Chapter 2

In Training

The street car rumbles down the road, sending clouds of noxious dust into the air. Everyone around me looks tired and put-off, probably all heading to work for the morning. I, on the other hand, am bouncing on the balls of my feet, two yuan bills crushed under the vice-like grip of my hand.

The street car stops with a high-pitched squeal of the brakes and the the glass doors pull open. Everyone slowly files in, shuffling like penguins. The street car is obviously one from the poorer regions of the city. Its red body is coated with black streaks and graffiti, the windows covered in who-knows-what. I finally walk on and deposit a yuan into the metal bin, the driver grabs my arm.

"The fee's been raised," he rasps, "two yuans." His eyes are baggy as they squint at me and there's a dirty beard hanging from his chin.

I'm a little frightened to say the least. But my indignation gets the better of me.

"What? Why? I've ridden this street car since I was twelve and it's always been one yuan."

My green eyes narrow as I stare at him. I can tell from his expression that he's debating on whether to throw me off or just tell me to shut up and deal with it.

The driver sighs. "Look kid, I don't make the rules. With all the Equalists running around the city, it's becoming more dangerous to drive. So the transportation district has decided to raise the price of transit from one yuan to two yuans. Get it?"

I pull my arm away from his grip and drop the second yuan into the bin. Now I have no way of getting home. Dandy.

To say it's big would be a major understatement. The police headquarters rise above me like a mountain as I step off the street car. It's disorienting, being in this portion of the city. There's a cacophony of sounds that reach my ears, but only some of them get processed. Satomobile engines, a million voices, the humming of airships above me, a zealous merchant chanting an advertisement for his top-quality komodo sausages. Not sure if I trust that one.

Toph Beifong's statue stares down at me as I walk under the arched threshold of the headquarters. Her hard chiseled eyes stare down as if saying, "So, you think you got what it takes, huh? Ha, we'll see." I try not to think of what waits inside. I'm nervous enough as it is.

Within, my eyes take a moment to adjust to the yellow harshness of artificial light. Metal-clad police officers walk to-and-fro, their gazes hard and their forms harder. I calm my beating heart and walk up to the receptionist desk. Three bored looking workers sit behind the long desk.

"Umm . . . excuse me."

The available receptionist continues writing and doesn't look up. Alright, I suppose I should have composed myself better.

"Hey! You guys say you want more police help, but it doesn't look like you're trying very hard to get it!"

See what I mean?

The receptionist, who I now see is a middle-aged man with greying side-burns and a glazed over expression looks up at me.

"I assume you're here for registration?"

I nod.

He mutters something like "Never get past the first stage," and hands me some papers with a pen.

"Go into that room," he points to a door on my right, "fill out these forms, and bring them back to me."

I could feel the awkward, walking into that room. About ten other people are sitting on wooden benches lining the wall, scratching with pens on forms identical to mine. They all look up at me as I walk in. Soon enough, the only sound in the room are the many pens scratching down answers on forms. The questions on that form make me laugh:

Name? Kosame Inazuma

Age? Eighteen

Height? 5'9 maybe?

Why do you wish to join the Republic City Police Force (RCPF)?

Because I wanna kick some Equalist butt!

What do you feel is the most urgent problem facing the city at this time?

Definitely, the transit fees. Either that, or Amon's mask. That thing has got to come off...

Do you view yourself as a competent fighter?

Heck yeah!

And the list goes on and on . . . Suddenly, a door I hadn't seen before slams open and bright sunlight pours into the room. Standing there, hands on hips and a scornful expression that has "Fresh meat" written all over it, is Lin Beifong. Her eyes scan the room, resting a moment on me. I don't know what that's all about, but it feels quite awkward to sit there while the chief of police glares at you.

"Initiates," she says with a commanding voice, "welcome to the RCPF. You should know that we only accept the best-of-the-best here. Many of you will walk out of our training process with broken limbs and even more broken spirits. This isn't for the faint of heart. If it were, my mother wouldn't have designed it. Now, who's going to continue and who's going to drop out?"

No one moves.

Lin's eyebrows raise. "Well, well, well. A tough bunch, I see. Don't worry, our training will work that outta you soon enough."

Two men behind her snicker.

"Men!" They come to attention like their lives depend on it. And maybe they do. "Collect their papers and bring them to the front desk. Initiates! Come with me."

The two officers behind her come forward and take each one of our papers in turn. We follow Chief Beifong out the door and into an open courtyard. Grey stone pillars line the whole courtyard and in the center lies a steel statue of Toph Beifong. She's in an earthbending stance with metal cables flying from her arms. Lin leads us to a group of pedestals with metal cables on them.

"Each one of you stand behind a pedestal."

A horrible thought comes into my mind: what if they expect us to already be earthbenders? I try to throw that piece of doubt from my mind thinking, It would have been on the forms! But that doesn't really console me. My palms are sweating and I'm feeling a little sick by the time I reach my pedestal.

"Alright," Lin says. "Lucky for you, the Equalists have decided to take a break today, so I have nowhere else to be. Instead of one of my instructors, you get me."

I'm not so sure that's a good thing.

"First, I'll need to test your earthbending abilities. Then, those of you who are good enough, I'll teach you the basics of metalbending."

Yup, my heart is officially beating in my throat.

"Alright. To begin with, please assume your preferred earthbending stance."

Everyone around me shifts position and I quickly copy.

"Simply levitate a rock."

About fifteen chunks of earth are lifted out of the ground as if scooped with spoons. Lin walks from left to right, examining each initiate in turn. I don't know what she can get by just seeing how they lift a rock, but seeing as I have nothing, I'm not one to be talking. She stops when she reaches me.

"Is there a problem, young lady?"

I try to calm my breathing and appear nonchalant.

"No problem. I'm just not an earthbender."

Lin cocks an eyebrow while everyone beside me starts whispering and giggling. I feel my face go hot and clench my fist.

"Well, then you're in the wrong place. If you hadn't noticed, we are metalbending police." I feel the mocking tone in her voice and forget my embarrassment for a moment.

"I don't see anywhere that says you have to be a metalbender."

Her eyes narrow and I can read her expression perfectly: yes, I'm one of those.

"What is your name, miss?"

I don't answer, which probably just makes things worse.

"I said, what is your name?"

"Kosame. Kosame Inazuma."

Is that fear I see in her eyes? It soon passes, however, and her scornful stare returns.

"Well, Ms. Inazuma, you are quite crafty for finding the one loophole in our selection process that I thought was common sense."

Everyone laughs and she smirks.

"Now that you know, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"I'm not leaving," I say firmly.

"Oh, is that so?" She's angry now, I can tell. "And what do think is going to stop me from forcing you?"

Crap. I need water, and now! My eyes dart back and forth, searching for even a drop of moisture. My eyes don't find it, though, my mind does.

I analyze the shape of the courtyard, realizing that the roofs around us tilt inward, toward the courtyard. That means any rainwater will build at the edge of the roof right behind where I stand. I think when was the last time it rained: two days ago. It could have evaporated by now, but it's been mostly cloudy these past few days and there's a chance some water is still there. It's a gamble, but it's my only chance.

It's my turn to smirk. "Definitely not you, I can tell–"

Before I can finish, metal cables come flying at me and I barely jump back before they impale themselves in the dirt. I land three feet back and bring my arms down in a sweeping motion. To my delight, water comes rushing over the edge of the roof and right onto Chief Beifong, soaking her to the bone. If she was mad before, she's boiling in her metal armor now.

"A waterbender, I see. And you thought you had what it took to be one of us."

Okay, that struck a cord.

In a blind rage, my right hand slashes in the air and water from the ground freezes onto her legs. It's not much though, and she easily breaks out of it. Another flurry of metal cables comes my way and this time they hit their mark. The cables wrap around my left arm and I cry out as they pull me backwards and bolt me to the wall. My arm feels like it's been lashed by a flaming, white-hot whip. Lin shoots another volley of metal rope and I'm helpless to resist. They slam into my midriff, knocking the air out of me.

I would like to tell you that I'm able to break free and miraculously win the fight. No.

I am stuck like a fly in a spider's web, my pride in tatters and tears stinging my eyes. Chief Beifong slowly walks up to me.

"I suggest you leave with what dignity you have left, waterbender."

I don't answer because I'm afraid the tears rolling down my cheeks will turn to sobs if I do.

"I said, leave my headquarters!"

The cables retract with lightning speed which hurts even more than before and I fall to my knees. I don't look to see the people that must be staring at me. I just stand up and run. I don't even know if I'm running in the right direction I just keep going.

Eventually, I reach another wall and I pull open a wooden door and step in. Definitely not the right door. It seems to be a small closet of broken equipment. There are various pieces of police armor strewn across the floor, cables themselves along with cable retractors: the circular shaped packs that hold them when not in use.

Suddenly, I get another idea. Perhaps stupid and certainly more crazy than my first, but nonetheless I am determined to see it come to fruition. I grab a broken cable retractor and a whole reel of cables that clang as I pick them up. My logic: they have plenty of these. They won't notice if one is missing. And besides, it's good payback to Chief Beifong.

Awkwardly holding the strange contraption in my arms, I find another door that leads into the lobby and I exit the headquarters.

Sure, people stare. Sure, Gen is going to make fun of me. Sure, mother's going to kill me.

I don't care, though. The thought of revenge is just too sweet . . .

Well, there you have it, chapter two! Don't worry, Lin isn't gonna be an anti-hero the WHOLE story. She'll come around. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Kosame means "light rain" in Japanese and Inazuma means "lightning". I just love Japanese. Now, it is late and I must be off to bed! Oyasuminasai! (Good night)