A man sat outside on a park bench, watching the people pass by as he ate his lunch. Anyone watching would have thought he was at peace with himself. Nothing bothering him at all.
The man smiled politely at the passerby's and waved to the children. He was just about to finish his sandwich when from just above him, a window opened with a bang. The man dropped his food and stared at his feet studiously trying to ignore the man leaning out the window.
The other man was obviously a boss of some sort with his smart suit and the arrogance in his expression that all bosses wear with smug smiles. He dropped a folder down to the first man and paper flew all over the street but no one stopped to help or even wonder what was going on.
The boss yelled and cursed and told him he wasn't good enough to even boil a kettle in his company let alone work there. The man below dropped his head in humiliation and stared intently at an ant attacking a huge spider.
Finally the boss let out a torrent of blue flames into the sky before calming down and asking the man to come back in to start his project again.
Quietly the man began to pick up the papers that he'd worked on that whole week staying up until daylight some nights, and put them in the trashcan. Starting again meant more hours of endless work and literally coming up with a new dream and idea for the future.
The man spotted one more loose piece of paper and went to pick it up when a man in a hooded cloak grabbed it for him.
"T-thankyou Sir, I didn't mean to litter everywhere."
The man chuckled to himself but when most people chuckle they sound happy and carefree. This man sounded like he had an inside joke with the Devil. Even though, the man felt drawn to the cloaked figure.
"I saw what happened."
"Are you saying that I dropped them deliberately? I don't quite understand."
"I saw you eating your lunch peacefully and then I saw that firebender abuse you and drop your work I presume, all over the park. I didn't see you do anything wrong come to think of it."
His voice was like velvet and every word he said made you want to cling to it like it was your own soul. He motioned for the man to walk around the corner with him.
"I really should be going back to wor-"
"Nonsense. Come, I think we should have a chat. A bright man like you working for such an arrogant bender like him is hard to believe."
Hesitantly the man followed him down an alley. It was darker down there and away from the busy city streets.
"My boss isn't that bad really he's just... difficult at times."
"Difficult? A lion viper is difficult, that man was oppressive. He is exactly like all the other tyrannical benders in this city and they need to be... equalized."
"Equalized? I don't understand, I don't even know who you are! I mean sure benders can be tough and bullies but what can we do about that? What gives us the right to do anything?"
The man sat down on a damp wooden crate and placed his head in his hands. He couldn't go back to work and face his boss and he couldn't stay out here much longer with this stranger.
"All in good time you'll learn about equalizing this city. And you're wrong there is something we can do about benders and what gives us the right to do anything? What gives them the right to walk all over us?! Who gave that man the right to abuse you the way he did...You want to know who I am? This is who I am!" He shouts.
Then he pulls back into the lighter part of the alley and slowly pulls off his hood. The man reels back in shock and almost falls off his crate. Covering the man's face are horrible red burn marks. The man touches his face instinctively and protectively. What kind of monster could do that to another person?
"My name is Amon and when I was younger a firebender attacked me and my family. He gave me these scars as a parting gift." Amon flinches at the end like the words actually cause him pain. "Who gave him the right to do this to me? Don't you see? We can stop benders pushing people around, hurting innocent people and corrupting the government!"
The other man paused. "I want to help I do. I believe benders need to be stopped but I'm just one person. And this is my job. It's all I have, it's my whole life. As much as I hate benders... I rely on them."
"That's how they want it! They put it in all our heads that we are weak and need their help. They are special people who can get whatever they want by snapping their fingers but what are they without their bending? Bullies the size of nerds. Without their bending they are nothing."
The man found himself nodding in agreement without even realising. The words were like a terrible song that gets stuck in your head, flowing over and over until you have to scream them out to get rid of them. The man wanted to make his boss and all other benders pay.
"But what can I do? I am no one. I want to help but I don't know how."
Amon came closer, pulling his hood back up. He put a hand on the man's shoulder. A comforting gesture normally, but in these circumstances it was closer to a handshake closing a deal.
"You are not a nobody. You my friend shall be my lieutenant. And I'll tell you what to do, all you have to do is trust me."