Equalists

Korra's focus was brought back to the present as she caught the heavy medicine ball that Mako had thrown at her. At least she had Pro-bending to distract her from her relationship problems, or rather, her lack thereof. She just wished that her team's practice was at a better time. She, Mako, and Bolin were wearing their dark grey practice gear. Functionally, it was the same as the vibrant red armor that she had worn during her first match, however, these sets were noticeably more well-worn and not as well maintained. They also smelled kinda funky.

"Ugh, What's the big idea with making me train this early in the morning?" Korra groaned. "The morning is evil," she whispered dramatically before tossing the ball to Bolin.

"We're the rookies," Bolin explained, catching Korra's throw, "so we get the worst time slot in the gym."

"Ha, you think this is bad?" a bark of laughter came from behind the three practicing Fire Ferrets. "You should try getting up at oh-four-hundred while your crazy uncle shouts weird inspirational quotes at you during drill," Koda remarked. He was once again wearing his usual outfit with the leather jacket as he leaned against the wall while the Fire Ferrets practiced. However, even as he was talking, his eyes were closed. Korra had learned over the last couple of weeks that this was a sure sign that Koda was using his Seismic Sense to monitor the area for any signs of potential danger.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Koda took his job as Korra's bodyguard very seriously. Without even thinking about it, he'd gotten up at the break of dawn and followed Korra to the Pro-bending arena despite the fact that the two of them had only gotten bad just a few hours before thanks to Tenzin's reinvigorated interest in her airbending training.

This would give Korra plenty of one-on-one time with Koda for at least the next week or so.

"Seriously, how was yelling 'Life is like a sewer: What you get out of it depends on what you put into it!' supposed to help me make it through that 10-kilometer run?" Koda asked them, regaining Korra's attention. Meanwhile, Pabu, the team's fire ferret mascot and Bolin's pet, was perched on the police officer's shoulder, taking a nap. Bolin seemed to look at this as some sort of betrayal on the ferret's part, but Korra couldn't help but think that Koda and Pabu looked adorable together like that.

The Fire Ferrets merely gave Koda an odd look in response to his... unique story. Before they could continue with their practice, the door to the gym opened and a mustached man wearing an expensive-looking, black suit and bowler hat walked in. "There are my hard-working street urchins," he greeted with smug satisfaction. As he made his way over to the Mako and Bolin, he took note of their new teammate. "It's an honor to finally meet ya', Avatar," he said in a voice that just oozed sketchiness as he place a hand on Korra's shoulder.

"And you are..." she inquired skeptically, shrugging off the man's hand.

"Butakha!" he declared, taking his hat off with a wide sweeping motion and bowing his head. "I run this whole Pro-bending shebang." He quickly placed his hat back on his head, likely to cover up his baldness.

Korra rolled her eyes, completely unimpressed with the man's display. She then walked away, looking for some sort of workout equipment to use while Mako and Bolin talked with the man. Butakha reached into his coat and pulled out a rather large stack of yuans. "Here's your winnings from the last match," he said, slapping the stack of bills into Mako's hand.

Mako grinned and moved to put the money in his back pocket. "Ah-uh-ah! Not so fast," Butakha quickly interrupted, wagging his finger. "First, you owe me for the Avatar's new gear," he said as he swiped several bills from on top the pile in Mako's hand.

Mako's smile faltered, but he moved to pocket what remained of his money. "Ah!" Butakha stopped him once again. "Gym and equipment rentals for last month," he quickly added, taking another handful of bills from the stack.

Mako was frowning now as he was beginning to pick up on Butakha's game. "Ah-uh!" the slimy arena owner continued as he grabbed even more of the brothers' winnings. "Rent on your—"

"Hey," Koda spoke up, letting his presence be known. "You're not seriously trying to grift these guys in full view of a police officer and the Avatar, are you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow as he moved to stand beside Mako. Pabu was jostled awake by Koda's movement, and he scurried off and into Bolin's arms.

"Wha-What? No!" Butakha answered nervously as he eyed Koda's golden police badge. "Of course not. I'm just tryin' to settle a debt that these two owe me. It's all official."

"Oh, well that's good to hear," Koda said with an easy smile. "That means that you have the bill statement with you, right?"

Butakha swallowed the lump in his throat. "W-well, sure..." he stuttered out. "Just uh...not with me."

"Oh!" Koda said in false surprise. "Then I guess Mako can just hold on to this until you can bring it to him," Koda snatched the handful of yuans that Butakha had taken right out of his hand, giving them back to Mako. "He can pay you what they owe as soon as you have the proper paperwork."

Koda had his arms crossed over his chest and cocked his head to the side, daring the older man to challenge him on this. Butakha flares his nostrils in frustration before turning away and heading towards the door. "Thanks," Mako said to Koda, quiet enough that Butakha wouldn't be able to hear them. "It's kinda hard to stand up to that guy since he owns the gym, the arena, he's our landlord, and he's basically our boss on top of everything else."

"No problem," Koda assured him.

"Oh! And one more thing," Butakha said from the doorway. "The Fire Ferrets need to ante up thirty thousand yuans for the Championship pot."

"Thirty thousand yuans!?" Bolin exclaimed.

"Sorry, kids," Butakha said haughtily. "You've got 'til the end of the week to come up with the dough or else you're out of the tournament," he slammed the door shut on the way out.

By then Korra had rejoined the boys, hoping to continue their practice. "You wouldn't happen to have a secret Avatar bank account, overflowing with gold, would you?" Bolin asked Korra.

"I got nothing," Korra said as she turned her pocket out, showing they were empty. "I've never really needed money," she answered proudly. "I've always had people taking care of me."

"Then I wouldn't say you have nothing," Mako commented bitterly as he put his money and the medicine ball in his bag.

Korra had the decency to look embarrassed. "Sorry, I didn't mean—"

"No, it's alright," Bolin quickly insisted. "It's just... ever since we lost our parents, we've been on our own," he said sadly.

"I'm so sorry," she said sympathetically. "I didn't know..."

Mako zipped up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. "So anyway, how are we going to come up with the money?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Well, I hate to ask," Korra began uncomfortably, "but aren't the Beifongs, like... super loaded?" she asked Koda.

Koda himself didn't seem to be offended by her enquiry, just somewhat embarrassed. "Well, technically, yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "My aunt is actually the one who controls the Beifong fortune," he explained. "I've just got a bank account that gets refilled with five thousand yuans at the end of each month with my job and an additional two thousand yuans for my services for the United Forces."

"Is there anything else you could do? What about your mom?" Bolin asked desperately.

"The money's not really the issue. If I asked, I doubt they'd actually say 'no' to me," Koda answered. "There's just no way to send a message all the way to Zaofu and have them transfer the money back by the end of the week," he said. "They're technically still a part of the Earth Kingdom, so there's all sorts of international red tape and stuff for large money orders like that."

"As for my mom..." Koda trailed off. "She's just—well, it's not really an option right now, sorry."

Korra flinched in sympathy. After the chief of police found out that the Avatar's bodyguard was allowing her to roam the city as she pleased, things got a little heated. Even as she was eating in the dining hall, Korra could still hear the tongue-lashing that Koda had received from his mother, despite the fact that he was halfway across the island and using a radio at the White Lotus guard outpost.

"No, it's okay," Mako assured Koda. "We understand."

Koda smiled at his new friend's words. "If you guys can come up with the other twenty-three thousand, you can have the last seven thousand from my bank account," he offered.

"Thanks," Mako said gratefully. "So any other ideas?"

The four of them were quiet for a moment as they all tried to come up with an alternative when Bolin suddenly seemed to have an epiphany. "Ooh-ooh! I got it!" he said excitedly. "I've been training Pabu to do circus tricks," he explained, taking the fire ferret off of his shoulders and holding him up for everyone to see. "Now people would pay good money to see that," Bolin declared confidently.

Korra seemed confused by her teammate's proposal. While Mako looked thoroughly unimpressed and Koda gave him a disappointed look. "Come on, Bolin," Mako said slightly annoyed. "We need serious ideas."

Bolin hugged Pabu to his chest as he lowered his gaze. "I was serious," he stated meekly.

"Don't worry about it. I'll figure something out," Mako ignored his younger brother. "I always do." Before he left, Koda called out for Mako.

"Mako, I got some guys who owe me favors." Koda said. He later gave Mako a card with some addresses and smirked at the firebender. "They are some of my old school friends and they have a few businesses in the city. Tell them that Sonar sent you."

"Thanks, Koda." Mako said.

'In the afternoon at Tenzin's Personal Office in Republic City'

Koda was sitting with his father, drinking some coffee and reading some papers while Tenzin was sitting across from him. He sighed as he read the newspaper, Koda was disappointed during the paper and its contents.

"Is something wrong," Tenzin asked his eldest son.

"Damn Equalists," Koda said.

Tenzin frowned hearing this and set down his tea, "What has happened?" he said in a no nonsense attitude. Koda sighed, "They're up to something and it's going to happen soon. I've looked into it as many times as I could but..."

"But what?" Tenzin asked with tension.

"I just don't see how Amon is going to do it! Unless he's planning genocide for benders, I just don't see how he is going to fight something that is genetic! That's what's frustrating me!" Koda said with a growl.

Tenzin stared at the boy. He knew that Koda, despite him arriving here a month ago had done some undercover work to find out what Amon and his men had been up to, but sadly he had found little to nothing and could look no more since he was almost caught when his identity was discovered. But it was due to this that a mole was found in the police department.

"How much time do you think we have till they start whatever it is their planning?" the airbending master questioned.

"Minimal, a day to a few days tops." Koda said as he threw the papers on the table and drank his coffee in one gulp, "And I'm in more of a position to go with the former due to my knowledge of Amon."

"How do you think Korra will fit into this?" Tenzin questioned further.

"Korra is a big player in this game. When she arrived the Equalists movements increased to twice as much as before. So my theory is Korra will be playing a role soon and it probably won't be good," Koda said as he looked serious towards his father.

"This is troubling news Koda. I will discuss this with the council later today. In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled." Tenzin said.

"Don't need to tell me twice," Koda said.

'Meanwhile with Bolin'

Originally, the capital city of the United Republic of Nations was just a small fishing village named Cranefish Town. After the end of the Hundred Year War the area experienced massive expansion and modernization before being renamed Republic City. The city was meant to serve as a center for international cooperation. As a result, there were many monuments and memorials built throughout the city dedicated to heroes and figures from each of the four original nations, many of whom were key figures during the Hundred Year War.

One such example was the large stone statue of a young Fire Lord Zuko. The statue was over 30 feet tall and made of dark igneous rock imported from the Fire Nation Capital itself. It's most prominent feature was the ever-burning flame held in its open right hand. The statue was located outside of Republic City's Central Train Station where hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of people walked past it each day. It was because of this high volume of foot traffic that Bolin decided it would make for the perfect backdrop for his and Pabu's street performance.

"Come one, come all!" Bolin declared animatedly. He was sitting cross-legged on a small blue rug and wearing a vibrant red vest and belt over his normal dark green attire. He was also wearing a very large, and clearly fake, mustache. After all, all of the greatest ringleaders in history had snazzy facial hair, right?

"Come see Pabu, the Fantastic Fire Ferret, as he crosses the ladder of peril!" he paused and gasped dramatically. "Upside down..."

In front of Bolin was a small toy ladder suspended between two disposable paper cups he found in the garbage. To stage right, Pabu was dressed up in his own green vest and wearing a hat that Bolin had strapped to his head. The fire ferret was standing on an upturned metal can as he groomed himself, seemingly uninterested in playing a part in his owner's show.

"Psst-psst," Bolin tried to get his ferret's attention. Deciding to go along with it, Pabu jumped from his can and did a handstand as he went across the ladder on his front paws. "Big finish, buddy. Stick the landing..." Bolin whispered in anticipation. As Pabu reached the end of the ladder, he did a front flip before landing on the sidewalk on only one of his front paws.

"Ta-da!" Bolin sang with a flourish of his arms.

Without even looking down or slowing his pace, a man in a red suit dropped a single coin into the metal can that Pabu had been standing on. "Thank you ladies and gentlemen!" Bolin bowed as though he were a showman. "You are too kind. Seriously, too kind..." he trailed off. "You can come back here and put money in this," he said, jingling the can with the coin at passersby.

Bolin looked into the can and only saw a single coin. "Okay, that's fine. That's fine," he said with disappointment. It seemed as though he had miscalculated the public's interest in Fire Ferret-themed entertainment. "One yuan down; twenty-four thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine to go," he said.

He was beginning to feel disheartened when suddenly a loud, red speedster rolled up and parked right in front of Bolin. The driver side window rolled down, revealing a man in a fancy blue jacket with a large gold chain around his neck. "Hey, Bolin," the man greeted the young street performer. "Is that you?"

"Oh, hey there, Shady Shin," Bolin responded, trying to muster up a little enthusiasm after the abysmal turnout for his Fire Ferret Circus.

"Heard you're a big time Pro-bending player now," the now-identified 'Shady' Shin said as he stepped out of his satomobile. "Not bad."

"Uh...thanks," Bolin said, scratching the back of his neck. Even though he didn't really like to associate with people from his past, it was still somewhat embarrassing for Bolin to be seen by someone from his former life after he 'went straight.' He couldn't help but think that it kind of hurt his street cred.

"So listen, I've got an offer for you," Shady Shin always did like to get straight to the point. "Lightning Bolt Zolt is looking to hire some extra muscle."

"Uh, I don't know, Shin," Bolin said nervously. "Mako told me to stay away from the Triple Threats."

"Pfft, your brother ain't the boss o' you," Shin replied dismissively. "It's just a little security work," he assured Bolin. "Nothin' crooked." Just to make sure that the young earthbender was listening, Shin reached into his jacket and dropped a fat stack of yuans held together by a rubber band into Bolin's nearly-empty collection can.

Bolin's eyes went as big as saucer plates as he looked at the amount of money now in his possession. He gasped as he realized that he was likely holding almost 10,000 yuans, over a third of what he and Mako needed to gather in order to enter the Championship Tournament.

"You game?" Shin asked smugly, already knowing the answer.

'With Mako'

Before the end of the Hundred Year War, the art of lightningbending was a closely-guarded secret, known only to members of the Fire Nation Royal Family. It was declared illegal for anyone but those of royal blood to even attempt to learn it. As such, the only people outside of the Royal Family that were ever taught the secrets of technique were non-benders whose loyalty to the Crown was unquestionable. It is unknown when exactly this law was put into effect or even which Fire Lord decreed it. However, their reasoning was quite clear. They feared the awesome power of lightning and didn't want for it to ever be used against them.

Dozens upon dozens of generations of Fire Lords upheld this decision. And despite the benefits to the war effort that potential hundreds of lightningbenders would provide, even Fire Lords Sozin, Azulon, and Ozai feared its potential. However, this all changed when Fire Lord Zuko officially de-classified the knowledge of how to learn lightningbending. Almost 70 years later, in the modern era, somewhere around one-in-four firebenders are able to generate lightning to some degree.

Sometime shortly after the War, engineers in Republic City learned to utilize the phenomena known as 'electricity' and used it to power various devices from radios and light bulbs to the motors and pumps used in the Pro-bending arena. Around the same time, it was discovered that lightning was essentially nothing more than pure, concentrated electricity. Several power plants quickly popped up around Republic City and within the Fire Nation offering employment to any lightningbenders in order to harness the power of their bending and ship it out to consumers' homes in massive quantities.

Initially, working in these power plants was a very lucrative opportunity for any firebender skilled enough to learn lightningbending. Unfortunately, as the number of lightningbenders continued to increase, the number of available jobs decreased, and so too did the pay for those few remaining positions. Workers were required to wear full, face-covering welder's masks to shield their eyes and face from the constant exposure to the blindingly bright lightning flashes. While their heavy leather aprons and work gloves were supposed to protect them from any stray electrical discharges.

Thanks to the... circumstances in which he grew up, Mako was one of the youngest lightningbenders in Republic City. However, he had resolved himself to never use it in way that his teacher originally wanted him to. Luckily, Mako was fortunate enough to secure a part-time position with Republic City Municipal. His supervisor was even kind enough to work around his Pro-bending schedule. Though, that might have just been because of the free tickets Mako had given him.

Mako removed the welding mask from his face and wiped the sweat from his brow just as the whistle sounded, signaling the end of his shift. The hours were long and the work was grueling, and while the pay wasn't glamorous, it was more than enough to make a decent living off of if you were dedicated enough. And now that the Fire Ferrets needed to somehow come up with thirty grand in less than a week, Mako was plenty motivated. Unfortunately, despite his protests, he was only allowed to work so many hours per day before the foreman made him leave. What was so bad about wanting to work more than a 16-hour shift?

Mako sighed as he made his way out of the power plant. With all of the overtime, he'd managed to earn about ten thousand yuans in one day of exhausting work. He smiled at the cash he was getting and knew that they will get the other thirteen thousand in no time.

On his way home, Mako decided to swing by his and Bolin's favorite dumpling shop for a little pick-me-up. If they were going to have to deal with such a bleak prospect, at the very least, the dumplings should help to sweeten their otherwise sour mood.

"Hey Bo! I'm back!" Mako called out as he made his way back into their apartment above the Pro-bending arena. "Picked up your favorite dumplings..."

"Ugh," Mako groaned as he slumped onto their couch. He was exhausted after his double-shift. "Hey, I found some work down at the power plant," he continued. "It's some good money."

Mako was starting to get annoyed at being ignored. The two of them needed to talk about some important stuff, and Bolin still hadn't come out from wherever it was he was hiding. Mako hoped that Bolin still wasn't sulking after he and Koda had told the younger earthbender that his Fire Ferret Circus wasn't that good of an idea.

A brilliant thought then popped into Mako's head. He pulled one of the dumplings out of the white paper bag he was carrying and began to viciously and loudly devour it. If there was one thing that would draw Bolin out, it was the thought that Mako would eat all their dumplings before he even got a taste.

However, even as Mako finished swallowing down the last of his dumpling, Bolin was still nowhere to be heard. "Bolin? You here, bro!?" Mako was starting to get a little worried. Bolin was usually home by now; he didn't ever like to miss any meals.

Luckily, Mako quickly calmed down as a thought occurred to him. "Huh," he looked out the window and turned his gaze towards Air Temple Island.

As one would expect, growing up in a notorious street gang didn't exactly make for the most pleasant of childhoods. However, it wasn't just the threat of violence or the constant fear that, at any moment, the police would kick down the door and haul you off to prison. It affected Mako in ways many people overlooked; growing up with the Triple Threats meant Mako never had the opportunity to have a friend his own age.

Other than his little brother, the person closest to Mako's age was Shady Shin, and he was more than 15 years older than the two brothers. Of course, there were probably other kids that worked for the Triple Threats over the years, but Mako never knew any of them. Zolt always tried to make sure that his information network was kept compartmentalized. That way, in case one of his number runners got caught, then they wouldn't be able to expose any of the others.

Even after leaving their former life behind them, Mako never really connected with anyone other than Bolin and Toza. Sure, he and Bolin had several teammates over the years, and Bolin was always making friends with the other Pro-benders who worked out in Toza's gym. But to Mako, they were always just acquaintances, work colleagues. It was ironic then that after spending so many years being afraid that, at any moment, he and Bolin would suddenly be arrested, the first person Mako would hesitantly call a friend was actually a police officer.

Speaking of, either Koda or Korra must have told the Air Temple Island ferry operators about Mako since they had no issues with him asking for a lift to the normally-isolated island. They didn't even ask for some sort of fee. A first for Mako since the Triple Threats would always try to charge people a 'fee' for just living on the same block as them.

The sun was setting as Mako made his way up the staircase to the training grounds, and his vision was somewhat impeded thanks to the sun's glare. Approaching the area where the monks at the dock said that Korra would be, Mako could make out the distinctive outline of Koda in his police armor. He was standing beside two small children, and all three of them were looking at a large collection of wooden panels. Just then the two children, young girls Mako realized, raised their arms and began moving them in circular motions.

What happened next got Mako's attention and caused his eyes to widen slightly. The air above the two girls began to distort as the wind gathered in miniature cyclones. Coming to this island, Mako was aware that he was likely to run into Koda's family. Still, this was the first time he'd ever seen someone airbend before, and it was slightly awe-inspiring. The girls then moved their arms forward, sending their collected air power at the assortment of gates in front of them, making them spin wildly.

Just as Mako was beginning to wonder where Korra was and what the point of this demonstration was, he got both answers very quickly. In the middle of all of the wooden boards was his new teammate. Korra was twisting and turning through the jumble of chaotically spinning panels as though she were dancing.

Mako was momentarily stunned. That was insane! The environment inside there was constantly changing. If you stopped moving, you'd get mauled by the hundred-pound pieces of wood. And if you didn't get your timing right and missed any of your escape windows, then you'dget mauled again.

"Good! Light on your feet!" the older of the two girls yelled to Korra.

Korra then popped out of the spinning labyrinth a moment later, kicking up some dust as she skidded to a halt. She leaned over and put her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

If this is what Korra was doing before she started Pro-bending, Mako could now see how she was able to compete at the pro level without any prior experience in the sport. Maybe he and Bolin could come here to train? It seemed to have done wonders for Korra. Pushing those irrelevant thoughts aside, Mako put his hands in his pockets and approached the group so he could ask them about his wayward little brother.

"Oo-oo, he's cute," the younger of the two girls commented as they finally noticed Mako's presence.

"Watch it..." Koda said to the young girls with a teasing half-smile. "If you think that you two are getting old enough to start liking boys, then I'll just have to lock you both up here on the Island and never let you out."

"You do realize that there are boys here on the island too, right?" the older girl asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Koda then let his smirk fall. "Then I guess I'll just have to bury them all alive," his voice lowered menacingly, a small boulder floating above his clenched fist.

The two sisters obviously didn't believe their brother would go through with his male-purging plan as they both giggled at his antics and skipped away with the assistance of their airbending.

"You know, I don't know who I pity more," Korra commented, "Ikki and Jinora or the boys who'll try to date them."

"Oh, definitely the boys," Mako said, looking to Koda with a grin.

"Speaking of younger siblings, where's Bolin?" Koda asked. "Did he not want to come with you?"

Mako's smile quickly fell as a worried expression crossed his face. "I don't know," Mako answered. "I actually came here hoping to find him."

"Think something's wrong?" Koda asked.

"I don't know," Mako said, looking to the side uncertainly. "Bolin has a knack for getting into... stupid situations," he continued before sighing. "See you guys later."

Mako turned around and began walking back towards the docks, but Korra quickly followed. "Wait!" she called out. "We could help you look for him," she offered.

"No—thank you," Mako said, his speech disjointed. "I, uh, I got it," he assured Korra nervously.

"Hey," Korra said, grabbing his arm. "It's okay to accept a helping hand when it's offered," she said.

"Yeah, we're friends, aren't we?" Koda added with a look of concern.

Mako looked to the ground, thinking. He took a deep breath before answering. "Alright," he relented. He then looked to Korra. "Thank you," Mako said.

"You're welcome," Korra said a smile. "Now, I think our best bet would be to take Naga," she suggested with determination.

"Who's Naga?" Mako asked.

"My best friend," Korra explained, "and a great tracker."

'Along the Streets of Republic City

Korra, Koda, and Mako were riding on Naga.

"Your best friend is a...polar bear dog. Somehow that makes perfect sense." Mako commented while sitting behind Koda.

"I'll take that as a compliment, city boy." Korra said cheekily.

"Technically it does make sense. All Avatars seem to have an animal guide of sorts. Examples would be Avatar Roku's dragon, Fang, Avatar Aang's flying bison, Appa, and then you got Korra and Naga." Koda explained.

"Huh, you learn something new every day." Mako said, nodding in understanding.

They eventually arrived at Republic City square.

"Well, this is his usual hang out." Mako said as he dismounted from Naga. And Koda and Korra followed him.

Mako eventually made his way to a group of kids, "You guys seen my brother around today?" Mako asked

One kid with a hat spoke up, "Perhaps...but my memory is a little...foggy. Maybe you could help...clear it up?" He said as he stuck out his hand.

"I could just shack him up a bit." Koda muttered to Korra and she laughed.

Mako scratched his head, "Your good Skoochy, I'll give you that." Mako said as he gave some bills to the kid, "A real pro."

"Yeah, I saw him." Skoochy said

"When?" Mako demanded

"About noon."

"What was he doing?" Mako pressed

"He was performing some kind of monkey rat circus and then..." he said as he stuck out his hand again.

Mako rolled his eyes and handed him a few more bills, "And then what? Why did he leave?"

Skoochy covered his mouth and leaned in, "Shady Shin showed up and flashed some serious cash. Bo took off with him in his hotrod. 'Mako looked shocked' The Triple Threats, the Red Monsoons, the Agni Kai's, all the triads are muscling up for something real big. Now that's all you're getting out of me." Skoochy said as he called his friends to follow him as he left.

Korra turned to Koda, "Was he lying?" she asked the earthbender.

Koda shook his head, "Nope, he told the truth and Bolin seems to be in some serious trouble. As I had reports stating the triads were up to something." He said

"Sounds like a turf war's brewin' and Bolin's about to get caught right in the middle." Mako said seriously.

They were heading towards the Triple Threat Triad's HQ when all of a sudden Naga started chasing a fire ferret.

"Whoa Naga!" Korra said as she pulled the reins.

"That's Pabu!" Mako exclaimed as Pabu ran up a street sign.

"No Naga, Pabu is a friend, not a snack." Korra commented

Pabu squeaked back and tapped noses with Naga, and then jumped onto the polar bear dog and climbed up Mako's shoulder.

"We got to hurry." Mako said in distress.

They made it to the HQ and Koda put his hand to the ground.

"There's no one in there. The Triple Treats would have guards outside too. There is some activity going on in the back though." Koda said as they rushed inside and head through the back door.

As they exited the back door they saw a bunch of Equalists and a large truck, which just so happened to have Bolin tied up and gagged in the back of it.

"Bolin!" Cried Mako as he tried to run to the truck.

Two Equalists on motorcycles threw a canister that released a green gas.

"Naga, come!" Korra said as she Koda and Mako ran out of the gas and jumped on Naga's back.

Naga gave chase to the Equalists as Koda and Korra threw rock columns at them and Mako sent some fireballs their way.

They eventually entered a wide area.

Three Equalists turned around and one threw a lasso at Naga's feet causing her to trip and the group to fly off their ride.

The three Equalists jumped off their bikes and flipped towards the group.

Koda was the first to recover as he flipped out of the way as his opponent when for a heel drop and Koda quickly got into his stance and danced around the Equalist and raised a small earth column at his foot, off balancing the chi blocker, then a fist size rock flew up from the ground and hit the Equalist in the face, causing him to stagger a bit. Koda then elbowed his staggered opponent that sent him rolling on to the ground and the earthbender followed up with an earth line, making him fly further.

Koda turned to see that both Korra and Mako were already done and no doubt had their chi blocked.

He raised a 15x15 earth wall in front of them and had it shot out 1x1 blocks of stone at the chi blockers. They tried to dodge but most of them hit and they did a crawling run to their bikes to get away. His first opponent seemed to have limp to his bike too.

Koda ran up to Korra and Mako to check if they were ok.

Koda helped Korra and later took out a wrist blade to cut through Naga's rope.

"Thanks." Korra said as she threw her fist forward trying to firebend.

"It isn't going to work, Korra; they blocked your chi, it'll wear off." Koda said

"Tch, chi blockers, Amon's henchmen." Mako said in some anger as he rubbed his wrist, "Though I have to say that Koda really knew how to lay the pressure on them." He commented

Korra turned to Koda, "Yeah, how did you do that?" she eagerly asked.

Koda shrugged, "I've fought a few and learned some was to counter them." He started quickly.

"Wait Amon? That anti-bending guy with the mask?" Korra asked, wondering if she heard Mako's comment correctly.

Koda nodded, "Yes, he is the leader of the Equalists."

"What would they want to do with the Triple Threats?" Korra questioned in confusion.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good. Tch, I can't believe Bolin got himself into this mess!" Mako in anger and worry.

Koda grabbed his shoulder, "Don't worry. We'll get him back." He said

Korra nodded, "I promise, we will." She said with determination.

They continued searching but had found nothing.

"We've been out all night. No sign of him." Korra said

"We got to keep looking." Mako encouraged

"We will Mako." Koda reassured

"But where can we look?" Mako thought out loud.

Korra gasped, "I have an idea!" she said and mushed Naga to move.

'At Republic City National Park'

They stopped by the fountain and the three animal companions took a drink while the benders talked.

"When I first came to town, I ran into an Equalist protestor over there." Korra said as she pointed to a large area in the park.

"And you think they'll know where Bolin is?" Mako asked with skepticism.

"It's our only lead right now." Korra countered

"I think I know who you're talking about Korra. Did he have pale skin, dark brown hair with muttonchops, and a black hat?" Koda asked

"Yeah!" Korra said in shock at the perfect description of the protestor.

"Then he'll be here, no worries. But, let me do the talking, ok?" he ordered

The other two nodded.

They waited as they leaned on Naga.

Korra was a bit fidgety so she started a conversation with Mako.

"So why is Bolin running around with the Triple Threats Triad anyway?" she asked

Mako looked a bit uncomfortable but answered anyway, "Well...we, we used to do some work for them back in the day." Mako said nonchalantly.

"Wait! Are you some kind of criminal?" Korra asked heatedly.

"No." Both Koda and Mako answered.

Mako looked at Koda and then palmed his face, "You looked to see if we were criminals, didn't you?" he said

"Yep. And both of you are clean as a whistle. But, I am curious to know what you did for them?" Koda said

"I just ran numbers for them and stuff. We were orphans out on the street. I did what I had to do to survive and protect my little brother." Mako said as he crossed his arms and looked away.

"I'm not judging you Mako. And it was good you got early. Some kids have done what you have and stayed and became full-blown criminals." Koda commented

"I'm sorry. It must have been really hard." Korra said, "Can I ask, what happened to your parents?" she asked

Koda slapped his face from Korra's lack of tact.

Mako sighed, "They were mugged, by a firebender. He cut them down right in front of me. I was eight." He said with sadness.

"Mako..." Korra said with worry.

Mako pulled his scarf to cover his mouth, "Bolin is the only family I have left. If anything happened to him..." he trailed off.

"We'll find him." Koda said.

'The Next Morning'

Koda's eyes opened as the sun hit his face and felt a weight on his shoulder and looked to see Korra snoozing on it.

He gave a grin and was about to wake her up when a blaring annoying voice echoed throughout the park.

"Equality now! Equality now! We want equality now!"

Both Korra and Mako started to wake up.

Korra looked up to what she was leaning on and looked right into Koda's grinning face.

"Sleep well?" he asked with amusement.

"Ahh!" she shouted in surprise and crawled away with a big blush on her face.

"If you wanted me to be your pillow Korra, you just had to ask." The earthbender teased, causing her blush to increase.

Mako looked over and had an amused look on his face.

"Non-benders of Republic City! Amon calls you to action! Take back your city! It's time for the-" The protester gasped as he saw Koda and Korra approaching him.

"It's you again!" He said as he started to talk into his megaphone, "You cannot silence me Avatar!"

Koda, not liking a megaphone in his face slapped it out of his hand and it broken when it hit the ground.

"Qua, what have I said about putting a megaphone in my face?" Koda asked menacingly.

Qua gulped, "To not to, Lieutenant Beifong."

Koda smiled, "Right. Now, a friend of mine was taken by a group of chi blocker yesterday. Maybe you can provide some insight for me?" the earthbender asked nicely.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Qua said stubbornly.

Koda just stared at the man and it unnerved him. It was like he was looking into his soul.

"You really need to stop lying Qua. What would your parents say?" Koda said with a predator-like smile.

"Don't talk about my parents." He said paling a bit.

"Oh, that's right." Koda nodded in understanding, "They were big supporters of my grandfather, Avatar Aang weren't they. And you were always getting into trouble in order to get attention for yourself by opposing the majority opinion. And what better way to get attention then be a protestor for the Equalists. You have a bit of a record don't you? Most of it is petty crimes, but the shame of having a son that opposed the very man they supported. Tsk tsk." The Beifong said as he grabbed a few flyers and started to walk away, but turned to face Qua one more time.

"You're like a lost koala sheep who's just following a trend or something. Do most of us a favor and stop being an attention seeking child."

Mako and Korra just blinked and followed him.

"Hey? What happened to asking about Bolin?" Mako asked

Koda held up the flyers he took.

"Whatever is going down. It's going to happen at 9 P.M. at the location on the back of these flyers." The earthbender said.

They both looked in shock.

"How did you know there was a map on the back of them?" Korra asked curiously.

Koda sighed as they sat on a bus stop bench.

"I did some undercover work to find out something's about Amon and got in pretty high ranked in his chi blocker squad. I meet him a few times also. So I know how he operates things." Koda said

"That's how you know how to fight them!" Korra said in awe.

"Yes and it is a useful talent to learn. As I infiltrated his group, it turned out that he had a mole in the police department. The mole found out I was there and I was nearly captured by him personally but I managed to fight him off evenly until my backup arrived and he fled. We later found the mole, who was a very flirty secretary." Koda explained

One could see the look of respect on Mako's face. He had heard things about Amon and one was that he was a ruthlessly good chi blocker. For Koda to hold his own against the masked man was definitely a testament to Koda's skills.

Korra just really wanted to have a spar with Koda with earthbending now.

"Anyway, let's turn these flyers over and connect them." Koda said

"Like a puzzle?" Korra asked with amusement.

"Yep." Koda nodded.

"Let's see, there are four different images. So if we do this..." Mako said as he connected the images and put it towards the bus stops map, "and bingo, we got it." Mako said happily.

"Nice. There's a police safe house on the way for undercover operations where we can get some clothes to disguise ourselves in." Koda said as he walked to Naga.

Koda was wearing a black hoodie and black pants, he wore sunglasses and a cane was in front of him. Korra was wearing a brown coat, Mako's red scarf, and a beanie hat. Mako was wearing a green high color jacket with a paperboy hat.

"Why the sunglasses?" Korra asked.

"They'll recognize my hazel-eyes," Koda Koda said, "So I'll be blind..."

Koda walked with the cane in front of the doorway and was stopped by the bouncer. "Where's the invite?" the large bouncer asked.

Koda roughly searched his pocket and handed the large man the flyer.

The bouncer nodded and moved out the doorway, "Welcome my brother and rest assured, those benders will get what's coming to them." The bouncer said. Koda walked in and waited for Mako and Korra. They all nodded and walked down.

They stood in the audience and heard a voice over the ringing through the building.

"Please welcome your hero! Your savior! Amon!"

The crowd cheered as Amon and his guard rose from the stage.

Amon walked up to the mike on stage and cleared his throat.

"My quest for equality began many years ago. When I was a boy, my family and I lived on a small farm. We weren't rich and none of us were benders. This made us very easy targets for a firebender that extorted my father. One day, my father confronted this man, but when he did...that firebender took my family from me. Then...he took my face. I've been force to hide behind a mask ever since." Amon said and paused.

"As you know, the Avatar has recently arrived in Republic City."

The crowd booed.

"And if she were here she would tell you that bending brings balance to the world, but she is wrong! The only thing bending has brought to the world is suffering. It has been the cause of every war in every era. But that is about to change. I know you have been wondering what is the Revelation? You are about to get your answer! Since the beginning of time, the spirits have been guardians of our world and they have spoken to me!"

The crowd gasped.

"They say the Avatar has failed humanity! And that is why the spirits have chosen me to usher in a new era of balance. They have granted me a power that will make equality a reality. The power...to take a person's bending away, permanently!" Amon said menacingly.

"That's...impossible. There is no way." Korra said in denial.

"This guy is insane." Mako responded

"Not really." Koda said as the two turned to him and noticed that he lost the eye patch, was standing up straight, and was talking normally again, "Avatar Aang removed Fire Lord Ozai's bending towards the ending of the 100 year war. From what I found out, an ancient spirit had taught it to him. I wonder if Amon came in contact with that spirit or maybe another that showed him how to do it. It would explain how he would get rid of benders much better than the plans I thought up he would do."

"Now... for a demonstration." Amon said, "Please welcome, 'Lightning Bolt' Zolt, leader of the Triple Threat Triad and one of the most notorious criminals in Republic City."

The crowd booed at him.

"Ah boo yourself!" the tied up triad leader shouted.

Another four benders sat nearby surrounded by chi blocker, one happened to be Bolin.

"There's Bolin." Korra said and she was about to rush the stage until Koda grabbed her shoulder, "Are you nuts. We need a plan to extract Bolin without getting Amon and those chi blockers on our tails afterwards."

"Alright Koda, but think fast." Korra said trusting Koda.

"Zolt has amassed a fortune by extorting and abusing non benders, but his reign of terror is about to come to an end! Now in the interest of fairness. I will give Zolt the chance to fight to keep his bending." Amon said

Koda watches the 'battle', if one could even call it that, end very quickly as Amon pressed his thumb to Zolt's forehead and then pushed the firebender to the ground.

Zolt tried to get up and shot a fireball at Amon, but nothing happened.

"What, what did you do to me?" Zolt asked in fear.

"Your firebending is gone...forever." Amon told the now ex-firebender.

Amon turned to the crowd, "The era of bending is over. A new era of equality has begun!"

The crowd started to cheer wildly.

"Any idea yet?" Korra asked Koda as Mako waited for the game plan.

"Yes. Mako, I need you to get as close to the stage as you can. I'm going to create some cloud cover when it's Bolin's turn. Korra you get my back as I clear a way for Mako and Bolin to run through. Then we jump on Naga and get out of here. Got it?" Koda asked

They nodded.

"Good." Koda said as Mako slowly advanced towards the stage.

Koda saw that Mako was close enough and raised his hands and foot into the air and stomped hard, thus creating a large dust cloud that filled the entire building.

The crowd started to panic and run about as Mako jumped to the stage and threw a chi bender who was going to recapture Bolin into the distance and grabbed his brother's hand as they ran to Koda.

The cloud cover slowly died and some chi blockers surrounded both Korra and Koda and the earthbender raised a large pentagon wall and pushed the walls forward and Korra did the same.

Koda saw Mako and Bolin as they stopped right next to them.

"Alright, we got to bulldoze our way out of here. Everyone grab on to me!" Koda ordered.

The group did as instructed and Koda created an earth wave and rode it outside.

"Get on Naga while I block them off!" Koda instructed and he made a large earth wall that blocked off the entire alleyway from the chi blockers.

Koda stood on top of the wall he made and looked right at Amon.

Nothing was said between the two, but the message was clear.

'We will meet again and fight once more.'

Koda jumped down and headed home.

'Air Temple'

Both Korra and Koda walked down a hall in the temple silently till they saw Tenzin and some White Lotus sentries.

Tenzin turned to see them and looked relieved.

"Thank goodness. I was just about to send out a search party. Are you both alright?" the air master asked with concern.

Korra just shook her head.

"Did you find your friend?" Tenzin asked

"Yes, we did. But we found out how Amon is planning to deal with benders." Koda said

"We were at an Equalist rally. We saw Amon. He can take peoples' bending away, for good!" Korra said

"That's, that's impossible. Only the Avatar has ever possessed that ability." Tenzin argued

"We saw him do it, dad. With our own eyes, we saw it." Koda stated

Tenzin sighed, "I believe you both. I don't know how Amon has achieved this power, but this means the Revelation is more dangerous than ever." He said as he looked at the city in the distance, "No bender is safe."