Earth, Fire, Air, Water… Only the Avatar can master all four elements and bring balance to the world…

A chance encounter puts Korra from pro bending spectator to pro bending star! With her new teammates Mako and Bolin, the Fire Ferrets earn a place in the championship tournament. But meanwhile an anti-bending revolution brews in Republic City. Who are the equalists and what nefarious plan does the mysterious man behind the mask have in store for our hero?

"There are my little hard working street urchins!" A tall man with a hat and yellow tie exclaims, as he enters the training gym, walks over to the group, and addresses Korra with a hand on her shoulder, "It's an honor to finally meet you, Avatar."

"And you are?" Korra asks, unable to hide her irritation from her prior squabble with Mako over training hours.

"Butakha!" The man proudly answers. "I run this whole pro bending shebang." Korra walks away and he turns to Mako. "Here's your winnings from the last match," he tells him as he places the tall stack of bills in Mako's hand. "Ah ah ah, not so fast!" Butakha exclaims while wagging his finger. "Fist you owe me for the Avatar's new gear, the gym and equipment rentals for last month, rent on your apartment, and a personal loan for groceries." On every fee he mentions, he grabs a stack of the bills from Mako's hand until no bills remain. Mako turns and frowns at Bolin.

"What? I'm a growing boy!" Bolin explains while rubbing his stomach.

"Oh! And one more small item of business. The Fire Ferrets need to ante up 30,000 yuans for the championship pot."

"30,000 yuans?!" Bolin shouts.

"Sorry kids. You got 'til the end of the week to come up with the dough or else you're out of the tournament."

"You wouldn't happen to have a secret Avatar bank account over flowing with gold would you?" asks Bolin and the man leaves.

"I got nothin'," she says while pulling her pockets inside out. "I've never really needed money. I've always had people taking care of me."

"Then I wouldn't say you have nothing," Mako says with a slight resentment in his tone as he starts to put away the equipment.

"Sorry, I didn't mean…"

"No, it's alright. It's just… ever since we lost our parents we've been on our own," Bolin reassures her.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"So, anyway," Mako interrupts, "How are we gonna come up with the money?"

"Ooh! I got it, I got it!" Bolin declares, "I've been training Pabu to do circus tricks—now people would pay good money to see that!"

"Come on Bolin, we need serious ideas," says Mako, shooting down Bolin's idea.

"I was serious…"

"Don't worry about it. I'll figure something out. I always do," says Mako as he slings his bag over his shoulder and turns to leave. Korra watches him leave as Bolin looks down, eyes filled with irritation, at Pabu.

"Come one, come all! See Pabu the fantastic fire ferret as he crosses the ladder of peril…" he gasps, "…Upside down!"

When nothing happens Bolin makes sounds to Pabu indicating that he wants him to cross the little make-shift obstacle. Pabu then crosses on his hands, flips, and lands on the other side after Bolin tells him, "Big finish buddy! Stick the landing!"

"Ta dah!" shouts Bolin and a man passes by and drops a single yuan in his cup. "Thank you ladies and gentlemen! You are too kind! Seriously too kind! You can come back here and put money in this… okay that's fine, that's fine. One yuan down, 29,999 to go…"

A man in a blue outfit pulls up in a Satomobile and asks, "Hey, Bolin! Is that you?"

"Oh, hey there… Shady Shen."

"Heard you're a big time pro bending player now," he says as he gets out of his Satomobile and approaches Bolin, "Not bad."

"Uh thanks"

"So listen. I got an offer for ya. Lightning Bolt Zolt is lookin' to hire some extra muscle."

"Uh, I don't know Shen… Mako told me to stay away from the Triple Threats."

"Pffhh. Your brother ain't the boss of you. It's just a little security work. Nothin' crooked," he presses as he throws in a stack of bills into Bolin's tip cup, "You game?"

A whistle sounds and Mako pulls off his mask, wipes the sweat off his forehead, and sighs after completing his shift bending lightning at a power plant. He returns to Bolin and his apartment and calls out, "Bo, I'm back! Picked up your favorite dumplings!"

"Ugh…" he groans as he drops on the couch, "Hey I found some work down at the power plant. Got some decent money," he calls out again and then places a dumpling in his mouth. "Bolin? You here bro?" he asks and peers around the apartment then out the window at Air Temple Island. "Huh, bet the little love bird is making a house call."

Korra is practicing air bending with Jinora and Ikki as Mako walks up the stairs to meet her.

"Oh, hey Mako."

"You seen Bolin?" he asks without as much as a "hello".

"Nice to see you, too," she responds obviously irritated, "And no, I haven't seen him since practice. Think something's wrong?"

"I don't know. Bolin has a knack for getting into stupid situations," he sighs, "See you later."

"Wait!" she calls out to him, "I could, uh, help you look for him."

"Nah, I got it."

"Hey cool guy," she says as she grabs his arm, stopping him, "Let me help you. We can take Naga."

"Who's Naga?"

"My best friend and a great tracker."

Mako and Korra, on the back of Naga, begin to search for Bolin in the streets of Republic City.

"Your best friend is a… polar bear-dog. Somehow that makes perfect sense."

"I'll take that as a compliment, city boy."

Underneath Zuko's statue, Korra stops Naga and Mako says with confusion in his voice as his gets off Naga's back, "Well, this is his usual hangout…" He walks over to a group of children playing. "You guys seen my brother around here today?"

"Perhaps," a young boy answers, "My memory is a little… foggy. Maybe you can help… clear it up."

"You're good, Skoochy. Hmmph, a real pro."

After a series of questions and bribes, Mako and Korra find out Bolin was at his usual hangout around noon until Shady Shen of the Triple Threats paid Bolin money and they took off in his Satomobile.

"What's he talking about?" Korra asks Mako.

"Sounds like there's a turf war brewing… and Bolin's about to get caught right in the middle of it."

Mako and Korra take off on Naga to the Triple Threat triad's headquarters to find Bolin in hopes that nothing has happened yet. Naga notices Pabu running in the streets and proceeds to chase him. Korra and Mako realize it's Pabu and Pabu hops on Naga's back over to Mako's shoulders.

When they arrive at the triad's headquarters, Mako says, "Something's not right. There are usually thugs posted out front. We better be cautious." He makes his way to the door cautiously and motions for Korra to follow him. She walks up to the door without fear and kicks the door down. Mako peers from the side into the room.

"Bolin?" he calls, "You in here?"

The sound of a truck outside loudly starting up to leave has them running outside only to see equalists driving away with Bolin and some others in the back of the truck with their mouth covered with a rag to stop them from screaming.

"Bolin!" screams Mako as they take off in full sprint after the truck. Some equalists throw green smoke bombs in front of them stopping them in their tracks as they leave on Satocycles.

Coughing, Korra orders, "Naga, Come!"

They begin chasing the truck on Naga's back while Mako shoots fire and Korra earth bends to try and stop the truck and the Satocycles. An equalist on a Satocycle throws a ball on a chain that ties Naga's legs together forcing her to stop and Mako and Korra to fall off. Another equalist joins them and it's a two on two battle. After some resistance on Mako and Korra's part, the equalists block their chi and they fall to the ground. Naga breaks the chains tying her legs together and charges at the equalists. Seeing this, they flee on Satocycles while throwing more green smoke bombs.

Naga lifts Korra to her feet and she attempts to bend.

When she isn't able to bend she exclaims in fear, "I can't bend!"

"Calm down. It'll wear off. Those guys were chi blockers. They're Amon's henchmen."

"Amon? That anti-bending guy with the mask?"

"Yeah. He's the leader of the equalists."

"What do they want with the Triple Threats?"

"Whatever it is, it can't be good," he sighs, "I can't believe Bolin got himself into this mess!"

"Mako," she says with a hand on his shoulder, "We are going to save your brother. I promise you that."

After hours of fruitless searching, Korra says, "We've been out all night. No sign of him."

"We've gotta keep looking. But where?"

Korra gasps, "I have an idea!"

They take off on Naga and wait by a fountain where Korra says she met an equalist protestor on her first day in Republic City. Korra asks Mako why Bolin would even be in this mess and Mako explains to Korra that they used to do work for the Triple Threat triads when they were younger because they had to do what they had to do just to survive as orphans. When she asks about his parents, he tells her that they were mugged by a fire bender that cut them down right in front of him when he was only eight.

Mako explains, "Bolin is the only family I have left. If anything happened to him…"

"Equality now! Equality now! We want equality now!" a man shouts as he shocks Mako and Korra awake. "Non-benders of Republic City…"

"That's the guy."

"…Amon calls you to action! Take back your city! It's time for the…" He spots Korra and stops mid speech to gasp at her. "It's you again! You cannot silence me, Avatar!"

She slaps his megaphone down to ground, shattering it.

"Shut your yapper and listen up! My friend got kidnapped by some chi blockers. Where'd they take him?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Oh, I think you do." She kicks his table, the man falls off, and flyers fly everywhere. He attempts to pick them up but there are too many.

Mako grabs one as they are falling down and reads, "Witness the revelation, tonight—9 o'clock. What's this revelation?"

"Nothing that concerns the likes of you two!"

Korra grabs him by his collar and lifts him up. "You better believe it concerns us. Spill it," she threatens.

"No one knows what the revelation is! And I have no idea what happened to your friend, but if he's a bender, then my bet is he's getting what's coming to him!"

"Where's it happening?" asks Mako, but is interrupted by a police officer asking what they were doing and the man saying they were oppressing him. They run over to Naga after Mako picks up a flyer off the ground and run off.

"A revelation, huh?" a figure asks as she offers her hand to help the man up.

"Yeah, you a bender here to oppress me too?!"

"Oh no, nothing like that," she says smoothly, "I'm simply here to find out the location of this little… revelation. I've been struck down and oppressed by benders, too." She removes her right arm's bracer to reveal a scar from a burn in the shape of a hand on the inside of her wrist. "So, where do I go?"

"Bingo! That's must be where it's going down!" exclaims Mako after they discover a hidden map created from a puzzle when multiple flyers are placed together.

"This is the place," Mako tells Korra as they arrive at the discovered location of the equalist revelation. Disguised in drag clothing complete with hats and scarves, they arrive at the entrance hoping to not draw attention to themselves. Korra grabs Mako's arm so they look like a harmless couple in an attempt to blend in.

Unfortunately, despite their efforts, they are stopped at the door by a man guarding the entrance.

"This is a private event," he tells them while crossing his arms, "No one gets in without an invitation."

"Uh, invitation?"

A young woman appears by them and shows the man at the door her flyer. "Oh, you two. I saw you guys by the fountain this morning before I got my flyer."

They tense up as Mako explains, "Oh, you must be mistaken! We got our flyer by a dumpling restaurant!"

"Really? Oh no, I'm sure it was you. Well anyways, the invitation he requires is simply the flyer you received." She turns away from the man at the door and winks at them with a smile. "See you guys inside. May the revelation provide what people like you and me are looking for."

They look at each other with faces of confusion and relief as they show the man at the door their flyers.

"The revelation is upon us my brother and sister."

They enter and make their way through the large crowd of equalist supporters in search of Bolin. Suddenly a bright light is shone on the stage and a voice bellows, "Please welcome your hero, your savior, Amon!" Amon, his right hand man, and a group of five other equalists rise up onto the stage.

Everyone cheers as Amon approaches the microphone and proclaims, "My quest for equality began many years ago. When I was a boy, my family and I lived on a small farm. We weren't rich and none of us were benders. This made us very easy targets for the fire bender who extorted my father. One day, my father confronted this man, but when he did that fire bender took my family from me. Then, he took my face. I've been forced to hide behind a mask ever since. As you know the Avatar has recently arrived in Republic City." The whole crowd boos when they hear this and Korra pulls up her scarf to hide herself more. "If she were here, she would tell you that bending brings balance to the world, but she is wrong. The only thing bending has brought to the world is suffering. It has been the cause of every war in every era, but that is about to change. I know you have been wondering, what is the revelation? You are about to get your answer. Since the beginning of time the spirits have acted as guardians of our world, and they have spoken to me. They say the Avatar has failed humanity. That is why the spirits have chosen me to usher in a new era of balance. They have granted me a power that will make equality a reality. The power to take a person's bending away… permanently!"

Everyone gasps as Korra tells Mako, "That's impossible. There's no way."

"This guy's insane!" he responds.

"Now for a demonstration. Please welcome our little… volunteers." Bolin, Lightning Bolt Zolt, and three other benders are brought to the stage and forced to kneel on the ground with their arms tied behind their backs.

"There's Bolin," notices Korra.

"Wait! We can't fight them all. We need to be smart about this."

"Then come up with a game plan, team captain," she responds, irritated.

"These benders have been extorting non-benders for too long! But their reign of terror is going to come to an end. Now in the interest of fairness, I will give our first bender, Zolt, a chance to fight to keep his bending."

"You're gonna regret doing that, pal!" shouts Zolt as he attacks Amon with his fire and lightning bending. Amon easily defeats him and take his bending away by placing his thumb on Zolt's forehead and his index finger in the side of his head. Everyone gasps when Zolt tries to fire bend but he cannot.

Amon declares, "The era of bending is over! A new era of equality has begun!" Another bender is brought over to Amon.

"Any ideas yet?" asks Korra.

"I think so. See those machines? They're powered by water and steam. If you can create some cover, I can grab Bolin without being seen. Then, we duck out of here."

"Works for me. Mako, good luck."

"You, too."

Korra sneaks off to the side and tries to no avail to turn a wheel connected to a pipe to release some steam.

"Hey, you!" The man from the door catches Korra.

"Is there a problem, my brother?" She asks nervously.

"What're you doing back here?"

"Uh, looking for the bathroom?"

Back amongst the crowd of people by the stage, Mako makes his way to the front, preparing to rescue Bolin and wonders aloud what is taking Korra so long.

The man attempts to stop Korra, but fails miserably and is knocked into a pipe releasing a large amount of steam.

Now it is Bolin's turn to face Amon.

Bolin says nervously, "Um, Amon, sir, I think there's been a big misunderstanding."

Finally, Korra is able to bend a large amount of steam as cover for Mako to grab Bolin and make a run for it. In all of the commotion and equalist grabs Bolin, but Mako takes him down.

"Bolin are you alright?"

"Yes! Mako, I love you!"

Bolin and Mako make a run for it and start to climb down a ladder, but an equalist is right behind them and uses his kali sticks to shoot electricity down the metal ladder, forcing them to fall down to the ground hard. They try to hold them off, but Mako is knocked down and Bolin is trapped against his own wall of earth and electrocuted by the equalist. Bolin screams out in pain, when suddenly the electricity stops and Bolin slumps to the ground seeing only a flash of bright orange fire until his eyes close. He opens his eyes and looks up to find a young woman he doesn't recognize barrage the equalist with a series of fire bending attacks until the equalist is forced against the alley's wall and a dagger is thrown hitting him directly in the neck, killing him in an instant. He gasps in horror at the sight until he is stopped by a hand extended in front of his face in a gesture to help him to his feet.

"Are you okay?" she asks and he can only mumble incoherently as a response. "Can you stand on your own?"

"Um, yes, I think so," he responds weakly. "Who are you?"

"Later. We need to help your friends."

Bolin didn't even notice that another group of equalists was attacking Mako and Korra who recently arrived. They ran over to them and began to fight them off. More and more equalist kept coming and they were starting to feel like they couldn't take them all down.

"There's too many of them! You need to go now, Avatar!" The young woman exclaimed. "Now! Leave now!"

"But we can't leave you here. We'll be fine, we can beat them."

"No there's just too many. Go! Leave with your friends, the world needs you, Avatar. I'll hold them off, now go!"

Korra looks worriedly at Bolin and Mako, but with a quick nod from Mako in agreeance, the groups run down the alley to escape.

Seeing that they have left safely, she takes a deep, calm breath, closes her eyes and lifts her hands, bending lightning at the equalist attackers. She takes down many of them easily, but soon grows weak from the extra power needed for her to bend the amount of lightning she did. She stops bending and resorts to throwing a few more throwing knifes with excellent precision, again killing many equalists. Amon, seeing how many men he was losing, ordered them to retreat while glaring down at the young woman, mentally taking a picture of her to track down and kill later.

After all of the equalists have retreated, she slumps down in exhaustion against the wall, now unable to hold herself up. Looking around the alley at all of the fallen equalists, she notices a dark red strip of material. It's a scarf, the one she noticed Mako wearing both when he saw him at the fountain and at the revelation. Feeling that is might be something precious to him and knowing how it is to lose something you treasure, she tucks it onto her belt and sneaks out of the alley.

As the group reaches the river located right before the area the revelation was held, Korra whistles for Naga and they take off towards Air Temple Island. When they arrive they walk over to Tenzin who looks extremely worried.

"Thank goodness," Tenzin sighs in relief, "I was just about to send out a search party. Are you alright?" he asks Korra, then turning and realizing there are others with her he asks, "Are you all alright?" Korra shakes her head no and he asks, "Korra, what happened? Did you find your friend?"

"Yes, this is him." She motions to Bolin, who nods in respect. "But… I was at an equalist rally. I saw Amon."

"What?" Tenzin gasps in surprise.

"He can take people's bending away. For good."

"That's… That's impossible. Only the Avatar has ever possessed that ability."

"But I saw him do it," she pleads.

"I believe you. I don't know how Amon has achieved this power, but that means the revolution is more dangerous than ever. No bender is safe."

"And then in the alley, when we were trying to escape. There was this woman… she just came out of nowhere, followed us or something, and started to help us fight them off… She saved Bolin."

"She was the woman that said she recognized us at the door, remember Korra? The one that knew who we were," Mako explains. "Maybe… she was there for the same purpose we were. She said 'people like us'."

"I don't know who she was or where she came from, but all I know is she saved my life. And… we just left her there," Bolin points out sadly, "Who knows what could have happened to her…"

"We'll find her Bolin. We have to. She saved us," says Korra definitely.

"Even if we… can't… Bolin, we'll still get through this. She realized the most important thing was giving Korra a chance to get to safety because the world needs the Avatar… now more than ever," Mako explains solemnly, "But we can still try, starting tomorrow. We need to rest now."

"All of you need to rest. You've had a long, stressful day. You are all free to stay here for the night if you need to. Please do, you are more than welcome," offers Tenzin.

Bolin and Mako utter their thanks and Pema comes out per Tenzin's requests to show them to a guest room.

"Tenzin… everything that's happening… the revolution, the equalists, Amon… it's all so much," Korra sobs.

She leans against him and he rubs her back to console her.

"I know, Korra, but it is your duty as Avatar to bring peace and balance to the world. Bending is the only thing that does that. You will prevail…you must." Tenzin reassures not only her but himself, just barely whispering, repeating the last two words. "…You must."

Thank you all for reading the first chapter~ I really hope you all like it and if you do, R&R, Follow, and Favorite! I also want to thank my awesome beta, Vivian Fates! This chapter seems a little bit unoriginal in my opinion, but I felt like the background information was necessary. The next chapter includes much more of our mysterious lady. R&R!

ishibby