Vanai looked at the dank room around him with contempt, he heard the soft pitter patter of rat-vole's feet, the stench of dried mud on old concrete and could taste the stink of decay like a decomposing body. He remembered sleeping in places like this when he had been younger. He hated every second it.

The floor was grimy and uneven, with cracked rock and crushed crates. The lights flickered erratically and his attempts at turning them on had been less than successful, only serving aggravate his mood. He set alight the dirty rags and cushions lying around, clearly someone had been sleeping here, but the dirt that covered everything made everything looks just as worn out. The piles of crates created a city of alleys and streets that forced his crew split up, and meant that they might be here for longer than expected

Vanai grinded his teeth, This is some chump job, chasing some kid. He was right though. He knew that he had stepped on the toes of one Zolt's lieutenants. Didn't matter which, none of them liked how he had earned the boss' favour, newcomer as he was. He didn't give a damn.

He sneezed and meticously wiped his gloved hands with the handkerchief in his pocket. He wore a black suit and a fedora that cast a shadow over his eyes in the dim light of the fire the burning in his hand. The red lapels of his suit stood out among the others, a custom made tailoring that had cost him a months earnings.

He stepped gingerly through the warehouse, avoiding scuffing his shoes or sliding by any of the crates, lest he got splinters on his blazer. He watched as triads kicked open wooden boxes and doused others in gasoline. They spread out like a pack of hyena-dogs, each member within earshot, if not sight, of the other. None of them wanted to be the one to say they couldn't find the kid, and all of them wanted to get the 100 yuans promised to the guy that found him. Supposedly easy money considering it was just a kid.

A clang rang out from where they had just came in.

"What was that?" Vanai said, "Junan, s'that you?"

"Nah I'm over here Vanai," Said one of the others.

Vanai spat and lifted his arm so that the fire in his hand illuminated the space in front of him. "Show yourself, punk, we know you're here,"

The ones close to him stopped to watch, while the others continued, oblivious or uncaring to the commotion behind them. Who do they think they are? Bunch of wannabes.

"You have till the count of three to get out here before I ash you," Vanai he glanced around him to make sure he was the closest to his quarry and started to count. "One," He split his flame into both his hands, waiting, "Two" The flames grew in intensity until there were like bonfires in his hands, "Three," Vanai threw the fireballs into the darkness and grinned.

A shriek sounded out in the warehouse. All the triads turned to see the source of the scream and smiled. There was a collective boom of laughter as some small creature, its tail on fire, flew into the rafters and dived the firebender.

Vanai clenched his fists and doused the fire he had started before it reached the gasoline. "Stinkin rat's with wings," He blasted the creature again, immediately silencing those around him, and glared at the few who continued to laugh.

The black creature flew into the rafters seemingly unharmed, the fire gone out. It didn't make a noise as it knelt, only its eyes visible and looking at Vanai like a fire-hawk regarding its prey. Looks like some kind of Lizard-hawk.

"Oy Junan, would you look at that, it seems Vanai made a friend," smirked one of the triads, "Junan?" He glanced around when he got no response.

Vanai waited before shouting, "Oy Junan, where the hell are you?" His voice echoed out into the warehouse but there was no reply. "You think this is some kind of game, huh? Get out here NOW," The other triads had stopped now looked at each other silently as Vanai shouted. He examinined the room around him for any signs of disturbance.

A scream pierced the silence, and one of the triads jumped in suirprise. It was the creature on the rafter, it seemed to laugh at them as it knelt, glaring at Vanai. Don't laugh at me ya dumb bird He got ready to throw another fireball. Before he could though, it dived off of the beam and into the gap between some creates and landed with a muffled thud.

"If that rat is not in my hands in the next three seconds, someone is going home looking like the esteemed peace Ambassador Zuko," He said, his voice was scarcely louder than a whisper, but three triads, all of them earth benders, ran in the direction of the where the bird had disappeared.

"And somebody find Junan, or the brat isn't the only thing getting torched today," The triads nearest to him ran off, eager to be out of his way, it wasn't wise to be near to firebender when the ground around them was dripping with gasoline.

Bunch'a spineless cowards. He thought bitterly.

There was a muffled thud somewhere in the distance, it had come from the direction in which the earthbenders had ran. The crates shook for a second then the noise stopped as suddenly as it began.

Vanai was a street kid, he never denied it, although he had broken the teeth of a few guys who brought it up. Living on the streets drilled into him the signs of trouble, he knew that the earthbenders were unconscious, probably 6 feet under the pavement by now, if the guy was any good. What he didn't know was how to deal with it.

Couldn't be the kid, some Agni Kai must have got the drop on us.

He snuffed out the flame in his hand, opting to let his eyes get used to the darkness and stalked one of the other triads searching the warehouse. He switched triad a few times before settling with the lone person on the east of the warehouse, the most likely target for his would be ambusher.

The guy he was following was called Kolkat, he was an old guy in the triads, been in the gang even before Zolt, but he never did much, he kept to himself and was only a modest waterbender. He wore a trenchcoat on top of his shirt and trousers, an unusually mellow outfit for a member of the triads, Vanai wondered what the man did with all his money if not on the clothes and cars the rest of them could afford.

Vanai, tailed him for minutes, fully aware that while he waited, whoever it was could be taking down the rest of his triads. There was a flicker of movement in the crates above the Kolkat, Vanai stopped and waited to see what would happen.

I paused as I watched the old man continue to spill gasoline as he went. All this just for me? I thought to myself. There was little reason for the Triple threat triads to go after me, a random street kid. I did get six of them arrested though.

Charon glided silently onto my shoulder, a small reassurance in what I had just done. Six of the thirteen triads were out of action, two waterbenders and a firebender lay between some crates, their arms, legs and mouth covered by the earth, and 3 earthbenders were unconscious. I calmed myself, being trained is one thing, actually using earthbending was quite another and this had been my first trial run.

I had taken each of them by surprise, binding them or knocking them out before they could so much as light a fire or throw a drop of water. I felt adrenaline rushing through my system and barely kept my movements silent as the I felt high on energy

I had been following the old man for ten minutes now, waiting for him to bend over, or present some kind of opening where I could force him down to the ground, once I could do that, earthbending would do the rest.

"Damn Vanai, stupid upstart," The thug muttered under his breath. "Could be back at home, listening to the radio if it wazn't for that punk,"

My heart was hammering in my chest as I tensed my legs and got ready to jump.

The thug stopped and bend backwards, stretching himself, unfortunately this also gave him full view of me, staring down at him like a gargoyle. Before he could draw breath I dived into him, my hands spread in front of me. I covered his mouth and as put the full weight and bracers onto his head. There was crack and he was unconscious. I stood up and glanced over him, he wore a trench coat and had a satchel of water tied around his belt, making it obvious he was a water bender. I reached patted him down, taking his wallet like I had the others and slinging his satchel over my shoulder.

I looked in his wallet before I restrained him, he had about 50 yuans and a picture of a little girl. "Dinner's on me," I joked casually to myself. "You should really invest in a bank account, although I guess that's pointless now,"

Suddenly Charon screamed on my shoulder and I dropped the wallet. A fireball hit me in the shoulder and I fell to the ground. The instant my shoulder connected with the wet concrete, the gasoline was set alight, lines of fire raced across the warehouse as every shadow was suddenly lit up by blazing fire. The shoulder that had been hit felt like it was being pressed against hot metal, even as I screamed in pain I wrapped the concrete of the floor around me like a blanket and smothered the fire.

I could hear thugs shouting, trying to find where the blaze had started, I could hear firebenders controlling the blaze and water benders dousing what I could only assume to be earthbenders. Across from me stood a tall, thin triad wearing a black suit with red lapels, a cruel smile was the only visible part of his face as the rest was hidden by a fedora. I watched as fire danced in his fingertips like dragons heeding to their master. Damn it universe, what have I ever done except lie, cheat and steal from others.

"Well looky here boys, looks like we've found our runaway," The guy shouted, his voice carrying over the blaze easily. He grabbed me by the scruff of my shirt and slammed me into a pillar as if I was a ragdoll.

"Has anyone ever told you you're stronger than you look?" I said, as I gritted my teeth and tried to stop the ringing in my head and the pain that streaked through my body.

"As a matter of fact th—"

"I mean a lot stronger, what are you? a stick with fancy clothes?"

Then he kneed me. All the air escaped my chest and I started to panic when it took me several seconds to breathe. He leaned close to me and whispered "Kid, my name is Vanai, remember it, because for the next few minutes, the how burned your little head is depends entirely on how I feel about you. Are we clear?" Then he got his other hand and lit a flame in it, he brought the flame closer to my head until it was starting to burn my cheek.

I tried to say something, anything to get him to stop the flame but I couldn't breathe.

"Nod if you understand."

I nodded.

He extinguished the fire and dropped me to the floor, finally allowing me to catch my breath.

By this time the fire had spread to the rafters and alight gasoline blocked most of the ways out of the warehouse. On the bright side this meant that none of the other thugs had reached us yet, on the other hand I was probably going to die.

Vanai pushed me in front of him, I could see the gears turning in his head as he realized lighting the gasoline had been a mistake. It was already too late to douse it as it had spread too far.

"Kids first," He placed a hand behind my head and I could feel him light a flame, reminding me not do anything stupid.

I watched as the fire in the path before me parted as if controlled by invisible strings. I got kicked in the back and was sent sprawling to the floor. I knew in this situation running would be futile, with this much fire around me, he could ash me before I had taken two steps or dug a hole. My best chance for escape would be when we were clear of the warehouse and the flames, of course this would also be when he had the most backup.

After a few moments we were close to the exit, I could feel cool air blowing in and hear the sounds of waterbenders dousing the fires.

Definitely not the Tinheads, district's too poor for them to arrive this fast. I thought to myself grimly.

"You hear that kid, you and me are about to get out of here, and then our business can begin," He smiled unpleasantly. He stopped before turning to corner and grabbed me by the back of my shirt.

"Come out Huan, I know you're there,"

Nothing happened for a moment, then Huan stepped out from behind the crates, his green uniform in stark contrast to the fires burning all around, his eyes still covered by a blindfold. I looked at him incredulously, wondering why he hadn't run like I said.

"Was this really necessary?" Huan said

"Did you and your friends use this warehouse?" Vanai replied

"Yes,"

"Then definitely," He pulled me close to him before continuing, "Now you're going to move, or I'm going to burn you and your friend here. You should have brought reinforcements Huan,"

"Who says I didn't?" Then Huan whistled. I looked up and saw Charon dive from a hole in the ceiling and start clawing at Vanai's face. At that same moment, I bended my bracers so they formed gauntlets and elbowed him as hard as I could.

He didn't double over but he did let go of my shirt.. A screech pierced my ears and I watched as Charon was blown away by a breath of fire.

"You're going to pay for that kid, "Vanai said, glaring as I caught Charon and put him into one of my coat pockets.

Then I waited.

The only thing keeping the warehouse up at this point was spirits and good wishes, but none of us dared move. Vanai had to get through us to leave and every second he wasted he was closer to burning alive, too much fire and the whole building could collapse. We could run, but the moment we turned around, we wouldn't be able to see as he sent every flame in this building to burn us, and even if we escaped more than at least 6 triads would be waited outside. So we waited.

"Your call Cai," Huan whispered to me. He stood, still no expression on his face but he seemed on edge, his body ready to spring into life at the small provocation.

"What?"

"What do we do?"

"You're the leader of a huge gang, you decide,"

"I have no idea what we should do, and you seemed rather used to this situation for some random street kid,"

"First of all you're younger than me and second of all did I mention that part were you're the leader of a gain street gang," I frowned, sweat covered my face and was stinging the burn that was starting to form on my cheek. My eyes flickered around, looking for any way out of this stalemate, and then I realized the answer had been at our feet the entire time.

"Huan, just follow my lead and be ready for something stupid," Then I focused on Vanai and ran forward.

Vanai grinned. He raised his arms and brought them in a circular motion across his body, the flames all around me warped and twisted to intercept me. I leapt and did a scissor kick, throwing rocks at him even as I barely evaded to lines of fire that snaked below me. He sidestepped the rocks almost casually, but I heard the sound of ripping fabric and knew I had at least grazed him.

"That was big mistake kid," He said as I closed in. He clenched his fists and started sending a stream of fireballs at me, each one small but fast. I zigzagged across the floor, using the earth to propel my turns faster than should have been possible, but even then a fireball hit me in the leg and sent me sprawling at his feet.

"Sleep tight kid," Vanai said with a sneer and raised his foot to stamp on my head.

I prayed to the spirits that Huan was paying attention somehow and placed my hand on the floor and willed the floor to shift.

The concrete rippled and Vanai's body was thrown upwards 4 feet into the air by the combined force of two earthbenders striking the earth. He landed on the crates which immediately buckled and fell over, hot splinters flying around. Vanai cursed and shot downwards with his flame, counteracting gravity and propelling him violently towards the entrance. His shoes burned and his suit covered in ash and ripped in at least three different places, I watched as he was lifted up by the guys around him and dusted off.

Why do the bad guys always get lucky? I wondered Then again it's probably best not to question the universe

"Get off me," He pushed those closest to him away and looked at me, even through the flames and the smoke I could see his eyes, they were as red as dragon's blood and filled with anger.

He gestured to the thugs around him. He pointed to the roof of the warehouse and lit a flame in his hand. His intent was obvious.

"I hope you have a plan Cai," Huan was suddenly next to me "We have about 3 seconds befor—" There was an explosion as the first salvo of fire and earth from the triads hit the roof. Cracks started to appear all over the corrugated metal and the rafters that kept the roof up started to bend precariously.

"Help me collapse the floor," I said as I moved myself into position, I turned to face away from Huan and felt him press against me, back-to-back. I tense my arms and knelt. I pictured the ground around us collapsing, the concrete folding like paper.

There was a crashing sound behind me, and the weight of Huan's back disappeared. I ignored it and stabbed my hand into the ground and grinned with satisfaction as the once solid concrete parted like sand. I continued to push down, further and further until my arms were entirely inside the concrete. There was a crash as the roof gave way and the entire warehouse started to fall.

Now or never, I thought to myself grimly, I dived in as if the ground beneath me was water and quickly made a prayer. Spirits of the earth guide me.

A/N:Sorry about the long gap in writing, I'm not a very consistent writer.

That escalated rather quickly, all things considered. What do you guys think? At the moment I think I need to work on how each of sentences flow, but I'd love to know what you think needs to be improved, as always, I appreciate any reviews you guys give me :)