3 A chase through Republic City (part 1)

(Kai POV)

Seeing Republic City up close and personal like this was something I never thought I'd see in all my life. It was… I-I couldn't even put it to words, it was just everything that I'd dreamed it would be and more. I scaled down the wall and landed on a sidewalk. A couple of people gave some funny looks, but I ignored them and kept walking.

As I was strolling around on the sidewalks, I just couldn't take my eyes off the City. It was still so unbelievable that I'm here, living and breathing in the world of Avatar.

"Oh, can Somebody pinch me!", I said to myself.

I went into my pocket and took out a small bag of money, that Loui said he "found".

"Sneaky old man", I chuckled.

I kept on wandering aimlessly through the city when I came across some posters that promoted pro-bending fights. I was wondering if I could become a pro-bender, but I decided to continue searching for something else.

I explored a bit of the landmarks I saw in the show. The monumental statue of Avatar Aang in Yue bay, The suspension bridge, called 'The Kyoshi Bridge', the city park where I relaxed for a few minutes, and the many skyscrapers.

I was now in the middle of a busy side and I took a left and made my way toward a bazaar, and it was bustling. There were countless shops, selling all kinds of goods, merchant shops, and your local hustler. There were also all sorts of delicious aromas in the air from all the food that was sold.

"Oh, man, my mouth is starting to water", I mumbled, as I smelled the delicious aroma in the air. I went to one of the food vendors to buy something for dinner when suddenly I heard a commotion coming from behind me.

*Clank!*

"Hey, stop right there! Stop!", shouted a chubby man.

I moved a bit closer to see what was going on, when suddenly a man dressed in rags jumped in front of me, carrying a large bag on his shoulders. He pushed past me and ran towards the exit. The man tried to catch up to him, but failed. He tried asking the people for help, but nobody paid much attention. I also ignored the man, because I didn't want to get into trouble on my first day in Republic City.

But for some reason, I went to touch my pocket where I put my money, but I didn't feel anything. It was empty!

"What the--nononono. Are you serious?!", I started to panic.

"I got robbed on my first day in Republic City?! You have got to be kidding me!".

I instantly turned around and ran towards the man who was still crying for help. I tapped him on his shoulder.

"Hey, mister. Where did he go?!", I hurriedly asked the man, who seemed to be relieved that someone wanted to help him, but I didn't care about him. The guy stole my money!

"He went that way! Towards the exit, to the cable car!", pointed out the man.

I looked in the direction where the man pointed and immediately spotted him. He was running at full speed and I noticed that he clumsily bumped into a tray of cabbages, dropping the large back.

"My cabbages!!", cried the cabbage man, who had his goods completely ruined.

I instantly ran after the ragged-clothed man, who seemed to have noticed me coming after him like a rabid dog. His eyes suddenly widened and quickly tried to get back up. He retrieved the bag that he dropped on the ground and continue his escape. He tried to slow me down by throwing a large basket toward me, but I instantly caught it, frightening the man.

The man tried to evade me, but he couldn't get rid of me. I was right on his tail, like a cheetah chasing a gazelle. I wanted to use Earthbending to stop him, but I didn't want to risk causing property damage and alerting the Republic City Police. And It was also my first day, dammit! How did it come to this?!

I was still chasing after the man, hurdling through vendors, and jumping over cars, which, kinda, of caused a minor traffic accident. Nobody was hurt, though.

I continued to chase after him, but every time I got close to him, he always managed to slip away. He basically was running circles around me throughout the whole chase, and I was getting a bit frustrated.

After a while of slipping and sliding, I finally caught up to him. He was trapped between a rock and a hard place, and he knew it.

"Hehehehehe, I got ya now", I looked at the man like a tiger who caught his prey. And then gave him my ultimatum, "Now, the way I see it you got two choices, my friend. The easy way…or the hard way. But to me, it doesn't matter, 'cause I'll be taking my back money… and the bag that you stole from that nice gentleman, one way or another. Now, choose wisely".

After the man heard my ultimatum, I don't know if I struck fear in his heart, but he threw the bag and my pocket money in front of me.

"Well, that was easy", I muttered. "Huh, to be honest with you, I thought you would pick the hard way".

Without me seeing, the ragged cloth man reached in his pocket and threw a smoke pellet in front of me. It exploded by my feet, blinding me and making it hard to breathe. The man slid right between my feet, swiping the bag and my pocket money, while also mockingly sticking his tongue, which pissed me off. I had to open my big mouth!

Before he could escape, I reacted quickly, "Oh no, you don't!". I slammed my heel into the ground, causing the earth to crack. One of his feet got caught in the crack, and he fell forward, hitting his head on a steel railing and knocking him out cold.

" You're a slippery bastard, aren't you?".

I walked over to the man's unconscious body, preparing to take back my pocket money and the bag of the vendor guy. But before I could, a huge airship slowly appeared above me and 10 men wearing some sort of metal armor descended from the airship. They fired metal cable's from their forearms directly to the ground, making thudding sounds.

The colors on their armor or uniform had a light gray color, and they wore a hat, which was a darker shade of gray. I knew who they were. They were the R.C.P or The Republic City police and judging from the metal cables and their armor, they were metal benders.

The guy that was knocked out a few seconds ago started to wake up and when he opened his eyes, the first thing that he saw was 10 armored men standing in front of him. Knowing who they were, he tried to escape again, but was instantly restrained by metal cables. Two of the armored men dragged him on his behind and shot their cables straight up in the air and left, leaving only 8 on the ground.

As I watched the 2 armored men taking the other guy to their airship with a satisfied smile on my face, I turned to the 8 armored men who were left.

"So, uh… I guess that's that, huh? Ok, I'll be leaving then, and I will be taking this bag to its rightful owner. Alright, have a good one, fellas", I waved at them while putting on an innocent smile. I turned around and started to walk in the opposite direction, then I suddenly heard a commanding voice behind me.

"Halt!".

I abruptly stopped and asked politely, "Uh, what seems to be the problem, Officer?".

"You will be coming with us too. Now, put the bag down and come quietly", said the officer with an even more demanding tone.

"Well, shite, this is exactly what I wanted to avoid!", I cursed inward.

"I gotta distract 'em somehow".

I was desperately trying to think of the perfect escape plan, when suddenly…

(Lightbulb)

"*gasp*, what's that?!", I pointed upwards.

"Huh?". 8x

"…".

"Wait, what?!", Yelled the Officer.

"HAHAHA, YOU GUYS FELL FOR THE OLDEST TRICK IN THE BOOK! LATER GATORS!". I hurriedly ran away from them with puffs of smoke trailing behind me, leaving them dumbfounded.