proceeding to roll away as the guy tried to stomp on his chest.

The young airbender pushed his hands to the floor when far enough away from the dangerous man, raising his legs up and swinging them around, rather swiftly gaining momentum enough to launch off the floor and land on his feet again, sending the commander a glare. "... You're going to pay." He then thrust a hand forwards to try and blast the guy backwards, but he had been just a bit too swift for Kalden, grasping his cloak, pulling it around to his front while pushing his shoulder against the attack as well, only causing him to get pushed back a few inches.

"You bore me." The man growled as Kalden followed his attack up with raising his leg to try and kick another gust of air at him, but once again, the man was too quick, swinging his sword down towards his chest, which left Kalden no choice but to push his hands up and use a blast of air to push himself back, landing on the floor with a grunt. The sword, still outstretched in his hand was lowered to point at Kalden. "Time to see if youre friends are more entertaining."

"No, do- yeaaaergh...!!" the boy cried out as a bolt of lightning was shot from the blade, electrocuting Kalden for a few seconds before disappearing again, leaving the young airbender slumped unconciously on the floor in front of him.

Davian broke his stance when he heard a loud crackling noise and then what seemed to be some sort of snap. When he turned he saw Kalden on the floor and gasped. "Julienne, get everyone else to the other benders!" If I don't attack him now he might just decide to finish off Kalden before the rest of us can rally. After he barked the order he sprinted towards the leader in complete ignorance of the reawakened guards behind him.