Chapter One; The Underbelly

"But why?" Adriana whined impatiently as she followed her sister around the house.

Adriana was small, only about 4' 6" inches, and twelve years old. She wore a small purple dress, long and flowing, the pinacle of fashion. Lotus flowes had been emblazoned upon it. Her deep teal eyes were lit with excitement, and her perfectly smooth face emphasized her childish beauty. She grasped onto Janine's long-sleeved leather jacket as she spoke.

Janine was in many ways the opposite of her sister. She wasn't really beautiful, more dark and rugged. Her brown eyes had a burgundy tint to them, and reflected a solid toughness. There were markings on her face that hinted at scars that had mostly faded away. She dresed in a jacket and a long pair of men's pants, totally against society's norm. She was also slightly taller than the average height, almost six foot.

Janine rolled her eyes and glanced impatiently at her. "Because using air bending is an art. An ancient and almost forgotten one. You cannot use it as a toy!" Her dark blueish hair, dyed despite her mother's protests, hung over her face. She had brushed it away from her left eye, but let it cover her other one.

Adriana rolled her eyes. "But it is fun." She closed her eyes and held out her hands, as wind whipped through the room. Paintings were torn off of walls. Couches were knocked over. Janine simply stood her ground. After only a moment, Adriana stopped.

"I told Mom teach you was a bad idea," Janine muttered to herself. "Now clean this up. I need to go." Then she turned and stormed out of the room.

Adriana surveyed the mess she'd made. Then she laughed. It would be simple enough. Holding out her hand, she used updrafts to carefully put everything back where it was supposed to go. Then she sprinted out the door after Janine.

Today was a special day for the people of Air Nation, a small self-run city dedicated to the lost art of Air bending. 250 years had passed since the death of the last air bender when a small group of scholars decided to go back to the basics and learn air-bending from the endangered air-bison species. Over the 50 following years, the group had grown to about 50,000. For the people learning and studying there, air bending was an art. There were, of course, the rule breakers.

Janine glanced back and forth, after slipping around a corner by her house. When she was sure nobody was looking, she sent a blast of air through a small hole in the side of the alley wall. Quickly pushing on the wall, it swung to the side, and she slipped in. On the other side was an empty plot of grass and a few prickly bushes. Janine shot a blast of air at the spot in the very middle of the yard and a combination steel door was under it. Typing in 06-05-424, it swung open, and Janine slipped inside. As she closed the door, everything moved back to its proper place. Janine opened one last door and was flooded with flashing lights, The Underbelly.

The Underbelly was a scaled down version of Las Vegas. It was the party area, and the danger sector. It was here that society's undesirables made their home. Janine slowly made her way through the maze of buildings, studying the makes. It was a game of hers. See how many new buildings had popped up between her monthly visits.

Janine made her way down a familiar passageway. It was dangerous, her life, and although she enjoyed it, she wanted to keep Adriana as far away from it as possible. When she at last came to a stop, it was outside of what appeared to be some kind of dojo. "Air Battles" was etched out of the doorposts. Janine nodded her head at the door and sent it flying open. "The Vortex is here!" she announce with a snarl as the people in the room stopped their fights to glance in her direction. "I have come to be challenged. Who wants to try their luck?"

"Vortex?" the man in charge of the fighting ring said, pulling his mini-calender out of his pocket to double-check. He was dressed in a torn brown dress shirt, and nice leather pants to match. His hands were covered with dozens of different sized rings, and thy could be heard clinking as he moved. Reviewing it, he nodded his head. The he looked up into Janine's face, and spoke. "I thought so. People were expecting you this evening. That is when you said you'd show... Isn't it?"

Janine glanced around at the other air-boxers. They were all staring at her rather wide-eyed, like rabbits who had been cornered by a fox. Newbies, she thought with a roll of her eyes. "Well, that's inconvenient for you, isn't it Sylvester?" Then she sighed and said, "I do not control my time as much as I would like. There is somewhere that I have to be this evening."

"But the betting..." Sylvester protested helplessly. "What am I supposed to tell my customers?"

Janine simply raised her eyebrows. "Betting? Who in their right mind would bet against me? I mean, I've never lost a single fight, regardless of who you decide to throw my way."

"Aaronius will be here tonight," Sylvester said awkwardly, obviously not wanting to tell that news to Janine. Janine's eyes flew open in shock. Sylvester continued, "Apparently people have been boasting about your skills in the outside world." Janine glanced around at the newbies, and they all nodded their heads in excitement. Janine turned and shot a death glare at Sylvester

"I never agreed to any such match, Sylvester!" Grabbing his shirt and pulling him close, she hissed into his ear, "I have no desire to get burned or fried by a firebender, especially one as good as him! What in the world made you think you could do this without asking me first?" Janine spat angrily.

"I'm in charge of an illegal Air Battles ring, it's kinda what I do. Besides, I figured there was no way you would refuse, if you'd heard him say the kind of things I did," Sylvester replied with a small smile.

Janine knew Sylvester well enough to be able to tell when the man was lying. His small, beady light blue eyes had narrowed even more than usual, and his slightly pointy nose was lowered. It was his normal pose for when he wanted to get something out of somebody. Janine knew that asking him would be falling into his trap, yet she was also incredibly curious. What could he possibly say that he believed would be able to convince her he was after more than just cash? "What did he say to you, Sly?"

"He said that ti was laughable to even imagine a skilled airbender. He said the two words were incompatible, said that this was why it was the only bending ever to be forgotten. Extinction proved that it was a lesser art, and that this is why only scholars pay any attention to it. His whole point is coming is to crush the heroine of Air Nation, and to put airbending back into its proper place. He wants to prove to all watching, the airbending is an inferior art."

Janine's eyes darkened. She didn't really care if Sylvester was lying to her about this or not. He'd put his finger on the one thing that had always truly bothered her. If she lost, refused to fight, or simply didn't bother to show up, people would accept what Air Nation was telling them. "Airbending is a bending of science, not of combat," they always said. "It's only purpose is research."

Suddenly, she was being given the chance to prove Air Nation wrong. If she could defeat a skilled firebender like Aaronius, she would have proven the nation wrong. Airbending's place in the world would change forever. However, in order to assure that, she'd need to take things a step further than Sylvester had planned. She was no longer going to hide her passion from the world. "Change the location, Sly," she ordered. "When I beat him, I want the world to know."

Sylvester instantly protested. "You'll be arrested, Vortex! What are you thinking? I'll be arrested! What the two of us have been doing is totally against the laws of Air Nation, and now you want to make all of that public?"

"Well," Janine replied, "we'd be able to take my skills on the road. Once I beat Aaronius, there is no way they would refuse me in the worldwide Bending Battle competitions. You'd be able to be my manager, and make way more cash then you are right now. We'd simply run away from here."

Sylvester shook his head, and an uncharacteristic frown crossed his face. "No, Vortex. Regardless of what you may think of me, I am not without an, albeit small, conscience. I will not run a 16 year old girl, especcialy you, ragged across the world just to make myself my richer. I will not allow myself to sink to that level. However, if you truly crash the ceremony by challenging Aaronius, I will tell him where to meet you. I was my hand's of the result, though. Do not mention my name unless you are completely certain the people enjoyed the performance. Show the world if you so desire, but be forewarned. Once you do, your life will never be the same."

Janine nodded her head and said, "This was your idea though, Sly. You were the one who brought Aaronius here. I'm just making the most of the oppurtunity. I will challenge him, and mark my words, The Vortex will win." Then she turned and walked out of the room.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Sylvester whispered, "I believe in you. Now, of all times, we Air Battlers put our futures into your hands. I beseech you, Vortex, do not fail us."

When Janine returned to her home, she found Adriana pouting on their coach. Howeer, the moment Adriana saw her, she jumped to her feet excitedly, using airbending to do a flip alon with it. When Janine chuckled instead of scolding, Adriana's look became suspicious. Her older sisster was not acting the way she was supposed to be. "Why are you back so early, Janny?" she asked curiuosly. Then she added, "And why'd you laugh instead of get mad?"

"Things are changing, little Adri," Janine replied with a gin as she lifted her sister and spun her around with excitement and jubilation. "Aaronius is coming." Adriana's mouth dropped open in a squeel of excitement over the news and proceeded to jump up and down in excitement. Her airbending lifeted her about a foot off the ground each time. Then a look of confusion replaced her excitement. Janine frowned, momentarily confused. "What is it?"

"I don't understand, Janny. He can't be coming here. There's nobody for him to fight," Adriana pointed out.

Janine grinned and shook her head with a chuckle. "Don't worry about that. He'll find the person he's looking for." Adriana nodded her head and smiled, though she still looked somewhat uncertain. Who could he possibly be looking for in a place like Air Nation. They had no nation warriors or even unnational ones. You couldn't find somebody who simply didn't exist.

Janine continued. "Apparently, rumor has reached him that a powerful airbender lives here, a secret warrior called The Vortex. Aaronius has never fought an air-bender, and The Vortex has chaallenged him to a duel."

Adriana shook her head at the strange news. "This Vortex person is crazy. Doesn't he know that airbending isn't useful for anything besides science?"

Janine winced at what she took to be an acusation. She wasn't crazy. Vortex wasn't a guy. Most importantly, Airbending was useful for things besides science. She'd never told Adriana anything of that sort. However, she contented herself to a simple reply. "I don't know, Adri." She glanced out the window and peered into the distance as she spoke. "Aaronius finds it worthy of notice. Who are we to argue agaisn what Aaronius himself believes to be true?"