The streets of Republic City were swarming with people, though not as many as usual. Everyone, especially the benders, had been traumatized by the events of the previous night at the probending arena and at that moment, everyone was extra cautious, taking precautions and all of a sudden not trusting any of their non-bending friends for fear the latter may be with the Equalists. Amon's debut had disrupted many lives, including those of the thieves'.
Sigil Saibhir a.k.a the Red Fox waited as he usually did, for a target, though his patience was waning. Everyone was too alert. They seemed to be hurrying to their destinations, eager to get home as quickly as they could. The houses of the wealthy were all locked and bolted. If it wasn't for that, Sigil was convinced he could've struck gold, what with the police being overly-preoccupied with the whole Equalists and anti-bending revolution situation. Sigil wasn't in the least bit worried about the Equalists, as he was a non-bender. As much as he hated the police, Sigil couldn't help feeling sorry for the chief of police. He could only imagine what it was like to deal with situations such as the current one. For so many years, Republic City had been where benders and non-benders coexisted peacefully. The only time when trouble arose was about 30 to 40 years back when Yakone had tried to take over the city. Well, the Avatar settled that problem.
Sigil's thoughts wandered over to Skoochy. He had always like that boy, and now with the Equalists at large and Skoochy being an earthbender, the Red Fox couldn't help but feel a little worried. What would happen should the Equalists get their hands on him? His bending would be taken away, definitely, as the Equalists would probably consider theft as a way of abusing the nonbenders. As tough and cunning as the street urchin was, he was just a boy.
Sigil went about Republic City with zero success before the day began to darken. He returned to the station, where the street urchins hung out at night, thieving from unexpected passers-by. Skoochy seemed almost oblivious to everything that had been going on as he laughed, played and conspired with the other homeless kids, devising new tactics of stealing. Sigil walked up to them, feeling rather gloomy.
"Skoochy!"
The 12-year old boy turned at the sound of his name and grinned. "Got anything today?" he asked, in a low whisper.
Sigil shook his head, before producing a yuan note. "Found this on the ground, so it doesn't really count, does it? It wasn't easy today."
"I know," Skoochy replied. "No one trusts anyone anymore. Especially not us street urchins. And everyone's being really, really cautious, plus the police is always constantly patrolling the city for any signs of Equalist activity. You know, we could rake in a lot if they stay preoccupied like that always."
"Yeah, the bad thing is that the people are preoccupied as well," Sigil said, before turning in the direction of the probending arena. That was when he caught sight of a possible target.
"Skoochy." He nudged the boy. "Do you see what I see?"
Skoochy frowned. "No!" the boy warned, in an undertone. "That's Aizen ShihÅin, one of the chefs at Kuang's Cuisine. He may not look like it, but he's a pretty good fighter. Apparently, he's interested in joining the United Forces under General Iroh, Firelord Zuko's grandson."
"You really do know a lot of things, young one," the Red Fox responded. "But he's a chef. It wouldn't be too hard to take him down, don't you think? I think he could spare us something."
...
The Harmony Tower. That was where Aizen went almost every night, if it wasn't his roof. And at that moment, a trip to the tower felt really important, with the recent Equalist attack on the probending arena, to contemplate on how Avatar Aang defeated the Firelord, one of the most powerful firebenders in his time, and pray to the spirits Avatar Korra might live up to the title of Avatar and defeat this anti-bending guy and restore peace once more. Given the current situation, there wouldn't be many visitors on that tower that night.
Aizen walked past the Central City Station, glancing for a moment at the statue of Prince Zuko. It was pretty hard not to notice, with the bright flame burning and all. He didn't fail to notice the street urchins parading around either, always looking out for unsuspecting victims. So far, Aizen had never been a victim of theft, definitely not with those street urchins, and he was quite confident they knew better than to attack him. Skoochy, the head of the street urchins knew more about him than his chef occupation, and he would've definitely spread the word. Either that or they had devised a way to rob him. Aizen remained unfazed, for he was quite confident he could beat them and teach them a lesson.
So of course, he wasn't expecting it when he heard soft footsteps behind him. As quickly as he could, he drew out his Jian sword and swung it around, its point facing whoever it was who had tried to sneak up on him. Aizen could see, by the light of Prince Zuko's flame, that it was a teenager , shorter than him, dressed in black, almost blending into the darkness, and noticing the Jian sword, had taken his stance.
"What are you trying to do?" Aizen asked. "Attempting to mug me?"
Aizen saw a smirk forming beneath the black hood as the teenager replied, "Not at all. We've decided to recruit you for our probending team." With that, the teenager lunged forwards, attempting to knock Aizen's sword out of his hand, but the firebender was faster as he elbowed the boy, who stumbled. It wasn't easy to see in the dark, so Aizen didn't see the boy straightening himself before charging towards him and stamping hard on his foot. Aizen let out a shout, before brandishing his sword at his opponent, feeling it make contact with something that wasn't air and hearing the teenage boy growl. All of a sudden, Aizen heard the familiar sounds of flying daggers and instantly leaped out of the way as the knives went flying past him, clattering to the ground behind him. One grazed his cheek and he leaped forwards before firebending in the direction of the teenage boy. By the brief light of his fire, he noticed that the boy was already at his side, and in his hands, smoke bombs. Aizen sent another ball of fire at the boy, who dodged, and leaped over the next attack and continued dodging the rest of Aizen's attacks. Aizen's plan was to keep him occupied with dodging to prevent him from releasing the smoke bombs, but before Aizen could firebend again, a cloud of smoke rose up, choking him. If only firebenders could smoke bend! Aizen leaped upwards, using a jet of flame to power him up and out of the cloud of smoke and and did a few mid-air kicks, sending jets of fire downwards. The teenage boy rolled and dodged them, before sending another wave of daggers upwards, a few of them managing to injure Aizen, though not severely. As the firebender landed, he noticed that the teenage boy was panting slightly. He must be tired out, Aizen thought. He firebent one more time, before a shout rang out.
"Red Fox!"
...
Aizen and Sigil turned and both scowled upon seeing a five feet four figure running towards them, dressed in a red court jester outfit and a skull mask. Rai Kanda was acutely aware of the fact that Aizen and Sigil were both taller than he was, but he didn't cower. He recognised Sigil Saibhir as the mastermind behind most of the robberies that took place in the districts of Republic City where the rich dwelled. All of a sudden, Sigil threw back his head (and his hood) and laughed.
"Look who escaped from the circus! The Chuckling Reaper of Justice! Are your chuckling days finally over?"
"He was just trying to mug me. I'm taking him down and turning him in. He could be an Equalist," Aizen said, before turning and firebending once more. Sigil was a little unprepared, and didn't manage to leap out of the way in time, and Aizen's fire left a burn on his hand. He growled in pain before releasing another smoke bomb.
"I'm with you," Rai said. "I've been hunting him for too long!" Often, Rai would only wait for nightfall and a right time to attack those whom he wanted to take down, but at that moment, Sigil was attempting to hurt someone innocent, and Rai couldn't just watch.
Rai and Aizen ran round the cloud of smoke, but when they got to the other side, Sigil was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, they felt themselves lifted and thrown forwards as the ground beneath them shot up. The firebenders shot a jet of flame down towards the ground as the momentum carried them forwards, helping them land on their feet. Daggers flew in their direction, which Rai dodged while Aizen deflected with his sword. There was a bright flash of light as Rai generated lightning and shot it straight in the direction of the daggers. In the darkness, they could make out the figure of Sigil leaping out of the way before sending another wave of daggers. Rai ran in his direction, dodging the daggers, getting closer and closer to the 17-year old thief. Another bolt of lightning which missed. Rai didn't think it mattered. All that leaping and dodging was definitely going to tire out the little wimp, that was for sure. If only he could get close enough to chi-block him.
Sigil turned and ran, but straight into Aizen, who had hurried to the back of him, to prevent him from running off. "Two against one, now that's a really fair match!" Sigil snapped, before releasing more smoke bombs. Rai sent another lightning bolt through the cloud of smoke. A mighty crash resounded, and Rai was stunned for a moment, as he realised he might've destroyed some city property.
"Stop!" a commanding voice spoke. The familiar clinking sounds alerted Rai that the Metalbending police were close by. Rai rolled his eyes. They had to show up, didn't they? Then he remembered the crash. Whoops.
Rai ignored the police and leaped above the smoke with firebending before landing on the other side, behind Sigil, who turned momentarily. Rai took advantage of that moment and shot a bolt of lightning at him which successfully paralyzed the thief. Rai stopped beside the Red Fox, who lay on the ground, unable to move. There was no need for chi-blocking.
"Looks like your mugging days are over, Red Fox," said Rai. That was when metal cables wound themselves round his wrist.
Sorry for the late update! Seriously hope this chapter was okay. Thanks for reading and please review.
If you think some of the OCs do not show up often, unlike others, do let me know! (Thanks, BiggerGuilmonmon!)
