The Legend of Jin (Legend of Korra, SI)
- Thread starter lpfreak
- Start date
Chapter 10
- Location
- Usa
Chapter 10
My dear successor,
I am old. So very, very old. I might not look it, but I feel it in my bones, my blood. My hands shake even as I write and I can feel my thoughts wander more frequently. I can no longer enter the Avatar state. I feel stretched, like butter spread over too much bread. It might be my battles that sapped me, spirits know there have been so many of those. Or it may have been my extended stasis in the Avatar state that sapped me off my life force.
Either way, as I add what might be one of my last entries to this journal on this 64th year of my life, or perhaps it is the 164th year should one consider my time on ice, I cannot help but wish that I had more time to experience the physical world in all its splendor. I have seen much during my short time in my current incarnation. I've watched mountains being created, glaciers melting and volcanoes erupting and so much else. Yet, of all the phenomena that I've witnessed and experienced, none can claim to be more awe inspiring moment than viewing the astounding endurance of the human spirit. I write not of one's chi, the cosmic energy that allows life to exist in the two realms we know off. No, here I speak of one's essence, their grit, their will.
This tale begins in the fourth month of the year 152 AG. 'Twas an early summer's day last year when the Republic City Council received word from young Izumi of trouble in one of the southern provinces of the Fire Nation. With a heavy heart, I closed up my jewelery store for the weekend and set off on Appa to quell the most recent uprising of Earthbender extremists who wanted retribution for the actions of the self titled Phoenix King Ozai during the 100 year war. Upon my arrival, I noticed with some degree of satisfaction, that my god-daughter Izumi already had matters well in hand. As the governor of the province where this newest rebellion sparked into existence, Izumi wasted no time issuing a Call to Arms and rallied her men and women to delay the threat until my arrival. With the aid of the Avatar State and the timely intervention of the forces from Capital City, it was not long before the terrorists were routed and the repair work could begin.
However, this expedition of mine did not end without further note.
As I aided in the reconstruction in the Ken Shou province, I also searched for survivors of collapsed buildings and landslides using seismic sense, a handy skill I had long since learned from Toph.
A note to my dear successor: Should you have already mastered the elements by the time you read this, I would highly suggest investing a portion of time to training in this very useful skill. It will come in handy at the strangest of times.
Anyhow, as I used the seismic sense, I was surprised to sense a seemingly healthy person resting in an intact house while all other able bodied citizens were out helping with the reconstruction.
Far be it from me to judge the survivor, I entered the house to reassure him or her that the threat had passed only to be greeted with a boulder to the face which I quickly dodged. My mood soured when I realized that what I had found was not a survivor but instead one of the extremists who had been able to escape the initial counter attack.
With it's foundation disturbed by the extraction of the boulder and the subsequent destruction of one of its walls, the building rapidly collapsed around the two of us, drawing an audience of concerned citizens. Thankfully, those who gathered had the good sense of staying away from the fight and leaving the matter to me. Tired of the senseless violence, I attempted to convince the stubborn earth bender that it was in his best interests to surrender. He was outnumbered and outmatched.
Despite his obvious distress, the extremist refused to give in, attempting to cause as much damage as he could before he was stopped, extracting boulders from the ground that he threw in every direction. His rage and despair continued to grow as I casually deflected every single one of his attempts to kill the crowd that had gathered around us.
The fight, if you could call it that, continued for some time. No matter how many times I threw him into a wall with a gust or pelted him with blasts of fire and water, he remained steadfast in his misguided attempts to kill everyone around us. Despite the pity and slight disgust I felt for him, I began to feel a grudging respect for his prowess. It might have been easy to defend the distant crowd from his attacks but I was unable to land a decisive hit on the sturdy earth bender without inflicting fatal injuries.
As the earthbender's despair reached a zenith and it seemed as though he would fall from exhaustion, I noticed a strange resolve in his fatigued eyes which gleamed a molten gold. In what seemed like a last ditch attempt, the young extremist bellowed in rage and the earth began to quake and shift around us as red, hot magma burst forth from the depths.
I was startled to a pause as geysers of lava sprung up all around the district, melting wood and metal alike. The lavabender was making a suicidal attempt to kill everyone in the district and in the process had carelessly revealed a flaw in his defenses. Recalling my predecessor - Avatar Roku's advice regarding decisiveness in battle, I wasted no time knocking out the distracted lava bender and quickly cooled down the molten slag that was flowing unrestricted throughout the city before it could hurt anyone.
Later, as we secured the extremist in chains alongside his cohorts, I couldn't help but admire the young lavabender's fortitude and inner strength despite finding his ideology repulsive.
Despite being surrounded by an audience of his foes who spat vitriol at him as he fought a hopeless battle against the most powerful bender in the world, if I do say so myself, the man stood steadfast in his beliefs, misguided though they were. In his darkest moment he found new strength within him as his talent for lavabending revealed itself, a talent that was once exclusive to the Avatar's incarnations.
It was not the first time I had witnessed or heard of such an incident. No, during my life I have personally experienced and viewed so many other moments just like this one, where, a helpless individual backed into a corner, changed or grew in previously unimaginable ways to tackle the problems he or she faced. In fact, the art of metal bending which has become so popular in recent times has its origin in such circumstances.
This is not a tale written to impart a moral like some of the others you might find in this journal but there are, in fact, many lessons to be learned from this experience of mine. So many, in fact that I believe it might be pointless to list them all.
However, if there is only one lesson you must understand, it must be the lesson Monk Gyatso taught me over a century ago. A lesson I did not truly understand at the time because I failed to realise that it also applied to those who would oppose peace with every fiber of their being.
Thus, the advice and warning I have for you, my dear successor, is this:
When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.
I am old. So very, very old. I might not look it, but I feel it in my bones, my blood. My hands shake even as I write and I can feel my thoughts wander more frequently. I can no longer enter the Avatar state. I feel stretched, like butter spread over too much bread. It might be my battles that sapped me, spirits know there have been so many of those. Or it may have been my extended stasis in the Avatar state that sapped me off my life force.
Either way, as I add what might be one of my last entries to this journal on this 64th year of my life, or perhaps it is the 164th year should one consider my time on ice, I cannot help but wish that I had more time to experience the physical world in all its splendor. I have seen much during my short time in my current incarnation. I've watched mountains being created, glaciers melting and volcanoes erupting and so much else. Yet, of all the phenomena that I've witnessed and experienced, none can claim to be more awe inspiring moment than viewing the astounding endurance of the human spirit. I write not of one's chi, the cosmic energy that allows life to exist in the two realms we know off. No, here I speak of one's essence, their grit, their will.
This tale begins in the fourth month of the year 152 AG. 'Twas an early summer's day last year when the Republic City Council received word from young Izumi of trouble in one of the southern provinces of the Fire Nation. With a heavy heart, I closed up my jewelery store for the weekend and set off on Appa to quell the most recent uprising of Earthbender extremists who wanted retribution for the actions of the self titled Phoenix King Ozai during the 100 year war. Upon my arrival, I noticed with some degree of satisfaction, that my god-daughter Izumi already had matters well in hand. As the governor of the province where this newest rebellion sparked into existence, Izumi wasted no time issuing a Call to Arms and rallied her men and women to delay the threat until my arrival. With the aid of the Avatar State and the timely intervention of the forces from Capital City, it was not long before the terrorists were routed and the repair work could begin.
However, this expedition of mine did not end without further note.
As I aided in the reconstruction in the Ken Shou province, I also searched for survivors of collapsed buildings and landslides using seismic sense, a handy skill I had long since learned from Toph.
A note to my dear successor: Should you have already mastered the elements by the time you read this, I would highly suggest investing a portion of time to training in this very useful skill. It will come in handy at the strangest of times.
Anyhow, as I used the seismic sense, I was surprised to sense a seemingly healthy person resting in an intact house while all other able bodied citizens were out helping with the reconstruction.
Far be it from me to judge the survivor, I entered the house to reassure him or her that the threat had passed only to be greeted with a boulder to the face which I quickly dodged. My mood soured when I realized that what I had found was not a survivor but instead one of the extremists who had been able to escape the initial counter attack.
With it's foundation disturbed by the extraction of the boulder and the subsequent destruction of one of its walls, the building rapidly collapsed around the two of us, drawing an audience of concerned citizens. Thankfully, those who gathered had the good sense of staying away from the fight and leaving the matter to me. Tired of the senseless violence, I attempted to convince the stubborn earth bender that it was in his best interests to surrender. He was outnumbered and outmatched.
Despite his obvious distress, the extremist refused to give in, attempting to cause as much damage as he could before he was stopped, extracting boulders from the ground that he threw in every direction. His rage and despair continued to grow as I casually deflected every single one of his attempts to kill the crowd that had gathered around us.
The fight, if you could call it that, continued for some time. No matter how many times I threw him into a wall with a gust or pelted him with blasts of fire and water, he remained steadfast in his misguided attempts to kill everyone around us. Despite the pity and slight disgust I felt for him, I began to feel a grudging respect for his prowess. It might have been easy to defend the distant crowd from his attacks but I was unable to land a decisive hit on the sturdy earth bender without inflicting fatal injuries.
As the earthbender's despair reached a zenith and it seemed as though he would fall from exhaustion, I noticed a strange resolve in his fatigued eyes which gleamed a molten gold. In what seemed like a last ditch attempt, the young extremist bellowed in rage and the earth began to quake and shift around us as red, hot magma burst forth from the depths.
I was startled to a pause as geysers of lava sprung up all around the district, melting wood and metal alike. The lavabender was making a suicidal attempt to kill everyone in the district and in the process had carelessly revealed a flaw in his defenses. Recalling my predecessor - Avatar Roku's advice regarding decisiveness in battle, I wasted no time knocking out the distracted lava bender and quickly cooled down the molten slag that was flowing unrestricted throughout the city before it could hurt anyone.
Later, as we secured the extremist in chains alongside his cohorts, I couldn't help but admire the young lavabender's fortitude and inner strength despite finding his ideology repulsive.
Despite being surrounded by an audience of his foes who spat vitriol at him as he fought a hopeless battle against the most powerful bender in the world, if I do say so myself, the man stood steadfast in his beliefs, misguided though they were. In his darkest moment he found new strength within him as his talent for lavabending revealed itself, a talent that was once exclusive to the Avatar's incarnations.
It was not the first time I had witnessed or heard of such an incident. No, during my life I have personally experienced and viewed so many other moments just like this one, where, a helpless individual backed into a corner, changed or grew in previously unimaginable ways to tackle the problems he or she faced. In fact, the art of metal bending which has become so popular in recent times has its origin in such circumstances.
This is not a tale written to impart a moral like some of the others you might find in this journal but there are, in fact, many lessons to be learned from this experience of mine. So many, in fact that I believe it might be pointless to list them all.
However, if there is only one lesson you must understand, it must be the lesson Monk Gyatso taught me over a century ago. A lesson I did not truly understand at the time because I failed to realise that it also applied to those who would oppose peace with every fiber of their being.
Thus, the advice and warning I have for you, my dear successor, is this:
When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I look away from the journal I had been reading under candlelight and glance over at the door that had been knocked ever so softly. I had almost forgotten what I had planned for the night.
"Come in", I whispered, mindful of the late hour. The door slid open quietly to reveal an excited Korra.
"What are you reading?" she asked curiously upon spotting the thick handwritten book in my hands.
"It's an interesting journal written by Avatar Aang. Have you read it yet?" I asked. If I were her, I would have utterly devoured anything Aang had written personally.
Korra made a face at that.
"Ughh, I've had enough of Air Nation history to last a lifetime, thank you very much. Tenzin has me reading that useless stuff all day."
Pity. I suppose it wouldn't have been much use to her anyway. Korra seemed like a kinesthetic learner than a linguistic one. Still I'd probably try to convince her to read it eventually. Aang might have believed in lot of stuff that I didn't put much stock in but his journal described many anecdotes that would no doubt be incredibly useful to Korra once she had mastered Airbending and began performing her duties as the Avatar.
"Suit yourself." I shrugged. I'd bring it up later though. No point in adding to her stress right now.
"Ready to hit the town?" She asked softly with a grin.
She had been fidgeting impatiently all night. Had I not distracted Tenzin and Pema with questions about the other Air Temples at dinner, they probably would have caught on. Although, I could hardly blame her. From what I had gathered she hadn't had a chance to cut loose ever since she was discovered by the White Lotus as a kid.
"To the dome." I grinned back at the excited Avatar. She wasn't the only one who had anticipated this though. This was the first time I would be seeing a probending match. There were analogues in the Southern Republic but nothing quite as celebrated as probending. Getting to watch benders legally pound the crap out of each other in teams of three?
Shut up and take my fucking money.
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Or not.
"What do you mean - Sold Out?" Korra yelled indignantly at the bored ticket vendor, who was lazily chewing some gum while reading a magazine.
The vendor's bubble popped and stuck to her face. She looked up from her magazine and picked at the gum sticking to her chin and nose as she shot an irritated look at Korra, who was steaming in anger.
"These are the qualifying rounds for the Probending Tournament, love. Did you really think you could just waltz in at the last moment and get a ticket? Today's matches have been sold out for a week. You should have tried, like - a week earlier." she drawled out before going back to her magazine.
As upsetting as it was, that made sense. The only competition probending had in Republic City were illegal underground fights that were . . . well . . . illegal. Probending had a massive following all over the United Republic of Nations with people from even the neighboring settlements and towns travelling to Republic City by rail to catch the matches.
I really should have expected this.
"Surely, we can come to an arrangement? Perhaps a couple of tickets you might be holding in reserve, Miss? They would be understandably pricier, I'm sure." I smiled disarmingly, getting in between Korra and the vendor before she incinerated the booth.
The vendor pulled up her glasses and gave me the once over before smiling.
"Well ain't you a cute one." She demurred as she leaned forward.
'Ughh, atleast call me hot or something. Men don't do cute, dammit.'
Despite my slight annoyance, my anticipation grew. This sort of thing really embarrassed me but I really wanted to catch that match.
"But I'm sorry, Darl'. I've got no more tickets. Even for a pretty boy like you. The Probending Association is pretty damn strict with ticket sales." Another metaphorical arrow pierced my head at the Vendor's choice of adjectives.
I suppose this was the end of the night. For Korra atleast. I still had a meeting to get to.
"Minor set back. Want to try again next week?" I asked a fuming Korra as we walked back to the pier.
". . ."
Uggh, I was not looking forward to riding back to the temple on Naga. That beast had it out for me, soaking me in saliva every time she saw me. That stuff was hell to wash out. I had a faint suspicion that the freakish hybrid monstrosity was taste testing me until I was ready to eat.
Dastardly creature.
Wait. Speaking of the dratted beast, where's the owner?
"Korra?"
I turned around when I noticed her absence. Korra was staring at the dome. At an open window into the Arena, to be specific. I hope she didn't think we were climbing up there.
"No chance of that. It's too high up and there's no handholds. We can just come back next week. With tickets that we will buy well in advance." I emphasised in no uncertain terms. There was no way we could climb up there. None at all.
Korra turned to me and I backpedaled at the look on her face.
"Oh, No. Uh, uh. No freaking way -"
Splash.
Korra ignored my ardent and articulate protests, grabbed me around the shoulders and leapt off the pier.
"Hold on tight", she said, grinning at me like a loon as she spun her arms around, creating a tiny whirlpool underneath us. I held on to her shoulders like a frightened koala as the water churned beneath us forming a water funnel.
I'm proud to say that I was the very vision of manly elegance and dignity as the water funnel shot us into the air at breakneck speeds and through the open window Korra had been staring at earlier.
Okay, I lied. I shut my eyes, kicked my feet and screamed like a little girl.
Stop judging me. I'm starting to get tired of benders and their alternate means of transportation. First Ming treats me like a potato sack and now Korra pulls this crap?
Korra landed on her feet. I, on the other hand, landed on my face. I can feel my man points draining by the moment.
"Nice. I think you might have woken the Temple up." Korra jibed.
"Next time, warn me." I tweaked my nose a bit to make sure it wasn't broken.
"Hey, if I'd warned you, you'd have run off. You've got no sense of adventure. Anyone tell you that?" Korra said, no doubt recalling the time I tried to stop her from getting us both arrested after she fucked up with the Triads. Triads that I had to deal with later anyway.
"I traded that in at the character screen for a sense of self-preservation. This sucks, I'm completely drenched." I groused, trying to shake the water off before I caught a cold. Republic City was pretty cold this time of the year.
"What?" Korra asked confused.
'Oops.'
I winced. No more gaming references, thats a good way to find myself in a straight jacket at the closest mental hospital.
"Never mind." Korra said when I didn't reply, "Here, let me get that for you." She aimed her hands at me and gestured upwards.
I grimaced and shivered uncomfortably as individual water droplets wriggled up my body and found their way out of the neck hole of my shirt. It was an incredibly disturbing experience. Incredibly convenient though.
We took off down the hallway to find an entrance into the arena.
"Hey! What's in here?" Korra asked as we came across a large room. It seemed to be a gym of some sort with punching bags, dumbbells, nets, water tanks, and sandstone disks lying all over the place.
"Looks like a probending gym, I think." I walked over to the equipment with Korra and tried some of it out.
"Hey! What are you doing in my gym?"
I looked up from the bench press to find a white haired old man with a towel around his neck glaring at us like we were . . . tresspassing.
Oh. Nuts.
"Distract him, I'll knock him out." I whispered to Korra.
"What! No!" Korra whispered back fiercely, grabbing my arm.
"Ouch, let go! I was only joking." I whispered back.
Our actions didn't go unnoticed. The old man became even more suspicious at our whispering.
"I won't ask again. Why're you in here?" He shouted as he approached us.
"Uh, we were just looking for a bathroom and got lost." Korra smiled sweetly at the old man.
'Please. There's no way you can pull the innocent girl routine. Not with those biceps, hot as they might be'
I resisted the urge to voice my thoughts aloud. Korra had sharp elbows.
"The both of you?" the old man smirked.
Korra looked at me, turned red and let go off my arm.
"Whatever, I'm sick of kids using my gym as a personal Love Hotel. I'm taking you two to security." He said, walking towards us.
I ignored Korra's stuttering protests as I got a better look at the old man approaching us.
'Own's the probending gym, so former probender? Slightly hunched but his biceps and deltoids are well developed. Green clothing. Probably an earthbender. He's old so he's probably not too quick on his feet. An agile approach from blind spots would be best.'
I was starting to seriously consider knocking the Old Man out. Getting caught here and escorted out by security would put a damper on the entire night. And probably all future nights once Tenzin heard about this.
Then again, knocking the gym owner out now would probably get me in trouble later on.
Thankfully, I was relieved of my dilemma when a probender walked through the doors of the gym.
----------------------------------------------------
"So, why'd you help us?" I asked the probender, once we left the gym.
"Eh. I've sneaked in here to catch a match before. Thought I'd help out a couple of kindred spirits", he replied with a shrug and a grin.
"It's just up ahead. C'mon!" He said walking ahead of us.
The lull in the conversation gave me a chance to get a better look our savior. He was a little shorter than me, about Korra's height, but a good deal stockier although it was hard to be certain since he was decked out in glaring red protective gear.
"What do you think? Best seats in the house, huh?" The probender asked as we entered another room. We were in the locker room, conveniently situated to give us a perfect view of the probending field. This was perfect, even better than the stands.
"That's what I'm talking about. This rocks." I said, clapping the probender on his back.
" Whoa! Unbelievable! This place is even more amazing than I imagined." Korra exclaimed, looking out the balcony.
"Name's Bolin by the way." The probender exclaimed cheerily.
"Jin."
"Korra. Wait. You're with the Fire Ferrets aren't you? We came here to catch your game. I've followed all your matches this year on the radio." Korra gushed excitedly upon recognizing Bolin's name.
At this point Bolin's teammates walked in, putting an end to his obvious preening.
"We sure hit the jackpot, huh?" I asked Korra, who was still staring down at the crowd from the balcony as Bolin spoke with his team.
"Tell me about it. I sure didn't expect this." She nodded in agreement.
"Hey, Korra! Jin! Get over here. I want you to meet my brother, Mako." Bolin called out from behind us.
"Sup!" I greeted the tall guy that Bolin pointed out to me. Mako was half a foot taller than his brother, good looking with spiked hair and weirdly enough, spiked eyebrows.
'Does this guy actually gel his eyebrows?'
"Mako? Wow, I heard you . . . play . . . on the radio . . ." She trailed off uncertainly.
My initial amusement over the image of the tall probender, glaring at a mirror while geling his eyebrows with a frown on his face turned to annoyance when Mako walked right past Korra's hand without giving either of us a second look.
"Come on, Bolin, we're up." Mako said, calling out to his brother, who glanced at us and shrugged apologetically.
"Yeah, sorry about that, my brother just gets real . . . focused before the match."
'Focused is a kind word for it. Douchebag is more appropriate.'
"That's alright. I guess we'll meet him afterwards." Korra said, surprisingly diplomatic for once.
"Knock 'em dead." I called after Bolin as the lift descended.
"What a jerk, huh?" I asked Korra, once the lift was out of sight.
"Who, Mako? I thought he was pretty cool." Korra said.
"Introducing the Fire Ferrets."
I stared at her.
"Ahh! I love you Bolin! Ahh!"
"You heard Bolin. Mako was just focused is all. It's the third qualifying round. If they lose, they're out of the tournament." She blurted out defensively.
I continued staring blankly until she blushed and looked away.
"Ugh, fangirls." I muttered to myself, earning myself an elbow to the ribs.
I shifted my gaze back to the arena just in time to catch the beginning of the match. I hadn't really had a chance to listen to a match on the radio before so I had to pick up the rules as this particular one progressed.
It wasn't too complicated, though. The probending field itself was hexagonal, split down the middle into two sides, one red and one blue, with each side divided into three zones. Both the Fire Ferrets and the Tigerdillos started out in the innermost zone, also called Zone 1 and tried to force their opponents out of their respective zones. Bolin bent brittle clay disks from 21 dispensers on the red side. The waterbender, Hasook bent short blasts of water out of grates that ran along the border of each zone. As far as I could see, there were no special accommodations to the Arena for firebenders like Mako which sorta made sense, seeing as how they could generate their own blasts of fire.
The firebenders seemed to stay on the offensive for the most part, blasting out short, straight streams of fire at their opponents to distract them while earthbenders and waterbenders usually prefered curved trajectories to attack from blind spots created by the limited field of vision offered by the compulsory probending helmet each athlete wore. The earthbenders and waterbenders took turns defending the firebender who had no defensive capability of his own.
The teamwork I saw from both teams was quite impressive. The teams exchanged attacks at a blistering pace.
And yet . . .
"Hey, Korra?" I poked the engrossed Avatar on the shoulder. "Why isn't Hasook using ice spikes. That's pretty basic, right? And they should pack a bigger punch than those water jets. Does it consume stamina to convert water to other states or something?" Because that might explain why Hasook didn't seem to be using ice at all.
Korra thinks about it for a second.
"I think so?" she said uncertainly. "I mastered most of my waterbending moves almost 9 years ago. I don't really remember how I was trained. But yeah, creating ice spikes should be pretty easy." She confirmed.
It wasn't just Hasook or his counterpart on the Tigerdillos that seemed to be holding back. I understood why the earthbenders weren't allowed to use the field itself. No, that would ruin the spectacle for the audience and cause a lot of property damage. But there was no sign of metal bending at all. The firebenders seemed to avoid headshots or wider sprays off fire to block vision and not once did I see anyone generate lightning.
Apart from the admittedly impressive teamwork, there were no unexpected individual moves from either side. They just seemed to be tossing standard attacks at each other, one after another hoping that one would eventually connect. There was no incredible show of power or anything of the sort. It seemed like the power and diversity of traditional bending was sacrificed for machine like speed, efficiency and painfully straightforward attacks that even a half trained monkey could dodge. It was probably enforced by the game rules for the safety of the audience and the participants.
This was . . . disappointing.
Earth Rumbles and Mock Agni Kais back in Arc City were more entertaining despite the obvious showmanship involved.
But a single glance at Korra's excited face told me that dissing her favorite sport would earn me a quick fall to the pool underneath the arena. I decided not to make a fuss over the obvious nerfing of the benders abilities in hopes of not getting drenched a third time that day.
Besides this particular event was more for Korra's benefit than mine. My goal tonight was to meet Junior at midnight. There were still a couple of hours to go.
Probending matches consisted of 3 rounds of three minutes each with a five minute break in between rounds. That amounted to a maximum of 19-20 minutes per match, not accounting for injuries or tiebreakers. This particular match was done in 15 minutes.
Soon after the match, I watched Bolin teach Korra a few tricks and both Korra and I had a good laugh at Mako's expression when he realized that he had just snubbed the Avatar.
"Had fun?" I asked Korra, as we walked out of the gym.
"Sure did. We need to do this again. Oh man, I can't believe I have to go back already." She groaned at the thought of heading back to the Island.
"Well, night's not over for me yet. I still have to meet a buddy of mine." I said, my meeting with junior weighing heavily on my mind.
"Who's this buddy of your's?" Korra asked inquisitively.
I was vague in my replies as I shooed her off. I had no intention of getting Korra mixed up in my dealings with the Triple Threats. Besides, Junior was expecting me to show up alone. Seeing the Avatar might just give the overly anxious information broker a heart attack.
I made it to the alley just in time. Junior was already waiting.
"I see you've got a new guitar. You break it in yet?" I asked.
"Yup. This baby helped me kill it at a show today." Junior replied enthusiastically, stroking the head of his guitar lovingly.
"I'm glad. You know, when you said you'd get me a message, I didn't exactly think I'd get my arm ripped by a catowl. I expected a phone call." I gestured to the wound on my arm in amusement.
"Ahhh", he hissed when he saw the cut. "Sorry bout that, Mouse doesn't really hold back on his landings. I got him for cheap, you see. Bargain deal since he didn't complete his training."
"Your catowl's name is . . . Mouse?" I deadpanned.
"Well. He comes when I shout "Mouse" so, yeah. I guess." Junior shrugged.
I shook it off and got down to business.
"You have something for me? Is it the Triple Threats?" I asked.
Junior's mood sank a little.
"No. Well, yes. The Triple Threats seem like they are going to lay off for now. Beating up T, Speedy and Bull scared some of those guys pretty good. They're a powerful lot - the Triple Threats but Zolt is a cautious guy, he doesn't like to rock the boat too much. Not unless there's no risk involved."
He paused for a second.
"That's not why I messaged you though. There's something else going on. I don't know too much but there's been chatter in the Undercity about you."
The Undercity. The massive labyrinthine system of underground chambers and tunnels that ran under Republic City. Home to not just some of the criminal elements of the City but also anything the expatriate nobles from the other Nations and other wealthy citizens of the city deemed unseemly. The homeless, the orphans and the disabled all made their way there. The Undercity was basically the slums of Republic City.
"Who's blabbing about me and to whom?" I frowned in annoyance. Apparently beating up the ugly mugs the Triple Threats sent after me wasn't enough of a message for the other shitheads.
"Don't know who's doing the talking, Jin. It's definitely not the Triple Threats, though. But whoever they are, they're inciting the other Triads and a lot of other groups downunda. When word got out that the Triple Threats aren't going to make an example outta you to put them non benders in their place, a lot of people got interested. Some of them think they can take out the guy that's got the Triple Threats running scared. Boost their reps and all." Junior said nervously.
"Spit it out, Junior. Who's gunning for me?"
Junior hesitated.
"The Agni Kai Triad."
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Author's Note:
Sorry about the slow update. Have too much to do.
So Jin's not a huge fan of probending. Junior does become a little more important later on.
Keep in mind that this entire chapter was from Jin's POV.
Next: A short interlude dealing with the Agni Kai Triad. There is a little more going on behind the scenes that I'll try to reveal.
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- Location
- Usa
Lol. They gonna learn today.Agni Kai Triad, you dun goofed. Should have just left Jin alone.
Chapter 11 - Perspectives: Agni Kai
- Location
- Usa
Warning: Introducing a few OC's here. Character summary at the end.
"100,000 Yuan? To take out a non bender?" Zhao exclaimed, losing all sense of discretion as he leaned forward on his seat, his bloodshot eyes almost popping from their sockets.
'Chh. . . Idiot. We could have negotiated higher until that boorish display', Hayashi snorted derisively, in his mind of course. He was no fool. Despite Zhao's utter lack of subtlety, he did become the leader of the Agni Kais by force of might, if nothing else. Undermining him in public was asking to get your ass whooped.
Still, this was an unexpected amount. The Agni Kais were no strangers to roughing up non benders. A good amount of their income came from extortion, intimidation and clients like this one but this was the first time such a substantial sum had been offered for so easy a task.
"Indeed. Half before, Half after." The hooded gentleman spoke, opening a small briefcase at his side and placing it on the table. Zhao salivated at the sight of the Yuan neatly arranged in stacks within the briefcase. The rest of his crew were not much different.
"I believe this is how one does these things, do they not?" the gentleman added in a gruff tone as he pushed the open briefcase towards Zhao.
Hayashi was the only one who saw something off about the whole situation. He hadn't gotten to be one of Zhao's inner circle by being an idiot. What he provided to the Agni Kai was not more firepower, it was common sense. Without his intervention on several occasions, the Agni Kais would have long since fallen prey to one of Zolt's plots and vanished from the gang scene with naught but a whimper.
The clients who usually employed the Agni Kai, showed up with guards in case of anything unforeseen occurring. Furthermore, their clients normally hired them through grunts and rarely conducted their business personally like this one seemed to be.
Hayashi's suspicions were raised when a single hooded figure approached one of the Agni Kai safe houses in the Undercity with no guards. The suspicions only grew when the man spoke like he was well educated. He tried catching a glimpse of the man's face under the hood but all he was able to make out was a well groomed Fu Manchu. He would have asked the man to take off his hood, but that would have been too impertinent.
The Agni Kai needed no further motivation to take out the non bender that had beaten the crap out of three of the Triple Threats and had them scared enough to back off. The street cred alone would have them drowning in clients and new recruits before the month's end.
No, they needed no motivation. But still, the extra 100,000 Yuan would go a long way to helping them retake the territory they lost to the Triple Threats over the last year. They needed the money, desperately.
So, no. Despite his suspicions, Hayashi would not ask Zhao to deny the hooded noble or even question him regarding his motivation for putting a hit out on the unfortunate non bender.
But they needed to be careful about this. There was someone else they needed to consult.
Without further ado, Hayashi signalled to his boss. He couldn't help the slight grin that formed when he saw Zhao's lips tremble as the huge man pouted at having to wait. Zhao lost the grin and nodded back at Zhao. This was of the utmost importance. They would need to wait.
Zhao sighed and pushed the briefcase back to the hooded gentleman.
"You're not interested then?" The gentleman spoke. Hayashi could hear the frown in his voice.
"We are. Your offer is a good one." Zhao said.
"Then might I ask why - ?"
"The offer is a good one, and the payment, substantial. The Agni Kai's will discuss the job and how best to accomplish it and get back to you. Then, we would be happy to accept the first half of the payment."
"I see. Then my work is done. When you are ready, contact us here. We will be awaiting your call. But I hope you don't wait too long. We do have other options after all." The hooded man, drew a card out of his sleeve and left it on the table before leaving.
"Was that really necessary?" Zhao asked Hayashi once their prospective client was out of earshot.
"100,000 Yuan for a non bender? C'mon Zhao. Your Mama didn't raise no fool. I need to speak with Sir." Hayashi replied.
"Sigh, 100,000 Yuan. It's like taking candy from a baby. Anyway, I bought you some time. Meet with the big man and make sure he's okay with this. If he isn't, make sure he gives us a damn reason this time." Zhao said aggressively.
"Will do, boss." Hayashi replied nervously and made his way out of the meeting room. There was a good reason Zhao wasn't their point of contact with the "big man" as he called him. Zhao's temper alone would have gotten him killed.
'Phew.' Hayashi breathed out a sigh of relief once he left. Filled with firebenders with explosive tempers, hopped up on god knows how many different drugs and steroids the safehouse was a ticking time bomb that went off on a regular basis.
When he returned home, Hayashi picked up a phone and made a call.
Ring ring. Ring ring.
"Hello."
"Sir, We need to speak." Hayashi spoke into the microphone of his rotary dialer.
" . . ."
"Sir?"
"Is this important?"
"I'm afraid it is, sir."
"Sigh. Very well then. Same place, 11pm. Make sure you aren't followed. You know how. I'll make the arrangements."
"Yes sir." Hayashi replied.
Click.
Hayashi replaced the speaker of the telephone and prepared.
Hayashi didn't know much about their mysterious sponsor. Neither did Zhao or anyone else in the Agni Kais. He never showed his face and remained hooded whenever they met in person. He was probably some big wig from one of the other nations that didn't want anyone associating him with the Agni Kais.
Hayashi made his way to the store and greeted the shopkeeper.
"Say no more." Said the shopkeeper, having recognized Hayashi from the last time he was here.
"Watch the entrance while I get the key." the shopkeeper said, before going out back.
Hayashi monitored the entrance for a minute or so before the shopkeeper came back and beckoned to the nervous firebender.
"You know the way. Lock the door on your way out. I'm expecting the key back before I close tonight." said the shopkeeper before manning the cash register once more.
Hayashi nodded back to him and exited the shop from the back entrance and locked the door behind him, he had done this song and dance before. As he exited into the alley Hayashi pondered the meaning of these safety measures their mysterious sponsor insisted he follow every time they met.
It had been a few years since he had made contact. The mysterious sponsor had given them intel that had prevented the Terra Triad from taking over a good portion of their territory. Over the years he had somehow ensured that members of the Agni Kai Triad either got out of jail early or somehow were never convicted of the smaller crimes in exchange for the occasional job they pulled for him.
Hayashi was the Agni Kai's point of contact with him. Hayashi's role over the years as adviser to Zhao had changed. Where he once sniffed out potential conflicts with other Triads and kept the Agni Kais from starting something they couldn't finish, he now also sniffed out suspicious jobs and brought them to the attention of their sponsor, who never once gave them a name to refer to him by.
Hayashi broke out of his contemplation when he reached his destination.
Sir, as the Agni Kai had sarcastically yet fearfully taken to referring to their nameless benefactor, was once again sitting on a chair, waiting for him. As always, his face was masked and his head, hooded.
"I hope you had a good reason for breaking from our schedule, Hayashi. We were to meet two days from now, were we not?" Sir spoke softly, his voice carrying over to the other side of the room where Hayashi had just entered. Despite his pleasant voice, his tone carried a distinct threat with it.
"N-No. I mean yes sir. There was a good reason." Hayashi quickly corrected himself.
He approached Sir and quickly gave him the rundown of what had occurred in the Undercity safe house.
Sir clasped his fingers and placed them beneath his masked face.
"This seems like a good opportunity, Hayashi. Sit. And tell me, what exactly do you find strange the offer this gentleman gave you." Sir said, gesturing to a seat in front of him.
Hayashi was quick to sit down and explain. He wasn't sure of his reasons but Sir always asked him to explain things, whether it was why an offer seemed suspicious or why a situation did not seem right. He couldn't be sure, but it seemed like Sir was grooming him to replace Zhao eventually.
Either way, Hayashi quickly pointed out all the points he had found strange, from the appearance of the gentleman and the way he spoke, to the overly large sum offered for the job. He even included his suspicions that the gentleman had been approaching other groups as well.
Sir remained silent for a time. And just when Hayashi started getting nervous, he spoke.
"Your target's name is Jin?"
Hayashi nodded.
"And your job is to kill him?"
"No sir, just injure him severely and leave him to be found in a public place. He wants it to be a spectacle, I think." Hayashi speculated.
"Ha. Hahahaha. Hahahaha."
Hayashi was startled by the laughter that erupted.
"Do you know the client, sir?" He asked tentatively, once the laughter died down.
"No. Not the client. But I doubt he matters. What matters is the boy. The target." Sir said. Hayashi could practically hear the smirk the man donned under his mask.
"Are we out of bounds? Targeting him?" Hayashi asked nervously. Sir had stopped them from going after certain targets before. It would be a shame if that was the case this time.
"Out of bounds? No, no. Absolutely not. In fact an attack on him would serve my needs as well. But if I have a suggestion for you."
Hayashi nodded. Of course, when Sir said suggestion he actually meant he had an order for them and expected them to be carried out. Zhao wouldn't be happy about the 'suggestions' but he would comply with them.
"Provoke him into attacking you first." Sir said after a pause.
Hayashi frowned.
"Provoke him? Why? How?" Hayashi asked.
"Why, you ask. Hmm. Tell me, wouldn't it be interesting to be able to publically humiliate him and get away with it for once? With him throwing the first punch the police wouldn't be able to touch you. Your reputation would only increase and you would have satisfied your clients request."
'That makes sense.' Hayashi thought, making a mental list of locations that would be perfect. They would strike when Jin was seen in any one of them.
"As for the how, well there's always what the Triple Threats did. Threatening his family should work well. The boy would turn into a raging bull if what I've heard is accurate. Not that that should be needed. I think the fact that you are the Agni Kai Triad should work fine by itself." Sir mused aloud.
'The fact that we're . . . Did the Agni Kai hurt him before?'
"Jin's identity as a non bender and the fact that he's a councilman's nephew only makes it more interesting. I'm looking forward to the chaos." Sir said before he shooed Hayashi away.
Hayashi pondered on Sir's final words to him as he left but didn't bother voicing his thoughts to Zhao and the others when he got back. It didn't matter anyway.
What mattered was that Sir had given them the all clear with a few additional requirements.
They had a client.
They had their target.
And soon they would have their money.
Because they were the Agni Kai and the Agni Kai never failed a job.
Author's Note:
Sorry about introducing more OCs, I know people seem to hate them but, LOK's list of irrelevant side characters is incredibly small. There wasn't much room to work in so I made some more.
Here's a short summary on the characters that were introduced.
Hayashi - A youngish adviser in Zhao's inner circle. Also the point of contact with Sir. Thinks Zhao is an idiot but fears his strength and charisma.
Zhao - Hot headed leader of Agni Kai. All brawn, little brain. But he knows he's no genius and uses Hayashi for his ability to read between the lines.
Sir - Mysterious benefactor to the Agni Kai. They know little about him.
Hooded gentleman - A well educated man with a gruff voice who wants the Agni Kai to beat up Jin for 100,000 Yuan.
These characters may or may not make a future appearance.
Let me know what you guys think.
Chapter 11 - Perspectives: Agni Kai
"100,000 Yuan? To take out a non bender?" Zhao exclaimed, losing all sense of discretion as he leaned forward on his seat, his bloodshot eyes almost popping from their sockets.
'Chh. . . Idiot. We could have negotiated higher until that boorish display', Hayashi snorted derisively, in his mind of course. He was no fool. Despite Zhao's utter lack of subtlety, he did become the leader of the Agni Kais by force of might, if nothing else. Undermining him in public was asking to get your ass whooped.
Still, this was an unexpected amount. The Agni Kais were no strangers to roughing up non benders. A good amount of their income came from extortion, intimidation and clients like this one but this was the first time such a substantial sum had been offered for so easy a task.
"Indeed. Half before, Half after." The hooded gentleman spoke, opening a small briefcase at his side and placing it on the table. Zhao salivated at the sight of the Yuan neatly arranged in stacks within the briefcase. The rest of his crew were not much different.
"I believe this is how one does these things, do they not?" the gentleman added in a gruff tone as he pushed the open briefcase towards Zhao.
Hayashi was the only one who saw something off about the whole situation. He hadn't gotten to be one of Zhao's inner circle by being an idiot. What he provided to the Agni Kai was not more firepower, it was common sense. Without his intervention on several occasions, the Agni Kais would have long since fallen prey to one of Zolt's plots and vanished from the gang scene with naught but a whimper.
The clients who usually employed the Agni Kai, showed up with guards in case of anything unforeseen occurring. Furthermore, their clients normally hired them through grunts and rarely conducted their business personally like this one seemed to be.
Hayashi's suspicions were raised when a single hooded figure approached one of the Agni Kai safe houses in the Undercity with no guards. The suspicions only grew when the man spoke like he was well educated. He tried catching a glimpse of the man's face under the hood but all he was able to make out was a well groomed Fu Manchu. He would have asked the man to take off his hood, but that would have been too impertinent.
The Agni Kai needed no further motivation to take out the non bender that had beaten the crap out of three of the Triple Threats and had them scared enough to back off. The street cred alone would have them drowning in clients and new recruits before the month's end.
No, they needed no motivation. But still, the extra 100,000 Yuan would go a long way to helping them retake the territory they lost to the Triple Threats over the last year. They needed the money, desperately.
So, no. Despite his suspicions, Hayashi would not ask Zhao to deny the hooded noble or even question him regarding his motivation for putting a hit out on the unfortunate non bender.
But they needed to be careful about this. There was someone else they needed to consult.
Without further ado, Hayashi signalled to his boss. He couldn't help the slight grin that formed when he saw Zhao's lips tremble as the huge man pouted at having to wait. Zhao lost the grin and nodded back at Zhao. This was of the utmost importance. They would need to wait.
Zhao sighed and pushed the briefcase back to the hooded gentleman.
"You're not interested then?" The gentleman spoke. Hayashi could hear the frown in his voice.
"We are. Your offer is a good one." Zhao said.
"Then might I ask why - ?"
"The offer is a good one, and the payment, substantial. The Agni Kai's will discuss the job and how best to accomplish it and get back to you. Then, we would be happy to accept the first half of the payment."
"I see. Then my work is done. When you are ready, contact us here. We will be awaiting your call. But I hope you don't wait too long. We do have other options after all." The hooded man, drew a card out of his sleeve and left it on the table before leaving.
"Was that really necessary?" Zhao asked Hayashi once their prospective client was out of earshot.
"100,000 Yuan for a non bender? C'mon Zhao. Your Mama didn't raise no fool. I need to speak with Sir." Hayashi replied.
"Sigh, 100,000 Yuan. It's like taking candy from a baby. Anyway, I bought you some time. Meet with the big man and make sure he's okay with this. If he isn't, make sure he gives us a damn reason this time." Zhao said aggressively.
"Will do, boss." Hayashi replied nervously and made his way out of the meeting room. There was a good reason Zhao wasn't their point of contact with the "big man" as he called him. Zhao's temper alone would have gotten him killed.
'Phew.' Hayashi breathed out a sigh of relief once he left. Filled with firebenders with explosive tempers, hopped up on god knows how many different drugs and steroids the safehouse was a ticking time bomb that went off on a regular basis.
When he returned home, Hayashi picked up a phone and made a call.
Ring ring. Ring ring.
"Hello."
"Sir, We need to speak." Hayashi spoke into the microphone of his rotary dialer.
" . . ."
"Sir?"
"Is this important?"
"I'm afraid it is, sir."
"Sigh. Very well then. Same place, 11pm. Make sure you aren't followed. You know how. I'll make the arrangements."
"Yes sir." Hayashi replied.
Click.
Hayashi replaced the speaker of the telephone and prepared.
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Hayashi didn't know much about their mysterious sponsor. Neither did Zhao or anyone else in the Agni Kais. He never showed his face and remained hooded whenever they met in person. He was probably some big wig from one of the other nations that didn't want anyone associating him with the Agni Kais.
Hayashi made his way to the store and greeted the shopkeeper.
"Say no more." Said the shopkeeper, having recognized Hayashi from the last time he was here.
"Watch the entrance while I get the key." the shopkeeper said, before going out back.
Hayashi monitored the entrance for a minute or so before the shopkeeper came back and beckoned to the nervous firebender.
"You know the way. Lock the door on your way out. I'm expecting the key back before I close tonight." said the shopkeeper before manning the cash register once more.
Hayashi nodded back to him and exited the shop from the back entrance and locked the door behind him, he had done this song and dance before. As he exited into the alley Hayashi pondered the meaning of these safety measures their mysterious sponsor insisted he follow every time they met.
It had been a few years since he had made contact. The mysterious sponsor had given them intel that had prevented the Terra Triad from taking over a good portion of their territory. Over the years he had somehow ensured that members of the Agni Kai Triad either got out of jail early or somehow were never convicted of the smaller crimes in exchange for the occasional job they pulled for him.
Hayashi was the Agni Kai's point of contact with him. Hayashi's role over the years as adviser to Zhao had changed. Where he once sniffed out potential conflicts with other Triads and kept the Agni Kais from starting something they couldn't finish, he now also sniffed out suspicious jobs and brought them to the attention of their sponsor, who never once gave them a name to refer to him by.
Hayashi broke out of his contemplation when he reached his destination.
Sir, as the Agni Kai had sarcastically yet fearfully taken to referring to their nameless benefactor, was once again sitting on a chair, waiting for him. As always, his face was masked and his head, hooded.
"I hope you had a good reason for breaking from our schedule, Hayashi. We were to meet two days from now, were we not?" Sir spoke softly, his voice carrying over to the other side of the room where Hayashi had just entered. Despite his pleasant voice, his tone carried a distinct threat with it.
"N-No. I mean yes sir. There was a good reason." Hayashi quickly corrected himself.
He approached Sir and quickly gave him the rundown of what had occurred in the Undercity safe house.
Sir clasped his fingers and placed them beneath his masked face.
"This seems like a good opportunity, Hayashi. Sit. And tell me, what exactly do you find strange the offer this gentleman gave you." Sir said, gesturing to a seat in front of him.
Hayashi was quick to sit down and explain. He wasn't sure of his reasons but Sir always asked him to explain things, whether it was why an offer seemed suspicious or why a situation did not seem right. He couldn't be sure, but it seemed like Sir was grooming him to replace Zhao eventually.
Either way, Hayashi quickly pointed out all the points he had found strange, from the appearance of the gentleman and the way he spoke, to the overly large sum offered for the job. He even included his suspicions that the gentleman had been approaching other groups as well.
Sir remained silent for a time. And just when Hayashi started getting nervous, he spoke.
"Your target's name is Jin?"
Hayashi nodded.
"And your job is to kill him?"
"No sir, just injure him severely and leave him to be found in a public place. He wants it to be a spectacle, I think." Hayashi speculated.
"Ha. Hahahaha. Hahahaha."
Hayashi was startled by the laughter that erupted.
"Do you know the client, sir?" He asked tentatively, once the laughter died down.
"No. Not the client. But I doubt he matters. What matters is the boy. The target." Sir said. Hayashi could practically hear the smirk the man donned under his mask.
"Are we out of bounds? Targeting him?" Hayashi asked nervously. Sir had stopped them from going after certain targets before. It would be a shame if that was the case this time.
"Out of bounds? No, no. Absolutely not. In fact an attack on him would serve my needs as well. But if I have a suggestion for you."
Hayashi nodded. Of course, when Sir said suggestion he actually meant he had an order for them and expected them to be carried out. Zhao wouldn't be happy about the 'suggestions' but he would comply with them.
"Provoke him into attacking you first." Sir said after a pause.
Hayashi frowned.
"Provoke him? Why? How?" Hayashi asked.
"Why, you ask. Hmm. Tell me, wouldn't it be interesting to be able to publically humiliate him and get away with it for once? With him throwing the first punch the police wouldn't be able to touch you. Your reputation would only increase and you would have satisfied your clients request."
'That makes sense.' Hayashi thought, making a mental list of locations that would be perfect. They would strike when Jin was seen in any one of them.
"As for the how, well there's always what the Triple Threats did. Threatening his family should work well. The boy would turn into a raging bull if what I've heard is accurate. Not that that should be needed. I think the fact that you are the Agni Kai Triad should work fine by itself." Sir mused aloud.
'The fact that we're . . . Did the Agni Kai hurt him before?'
"Jin's identity as a non bender and the fact that he's a councilman's nephew only makes it more interesting. I'm looking forward to the chaos." Sir said before he shooed Hayashi away.
Hayashi pondered on Sir's final words to him as he left but didn't bother voicing his thoughts to Zhao and the others when he got back. It didn't matter anyway.
What mattered was that Sir had given them the all clear with a few additional requirements.
They had a client.
They had their target.
And soon they would have their money.
Because they were the Agni Kai and the Agni Kai never failed a job.
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Author's Note:
Sorry about introducing more OCs, I know people seem to hate them but, LOK's list of irrelevant side characters is incredibly small. There wasn't much room to work in so I made some more.
Here's a short summary on the characters that were introduced.
Hayashi - A youngish adviser in Zhao's inner circle. Also the point of contact with Sir. Thinks Zhao is an idiot but fears his strength and charisma.
Zhao - Hot headed leader of Agni Kai. All brawn, little brain. But he knows he's no genius and uses Hayashi for his ability to read between the lines.
Sir - Mysterious benefactor to the Agni Kai. They know little about him.
Hooded gentleman - A well educated man with a gruff voice who wants the Agni Kai to beat up Jin for 100,000 Yuan.
These characters may or may not make a future appearance.
Let me know what you guys think.
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I don't think you really need the index at the bottom, and there shouldn't be a reason to feel apolegetic for the OCs.
Most of us are probably assuming "Sir" is Tarlock.
Fu Manchu guy is probably the lieutenant of the Equilists.
The two OC gangsters you named are necessary perspective characters.
Anyway, I'm enjoying your story.
You have maybe left the beginning of the cannon story line a tad static, but the development of character relationships has been well done and well reasoned.
I like the anyletical style of the main character's agression.
I also like the way youve handled the MCs talents. From what I've seen you've avoided making him op.
Instead, you've mainly based his skills on the fact that a well educated person who grew up during our world's information age, has probably been better educated than even members of a newly industrial aged society's elite aristocracy.
Most of us are probably assuming "Sir" is Tarlock.
Fu Manchu guy is probably the lieutenant of the Equilists.
The two OC gangsters you named are necessary perspective characters.
Anyway, I'm enjoying your story.
You have maybe left the beginning of the cannon story line a tad static, but the development of character relationships has been well done and well reasoned.
I like the anyletical style of the main character's agression.
I also like the way youve handled the MCs talents. From what I've seen you've avoided making him op.
Instead, you've mainly based his skills on the fact that a well educated person who grew up during our world's information age, has probably been better educated than even members of a newly industrial aged society's elite aristocracy.
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- Location
- Usa
Appreciate the review. I love overpowered shonen protagonist as much as the next teenager so it's been a struggle to not turn the MC into a fix-all.
Tabi
Expert Jissou Abuser
Just an FYI. The quotation mark comes after the comma in a sentence.
- Location
- Usa
Sorry bout that. I grew up learning British English. Its used either way there. I rely on american word editors for spelling but they don't take care of punctuation. I'll try to keep an eye out in the future.
Ridiculously Average Guy
I'm you, but stronger
- Location
-
So, Jin is going to get Airbending once the Harmonic Convergence happens, right?
Since, you know, you seem to be setting up for that.
Since, you know, you seem to be setting up for that.
- Location
- Usa
- Location
- Usa
Thanks. I appreciate the vote of confidence.This is one of the best LoK fics I've read so far!
Chapter 12 - Two can play at that game!
- Location
- Usa
Chapter 12 - Two can play at that game!
"Ha . . . Ha . . . Ha" I doubled over, panting as I recovered from the exertion.
I straightened up once I had caught my breath only to be hit with a wave of nausea. I closed my eyes, shook off the dizzy spell and gathered myself.
"Thank you, Jinora. Once more, if you don't mind." I said, preparing myself for another round with the gates.
"You've gone through 5 times already. Don't you need a break?" Jinora asked worriedly.
I shook my head fondly.
Jinora had been helping me out with my training for the past couple of weeks. I had kept with training the Quicksilver Mode and usage of this unusual skill had grown considerably since I had first started. While my the time limit had barely gone up my ability to make use of that widened perception had seen much growth. And it wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Jinora.
Oh, she was fine with it - said that the training benefited her as well since she got to train her Airbending. But I knew better. Ten year olds who would give up their time to help their admittedly training obsessed second cousins were pretty damn rare.
Even now, her only concern wasn't the time she was spending but the fact that I might be overdoing it.
"I'm fine for another round or two, Jinora. Don't worry about it." I reassured her.
Jinora relented. I didn't blame her for wanting me to stop. In the beginning I could barely go through the gates once without taxing myself.
"Alright", I called out. "On my mark."
I closed my eyes and focused. I had done this five times already and despite what I had told Jinora - I was, in fact, feeling the fatigue. My legs ached something fierce and so did my torso. The sudden twists and turns I had to make took their toll. But I had to keep going. I needed to get stronger.
I exhaled slowly as I tugged on that elusive, silk like energy that flowed within me and felt the warmth spread throughout my body starting from my stomach. Warmth that then moved to my head where I began circulating the bulk of the energy I could control.
"Now." I signalled.
Almost instantly, Jinora let loose a massive gust of air that set the wooden panels spinning at incredible speeds, a good deal faster than I when I began training this way.
Not wasting any time, I leapt into motion. As I ran towards the gates, I felt the world around me slow to a crawl. Where before I could only see a blurred image of the rotating panels, now each of them appeared to rotate in slow motion. I got past the first three gates without a hassle and quickly adopted evasive maneuvers as the speed of the gates increased as I approached the inner gates and ignored the flying wood chips with practiced ease. As soon I got past the middle layer of panels, I felt a massive, painful tug in my stomach. The severe cramp like sensation was followed by a sudden headache that made me lose focus. Almost instantly, the slowed world I had gotten accustomed to sped up as the warmth in my head vanished leaving behind a hollow sensation, as if someone had carved out a portion of my skull.
I was quickly ejected from the gates after a few face first collisions and landed on the floor before Jinora.
"Jin", she screamed and ran up to me.
"I'm alright, I'm alright." I said as I got up quickly and patted the dust of my hair and clothes waving Jinora off.
"Another round, Jinora." I said, making my way back to the starting point.
"I . . . I don't think that's a good idea."
I turned around in surprise. Jinora bit her lower lip and looked at the ground.
"What? Why? Are you tired?" I asked in confusion.
Jinora looked up at me with a hardened resolve in her eyes.
"You're nose is bleeding."
I wondered what she was talking about. I lifted my hand to my nose and sure enough, it turned out that I was bleeding from my nose. Strange I don't remember getting hit that hard. The panels rotated fast but they were padded to avoid significant injury.
"Probably just from when I tripped and got hit by a panel. It's nothing really. I'll take care of it after another round." I tried to reassure her.
"No it's not nothing. You said that your nose bleeds when you overexert your Chi, right? You can't keep going like this." Jinora's shrill tone echoed in the courtyard.
'Keep going on like this? What is she talking about. It's just training.'
"Look Jinora -"
"Hey, quit hogging the platform will you? I need a go too, you know." I was interrupted by Korra who had been watching from the sidelines. I hadn't realized that. Maybe it would be a good idea to stop for now. The gates were originally for Korra's use anyway.
"Sorry about that. I guess I got a bit too absorbed." I apologized to Korra and Jinora. "Go ahead, I'll be hitting the punching bag for a while."
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Sock. Sock. Sock. Thud.
There was something incredibly therapeutic about hitting a heavy sandbag. Once you had used it enough times and the novelty wore off, your punching and kicking would become somewhat automatic. The rhythmic smacks of my fists, elbows, feet and knees against the heavy bag helped focus my thoughts and really gave me time to think about recent events.
Sock. Sock. Sock. Thud.
Junior's information that the Agni Kai's sending a group of thugs after me had me feeling pretty annoyed. I had put the beatdown on Zolt's thugs in order to scare anyone who would try to pull the same crap in the future. Establish my position as someone not to be fucked with.
Thud. Sock. Sock. Thud.
It seemed to have the opposite effect. Rather than scare away the other's, my aggressive stance attracted other asshats, crawling out of the sewers with a chip on their shoulders. I'd have appreciated the irony if it wasn't me in this particular situation.
Sock. Sock. Sock. Sock.
'What's with this anime-style bullshit? I'm half expecting to be challenged for the title of Strongest Disciple sometime soon. Fucking jobless thugs. If you're that bored, go read some porn or something. Leave me the fuck alone.'
Sock. Sock. Thud. Sock.
Jokes aside, I had no idea when they'd act. From what Junior told me I was somewhat certain they wouldn't risk coming to Air Temple Island to beat me up. That was too high profile and would most certainly bring the scrutiny of the entire police department on them, seeing as how they reported to Tenzin. No they'd attack me once I entered the city. Much like the triple threats they had shopkeepers, street performers, orphaned street children and others browbeaten or bribed into acting as lookouts.
Sock. Sock. Sock. Thud.
No. That wasn't right. Not really. While it would be logical for them to avoid the Air Temple, I couldn't risk relying on any ounce of logic the Agni Kai possessed. They were hardly mathematicians. No, they were gangsters precisely because they weren't rational people. Besides, according to Junior, who's intel I quickly verified for myself, the Agni Kai's boss, Zhao was known for being particularly bad tempered and the Agni Kais as a whole were a bunch of steroid and drug using brutes with barely a dozen of brain cells between them.
Sock. Sock. Sock. Sock.
I wouldn't put it past an idiotic, egotistical level 1 mini boss like Zhao to get impatient and attack Air Temple Island to get to me. I wanted to avoid that scenario at all costs. The best thing to do would be to face this "Hit Squad" somewhere in Republic City, where Korra, Tenzin, Pema and the kids were out of the firing range.
Sock. Sock. Sock. Sock.
Junior had come through in a big way. He had gotten as much information as he could on the more popular members of the Agni Kai Triad. Some of it was public knowledge, some of it was unsubstantiated rumors and some of it was dug up from old police reports with the help of a cop Junior was on good terms with.
Sock. Sock. Sock. Sock.
I didn't know who the Agni Kai were sending after me. I didn't know how many they were sending.
Sock. Sock. Sock. Sock.
But I'd be prepared and I'd send them to the hospital all the same. If not the morgue.
Sock. Sock. Sock. "Jin".
I paused and stared at the sandbag. Perhaps I had hit it a little too hard? I could have sworn the bag called my name. I wound my fist back to hit it again and see if the unique phenomenon would repeat itself only for something to grab hold of my hand.
"Jin. Stop this. Enough is enough."
I turned around to see Korra clutching my hand, looking worried.
"What's wrong. Are you done with the gates already? You mind if I take over?"
I had this sudden feeling that I had said the wrong thing when Korra's expression became even more severe.
"Jin, whats going on?" she asked, schooling her expression.
"What do you mean. I was just training." I replied honestly.
"You call this training? Jin, look at your hands." Korra said, letting go off my hands so I could get a look at them. My training wraps were bloody. Through the gaps in the wrappings I could see that the skin around my knuckles was torn something fierce. The cause was obvious.
"Probably didn't do that wraps right. Its unusual but it happens." I smiled at Korra reassuringly.
"Knock it off. And stop smiling. It isn't the wraps." Korra shouted. "You've been at this for hours. Haven't you realized how late it is?"
'Has it really been that long?'
I really hadn't realized. I looked at the sun only to find that it had already gone down.
"Look, Jin. Something is bothering you. I don't know what it is, but it obviously has something to do with that friend you met a few days ago. What happened?" Korra questioned me.
"It's noth-" I tried to play it off but Korra wasn't having it.
"You have bags under your eyes. You haven't been sleeping and you've been overworking yourself so hard that even Jinora noticed and is worrying. That's why I pulled you away from the damn training gates. Now are you going to start talking or do I have to go to Pema?" Korra threatened.
'Nuts.'
Of all the threats she could have made. One of the first things I noticed about Pema was that she was surprisingly like her mother-in-law, Katara. She was incredibly kind, generous to a fault and a surprisingly good listener. And much like Gran Gran she had this way of ferreting out just about any information out of anyone. Then again, she raised the hell spawn known as Meelo so I wasn't particularly surprised by her ability to get to the truth.
"Alright, alright." I conceded. Korra talking to Pema and possibly Tenzin was more trouble than keeping the secret was worth. I didn't want Tenzin to find out about this, not until I had sufficient proof in the form of eye witnesses that I acted in self defense.
"It pretty much began with those Triple Threat goons we beat up when we arrived in Republic City . . ." I began my tale once we found a good spot on the beach shore.
----------------------------------------------------
*An hour later*
"So the Triple Threats wanted revenge so they sent some goons after you and were about to go after me next?"
"Yup." I affirmed.
"And you beat them up so badly for threatening me and Pema that they're still in the hospital and the Triple Threats came to their senses and backed off?"
"Mhmm." I nodded back.
"And now the Agni Kai is coming after you to prove that they're better than the Triple Threats?" Korra continued.
"Well, it's not quite that straightforward but yeah, that's it in a nutshell." I confirmed, not wanting to get into the details which even I wasn't completely sure about.
"And you kept this quiet because you didn't want to get me involved?"
"Yeah." I replied sheepishly.
Little more was said for a while. The beach was silent save for waves crashing softly against the shore and the occasional cry of seagulls flying above us.
Thwack.
"Ow! What was that for?" I yelled, clutching my stinging cheek.
"That was for leaving Air Temple Island and not letting me know so I could come along. Do you know how bored I was?" Korra said angrily, putting her fist down.
"Sorry about that." I didn't mention that I had thought about it but was dissuaded by that fact that Korra was avoiding me at the time due to her misguided envy. I didn't want another punch to the face.
The silence resumed for another minute. I had never taken a moment to actually look at the sea from the Island's shore before. It was remarkably peaceful.
Thwack.
"C'mon! What was that one for?" I yelled, this time clutching my other cheek.
"You have to actually ask? I don't like being treated like a damsel that needs to be protected or kept out of the way. I've had enough of that all my life, thank you very much. I'm the Avatar. I don't need protection. I'm the one that does the protecting." Korra growled angrily.
"Alright, I'm sorry. Okay? Could we avoid any further violence? I've only got two cheeks and they are both starting to swell." I complained.
"Maybe when you stop being an idiot." Korra scoffed.
A more serious expression showed on Korra's face.
"Look. I get that you're this big bad revolutionary, alright? But I beat up two of the three thugs that were harassing that old man. This is my problem as much as yours. If you think I'm just going to hide and do nothing you've got another thing coming." She said firmly.
"But-"
"If you have any further complaints, I could always bring up the topic with Pema. I think you have two unbruised cheeks she'd take a paddle to." Korra shot a smirk at me, no doubt recalling the phantom pains we both felt when we saw Aunt Pema spank Meelo for farting over the food she prepared for dinner sometime last week. The poor hell spawn was limping for days.
"Alright, you've got me. We do this together. Deal?" I mumbled, resisting the urge to cover my ass.
Korra's grin was all the answer I needed. Oh that would change soon.
"Well, first I got this dossier you need to go over. Preferred techniques, capabilities, suspected crimes, family members etc. Memorize it."
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Once I made sure, Korra had memorized the large dossier, and boy was that difficult, Korra hadn't been kidding when she said that her and books didn't go well together, all that was left to be done was convince Uncle Tenzin to let us leave the Island.
There were two women in the world Tenzin had a weakness for. His mother, Katara and his wife, Aunt Pema. Well technically there were three if you counted Beifong, but I think he was just scared of her. Anyhow, the second one is the important one here.
Aunt Pema rarely asked for much. She was an Air Acolyte. Those guys didn't exactly have too much in the way of worldly possessions. Their water was filtered at the Temple itself, they grew their own vegetables and fruits and cooked their own food. But there were a few things Aunt Pema refused to budge on.
She absolutely refused to wear anything made of shed bison fur as some of the other acolytes did. No, her clothes were made of processed cotton or wool and stitched by a personal tailor in Republic City. Also she was pregnant. Thus another bunch of chores was added to the list of tasks that required Air Acolytes to leave the Island.
- Pick up Pema's clothes from the tailor. She just outgrew another set.
- Pick up pickles soaked in vinegar and grape jelly from the market. Pema's having cravings again.
My studies at the temple had been going well. While I was nowhere near Otaku, who had probably memorized every damn book in the library, I could be considered a veritable font of knowledge on Airbender history and scripture.
Also, my impromptu lecture to Korra and the subsequent outing had done her some good. Her desperation to pick up Airbending had decreased. She was a great deal calmer and it showed in every meditation session we had with Tenzin. She also seemed to be picking up the Airbending forms Tenzin was teaching her at a quick pace.
In light of our recent successes, it wasn't too hard for Aunt Pema to convince Tenzin to let us take cares of the chores. Aunt Pema was surprisingly open to manipulating her husband into letting us off the Island for a change. Then again, the knowing look she shot the two of us suggested that she knew that this wasn't the first time we had left the Island. I wonder why she didn't tell her husband?
I heard she joined the Air Acolytes later in her life. Perhaps she empathized?
Anyhow, during our trip to complete the chores, Korra and I had accidentally got lost, repeatedly, and strayed into several areas that I was certain were under watch by the Agni Kai. But no matter how many secluded locations we strayed into, we found neither hide nor hair of the inexplicably elusive firebending gang, who should have ambushed us by now.
We really shouldn't have gone to the trouble.
On our way to the docks, Korra and I were walking past a well populated, busy and relatively wealthy district that according to Junior's Intel wasn't under the thumb of the Agni Kai Triad when I noticed four people step out of the crowd and approach Korra and I. As if sensing the inevitable conflict the crowd cleared off the street - most of them rushed off, pretending they hadn't seen anything and a dozen or so remained behind to watch. Douchebags. Now I couldn't throw the first punch. Fuck!
I got a good look at the three goons in front. Ganju, Keela and Torch. Junior's dossier had plenty of information on all three. Ganju, the bald one was of particular note. A firebender who had no problems forgoing his firebending talent to crush his opponents with sheer muscle mass that was no doubt boosted by any number of anabolic steroids. He had a fierce hatred for the Triple Threats. Something about Speedy raping his wife, causing her to commit suicide. Speedy was never convicted. Terrible tragedy. But given the fact that he was trying to kill me, I wasn't feeling too sympathetic. He had a nasty temper too, side effect from the steroids.
Keela, a lightning bender. Proficient with firebending but prefers using lightning when in a pinch. She didn't look too quick on her feet. Korra should be able to dismantle her.
Torch, the nastiest of the three. Extremely slim and short. He was half a foot shorter than me and probably 50 pounds lighter. He was quick on his feet and dextrous with fire daggers. A bad matchup for Korra. A pain in close ranged combat for regular benders.
It's a good thing I wasn't a regular person, let alone a bender.
"So, Jin and the Avatar. It's been hard getting a hold of you two. You don't step out of your Island nearly often enough." Torch said, baring his yellowing teeth. Apparently the Agni Kais didn't get a decent dental plan.
Korra stepped forward.
"Well, we're here now, hoodlums." she said, laying down the challenge.
I winced inwardly.
'Note to self: teach Korra to trash talk. Seriously. That was just . . . embarrassing.'
That was when I caught sight of the fourth of the Agni Kai members, who remained behind the other three. He caught me looking at him and smirked. That tattoo. I recognised him, but not from Junior's intel.
I inhaled harshly as a tsunami of memories swept me back to the past.
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"Look at him, boy. Look. At. Him." Docata ground out as he grabbed my hair and shoved my face into a photograph. It wasn't a particularly ugly one, nor was it a particularly handsome one. It was average, in almost every way. The only thing that really stood out about it was the tattoo across the side of his face - a dragon.
"His name is Kaiser. Look at that face, boy. That's the son of a bitch that killed your uncle, my brother." He whispered, forcing me to stare at the photograph. I didn't close my eyes. Somehow, he knew when I did that and made sure I didn't do it again. Painfully.
I had fainted while going through the forms Docata forced me to practice. It was hot and I hadn't drunk nearly as much water as I should have. Docata was not pleased.
"Your purpose in life, is to avenge your uncle, my brother. You will not rest, you will not breathe freely until you accomplish that, do you understand?" He shouted at me, spittle flying from his mouth. I nodded fearfully, unable to stem my tears.
"You know the rules, boy. You didn't do good today, so you're not eating supper. But it isn't your fault. Not really." He said in an almost kind tone as tears ran down my face unchecked.
"This man", he said, pointing at the photograph. "This man is the reason you won't be eating today. He's also the reason you won't be eating tomorrow or the day after unless you Finish. Practicing. The. Damn. Forms." He yelled, tossing me into the corner and the photograph too.
I stared at the photograph hard as I rubbed the snot and tears off my face. It was all his fault. His fault I had to go through this. One day, when I escaped from Docata, I'd find this man and I'd kill him for making me go through this. I'd make it painful. My mind was filled with that thought. I felt nothing except -
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'Hatred. He needs to die. He needs to -'
"Jin."
I felt a tug on my sleeve. I turned to find Korra looking back at me, her eyebrows furrowed in worry.
I winced at the pain in my hands and looked down. I relaxed my fists. I had clenched them so hard my nails had broken skin. I knew this was a possibility. The fact that the Agni Kai were after me was what had me so out of sorts the last few days.
I exhaled. This was not the first time I had been influenced by residual emotions and memories left behind by Cheng Hao after the stupid shit died of hypothermia but I hoped it would be the last. He was not a well adjusted child. Those memories and emotions had a way of messing me up. It's a good thing Korra snapped me out of it before I got stuck in my thoughts.
Crap, now I owed Korra an explanation. But that would have to wait.
My mind calm once more (relatively speaking), I took in the situation like I would any other. I'm certain I had zoned out for at least couple of seconds but the Agni Kai hadn't taken advantage and still seemed to be insulting me.
'Why?'
"What's wrong, Jin. Hiding behind the big bad Avatar. You going to let a girl do your fighting for you, you pansy? Why don't you run back to Arc City like the pussy you are." Ganju taunted me, sunlight glinting off his bald head.
'This makes no sense, do they just plan to insult me? Maybe Junior was wrong. Should I just walk away?'
I frowned but decided to respond in kind. Best see what they had in mind. I targeted Ganju, who I seemed to be the easiest to crack with the information I had on hand. I felt sick using a woman's rape to get under a man's skin but hey, they started it.
"You talkin' to me, baldy? You look like a misshapen dildo, you ugly fuck! If I painted your head purple and shoved batteries up your ass, would you vibrate? Maybe then a girl might actually consider sticking around you without committing suicide but I wouldn't count on it."
There was a slight gasp from Korra beside when she realized what I was talking about.
The bald dildo bristled in anger, clenched his fists hard enough that I was surprised I didn't hear his knuckles crack. But he didn't attack. Kaiser stepped forward and grabbed his arm to stop him while Keela traded barbs with Korra on the side.
'I don't understand. Weren't these guys supposed to be hotheads? What's with the sudden restraint?'
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kaiser glance at the crowd.
I followed his gaze and spotted the person he was looking at. My eyes widened when I saw the man in the crowd nod at Kaiser.
"You know, the Triple Threats may have backed off, but we are Agni Kai and I think it's time we showed -"
'Did Kaiser actually ask permission to threaten me? So that's what's going on! It's not that they didn't see us enter their territory earlier today. They did. But they still chose this place to approach me. Why? What's special about this place? Wealthy, well populated, low crime because it's well policed. Policed? We just passed by the police precinct. They want to provoke me into attacking first since there's a police precinct nearby. Do they have someone on their payroll?'
My thoughts took a darker turn but I didn't let on that I had any idea what they were up to and kept an angry expression on my face while I tuned out the obligatory threat and whispered to Korra.
"Korra. I'm going to say something that starts the fight. Get ready." Korra looked confused but she nodded. I didn't bother explaining any further. Korra had read the dossier, she had probably already figured out what I was talking about.
" - your place in this city. See, we know where you liv -"
"You know", I spoke up, interrupting Kaiser who was still holding back the bald dildo I was addressing. "Speaking of the Triple Threats I had an encounter with one of them last week. Guy named Speedy, you know him?" I taunted and watched as Ganju's face turned red and veins throbbed visibly on his bald head.
'Just a little bit further.'
"The guy was bragging about some of his "conquests", you know. Apparently he got to know your wife pretty well. Girl by the name, Tula? Yeah, he had her squealing -"
"That's it! Lemme at him! Let go, you old cunt!"
Ganju snapped and wrenched his arm free from Kaiser's grip and slammed a meaty backhand into the surprised man's face. Kaiser fell to his ass and clutched his broken nose in pain. Ganju roared and threw a fire blast at me, which I promptly ducked under, leaving it to splash harmlessly against the wall behind me, leaving naught but a scorch mark. The attack was thrown in haste and had no explosive power behind it as was normally the case, just plain heat. I could tell the difference from the color of the flame.
'About time.' I thought, a smile growing on my face as the Agni Kai shot-caller in the crowd looked dismayed by the sudden turn of events and left quickly. I made a mental note to look him up in the future.
"Let's do this", I whispered to Korra.
We charged.
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Author's Note:
Spent about an hour and a half writing this. There's probably a few errors and holes that I will fix later. I wanted to get it out now since I might not be able to write for a while.
Point of Note: You look like a misshapen dildo, you ugly fuck! If I painted your head purple and shoved batteries up your ass, would you vibrate? I don't know where I heard this or read this. If you do, please let me know.
For those who think Jin was too quick to get the gist of what the Agni Kai were up to, remember that he has been dealing with thugs like this for a while now and knows how they think. Most of them are simple and don't think beyond "He's the enemy, let's fuck him up." That's what happens when you don't go to school past the 4th or 5th grade. If goons don't just charge in and attack, chances are that the encounter is being coordinated by someone considerably smarter than the thugs.
Ganju punching his own ally in the face: Roid rage coupled with the fact that Kaiser was stopping Ganju from killing the wise-ass who mouthed off to him about his dead wife. A lucky coincidence.
The only thing I could think off that I've overdone was Junior's ability to collect information without any explanation. There will be one. Just not for a few chapters.
Let me know what you guys think about the way the situation is panning out and provide suggestions as to how things should proceed. I have an idea on how things should go but there's never any harm in getting more opinions. Feel free to post any grammatical mistakes you find (or better yet, PM me). Thanks.
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- Location
- Usa
Yup. Pretty much what happened to me. Google can be surprisingly annoying at times. Sorry for the lack of a warning.
- Location
- Usa
Lol I thought so before I included that bit, so I did some research. Apparently vibrators were developed as early as the late 19th century. Check the wikipedia entry for lols. I couldn't believe it.
RoboRenee
Trans of gender
- Location
- FFXIV, probably
- Pronouns
- She/Her
"some wounded World War I soldiers received vibrotherapy as treatment at English and French hospitals in Serbia."
Talk about adding insult to injury...
- Location
- Usa
Tell me about it. Talk about getting shafted.
Nice puns.
Edit: Those doctors sound like dicks
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- Location
- United Kingdom
You're apparently a Lantern now
I don't get this either. The whole chapter felt very off. you've got him losing time and the standard anime BS of training too hard.
- Location
- Usa
I'm afraid I don't get a lantern reference. Jin doesn't have a lantern or a ring, nor can he fly or use constructs. I think I was really careful with not making him overpowered. I'm not sure where this is coming from. Sorry.
The purpose of the first half of the chapter was to show how deeply affected Jin was by the residual memories of the body he landed in.
Overtraining: It happens quite often IRL too. When someone gets so focused on something they are really worried about that they don't pay attention to what they're doing and lose track of time. Frankly, there's nothing anime about it.
Korra is annoyed that Jin didn't come to her for help and is calling him an idiot. She has an aversion to being protected that's pretty clear in the cartoon.
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- Location
- Usa
Nice puns.
Edit: Those doctors sound like dicks
More like ducks. Total quacks.
Ok may that's a bit much. Stopping with the puns.
Ridiculously Average Guy
I'm you, but stronger
- Location
-
Huh, I thought it was due to weird chi bullshit.