Chapter 1 Wolfbats vs Fire Ferrets
It had been six months since Kuviras army was defeated by the Avatar and her friends. Republic City had been rebuilt at an incredible pace as the buildings that were destroyed by Kuviras Spirit Vine beam were reconstructed thanks to Asami Sato and her revolutionary technology at Future Industries. She built a new line of construction equipment that allowed the Earthbenders and Metalbenders around the city to help reconstruct the infrastructure surrounding the Spirit Portal at a rate that no city had ever been rebuilt before. Asamis pure genius was on full display as she showcased the equipment shortly after Varrick and Zhu Li's Wedding with her girlfriend Avatar Korra. The two women had changed the city in more ways than ever before and in honor of their accomplishments President Raiko allowed a new statue to be placed near the new Pro Bending Arena. This new statue showed the Fire Ferrets Mako, Bolin and Korra in fighting positions as the officials inside the Pro Bending Arena decided to strip the Wolfbats of their Championship because of their illegal maneuvers during the championship game. Tahno was predictably enraged.
At this time Korra was sparring with Asami in a fist to fist fight at the Future Industries gym room. One of many extracurricular rooms inside the building. Korra started with some simple punches to the face and stomach with Asami blocking each one but then she followed it up with a jump kick and a leg sweep which Asami dodged and attempted to counter with a roundhouse kick. Korra however was able to grab Asami's leg and take her down before mounting her.
"That was a good spar Asami. For a second there I almost thought you were going to win."
Asami rolled her eyes. Any fight against the Avatar when she's at 100 percent is unfair for anybody at this point. "Well you are much bigger than me as far as muscle mass is concerned. I'm surprised I was able to dodge your strikes for as long as I did."
Korra grabbed a towel and started to wipe the sweat off of her body. Asami watched her with awe as Korras muscular physique fascinated her. The two of them had been dating for around six months and it's no secret to anybody in Republic City when it comes to how open Korra and Asami are when it comes to their relationship. Asami had a tendency to be a bit more extravagant than most girls so she kept on looking at Korra until someone familiar knocked on the door.
"Umm. Hello ladies. Can you please let me in?" It was Mako, the firebending policeman who recently got back to detective work after finishing up his employment with Prince Wu. He was joined by his younger brother Bolin who ran over to Korra in his typical childish enthusiasm.
"Korra! Asami! Wow Asami you're drooling a lot."
Asami blushed and wiped her face. "I'm sorry. It's just Korra is so stunning to look at when she works out with me you know?"
"Are you kidding? Korra is the coolest, funnest and buffest girl I've ever met in my life! Which is exactly why I want her and you to join us for a Pro bending game tonight!"
Korra took a look at the tickets that Bolin held in his hands. "Hmm. "The White Falls Wolfbats make their highly anticipated return against the new Fire Ferrets led by the Charismatic Enigma Nakamura." Well I've never heard of this Nakamura fellow but this does seem legitimately interesting. I haven't seen a Pro bending game in a while. So Asami do you want to come with us?"
Asami thought to herself for a moment. "Well things are pretty slow around the Future Industries building and I can just lend the reins over to my second in command for a few hours. I guess I could watch the game."
"Great! Just let me get my yuans and I'll be right with you two bending Bros." Replied Korra.
Mako was a bit confused by Korras response. "We already have four tickets Korra. Why are you getting yuans?"
"For snacks of course! After a workout like that I'm absolutely starving!" Korra grabbed her bag and ran out of the gym with Asami following her.
Mako sighed as he walked down the steps with his brother. "Same old Korra huh?"
Bolin shook his head in response. "I wouldn't say that. If it was the same Korra from four years ago she would've jossled you around a bit and kept Asami away from you. Her enthusiasm is the same but her values couldn't be any more different."
"Yeah I guess. Let's just enjoy seeing the new Fire Ferrets. Hopefully Tahno won't be too upset that we've decided to arrive." Mako didn't forget how Tahno and his team cheated to win four years ago or how Korra basically beat the Wolfbats single handedly in the charity game they played at three years ago. But he continued to his car and drove his friends over to the marvelously redesigned Pro Bending Arena.
Team Avatar all looked in awe at the Pro Bending Arena as they immersed themselves in every little detail of it. The exterior was loaded with torches and exquisite water fountains, there were bending games for young children so they could be entertained while their parents waited in line and there was a huge sign made of platinum above them which said, "Pro Bending match tonight! Wolfbats vs Fire Ferrets! Grand Reopening!"
"Wow. This is impressive. So who was able to make this arena look so cool?" Asked Bolin.
Asami and Korra both raised their hands. "Well I created the construction vehicles and equipment that worked around the Spirit Vines to create the new stadium..." Said Asami
"And I used my metalbending and earthbending to rebuild the arena exactly how President Raiko wanted it to be. Granted some other benders helped out around town, there was a lot of damage after all but most of the landmarks were rebuilt by me." Added Korra.
"Well both of you have done a very good job." Mako noticed a large amount of metalbending police officers providing security for the arena. He also noticed his boss Lin talking to her lieutenants. "Excuse me for a second ladies." Mako walked over to Lin Beifong, the stern police chief of Republic City and shook her hand. "Hi Lin, I didn't expect this much security for a Pro bending game. Is there something going on that I should know about?"
"Well Mako, remember when the Equalists attacked the stadium after the Championship game four years ago? We just don't want anything of that caliber to happen twice. So we're just patrolling the perimeter of the arena to provide proper precautions." Explained Lin.
"Alright. If you need me for anything just look for me, I'll be in the stands with the rest of Team Avatar."
Mako gave Lin a quick Salute and headed back to his friends who were going through a security checkpoint. There was a tall man in a hoodie sweatshirt and a mask which looked like Kiyoshi's face who was in front of Korra being checked by security.
"Alright sir. I need to ask you to remove your mask for me." Said the policeman at the checkpoint.
"No!" Yelled the masked man in a deep and raspy voice. "No. I don't want my mask taken off. My face is too ugly."
"Either you take it off or you don't get in." Threatened the policeman.
The large man sighed and removed his mask revealing his face to the officer, he hid his face from the people around him as the officer cringed in disgust at the man's face. "Eww! Gross! Keep the mask on! I see why you're wearing that now!"
"Thank you officer. Trust me, no one likes guys with faces like mine." Said the tall man, he walked towards the arena while Team Avatar all went through the checkpoint. The officer went from being scared of the man's face to being giddy at the sight of Korra.
"Avatar Korra! I'm so glad that you're here to watch the new Fire Ferrets. Do you want anything special from me?" Asked the officer excitedly.
"No thank you. Just because I'm the Avatar it doesn't mean I'm better than any of these people around me. I just want to be treated the same as everyone else." Replied Korra.
"Oh okay then. Move along. Enjoy the game." Said the officer with a disappointed tone.
"That was surprisingly humble of you Korra. Where did that come from?" Asked Mako.
"Yeah, I'll admit I didn't expect that kind of response from you." Added Bolin.
"Let's just say that after getting beaten up so often months ago I needed to learn how to become more compassionate. I needed to be less arrogant as well so I guess I just want to be a normal woman when I don't need to save the world."
Asami patted Korra on the back and pinched her cheek. "Don't worry Korra. What's in the past is just that, in the past. What matters is that you're still an amazing Avatar and that we're still your friends. Maybe some food will cleanse your mind."
"I'm way ahead of you. I'll get some noodles, popcorn and Lychee juice. Does that sound tasty?" Asked Korra.
"Sounds scrumptious. You two boys don't mind finding seats for us right?" Asami ran off with Korra to purchase their snacks as Mako and Bolin went to the third floor to get their seats. They put their bags on two seats to save them for Korra and Asami and they decided to strike up a conversation before the girls showed up.
"So how have things been with Opal? She's still your girlfriend right?" Asked Mako.
"Yeah absolutely! She's taking some time off from our relationship to spend time with Suyin back in Zaofu but she says that she'd appreciate a visit from me."
"Well that's good bro."
"So how's the detective work treating you? Are you still busting the triads?"
"Actually the triads have basically all been dealt with. Business has been slow around the city since its reconstruction so that's why Lins been giving me and a couple of the other detectives some time off on request."
"Well that's great. It's been too long since we've seen a really good pro bending match. Let's get ready, the games about to start!" Said Bolin excitedly. Korra and Asami got to their seats while they both carried the food. Each member of Team Avatar got a cup of popcorn and a glass of Lychee juice and Korra started to scarf down on her noodles as Shiro Shinobi began his enthusiastic commentary.
"Welcome everyone it's a beautiful night just perfect for the return of Republic City Pro Bending! My name is Shiro Shinobi and it's almost time for the first match of the season to begin as the White Falls Wolfbats make their way to the field!"
The Wolfbats made their typical over the top entrance as Tahno blew kisses to his many adoring fangirls and fireworks were set off all around him. "That's right, I know you all love me!"
"The Wolfbats certainly look confident but they might want to think twice about their attitudes when dealing with this new group of Fire Ferrets led by the Charismatic Enigma Nakamura!"
The Fire Ferrets made their entrance in an extravagant way as well as the slim but tall Firebender Nakamura led his team onto the field. He posed several times for the cameras and even winked at Mako once he saw him in the stands. Mako didn't know what to think of it. Nakamura backflipped towards Tahno as his team assembled near the referee. "Alright guys you know the rules and you know to protect yourselves at all times. Follow my instructions and let's have a clean match. That goes double for you Tahno!"
"Relax ref. I've had a change of heart. I didn't pay any of you guys off this time."
"I'll believe it when I see it." Said Nakamura.
The two men shook hands and went to their ends of the field as Shiro Shinobi increased his anticipation. "3, 2, 1 and the game has begun! Nakamura starts things off with some fire allowing Asuka to knock both Ming and Shaozu to the second zone! Tahno tries to attack Nakamura but he dodges every water strike as his other teammate Shinsuke hits Tahno with two earth discs forcing Tahno to the second zone!"
Nakamura slithered further on the battlefield as he blew a kiss towards Tahno. That just enraged the arrogant waterbender. "Nakamura hits Shaozu with fire allowing Asuka to sneak attack him with a water strike and Shinsuke to knock both Tahno and Ming to the third zone!"
Tahno hit the ground and yelled at his oddball opponent. "You think this is funny Nakamura? I'll knock that grin right off your stupid face!"
Shinobi increased his enthusiasm as the Wolfbats continued to struggle against the Fire Ferrets. "Tahno is launching stream after stream of water at Nakamura but the young man is just too quick to be hit! Asuka gets hit with an earth disc but she quickly recovers, dodges Ming's fire and hits Tahno with a water strike knocking him into the water! First knockout! What technique by this young lady!"
Tahno initially rose from the water with a frustrated facial expression but then he went back under the water to his surprise! "Hold it ladies and gentlemen! There appears to be a problem with Tahno. Did he forget how to swim?"
Tahno rose from the water and flailed his arms as he screamed for help. "Help! I'm being grabbed by someone!" He was forced underwater again as Korra noticed who was grabbing Tahno. It was the hooded man from before only this time his mask was off! He revealed his face to the public and it showed why his mask was so important to him beforehand! His whole face was like a moving tumor, his eyes drooped down from their natural positions, his face was covered with cancerous bumps, his nose was enlarged, his ears had holes in them and his lips looked ripped apart! The disfigured man knocked Tahno out and dragged him to the backstage area after lifting him onto a platform at the south area of the arena. The metalbending police cornered the man when he attempted to leave though.
"Let Tahno go you freak!"
"Freak huh? You know I've been called that my entire life?!" Yelled the disfigured man. The metalbending officers tried to tie him up with their cables but the man grabbed the two cables and used them to swing the officers around before tossing them against the hard concrete walls of the backstage area!
"Let that be a lesson to you idiots! I'm not just another pretty face!" The disfigured man picked Tahnos unconscious body up and carried him out if the arena as Lin arrived to look after her fellow officers injuries.
"Are you alright? Who was that man?"
"Chief Beifong, it's him. It's Izuki. He's back..."