Author's Note: OK. After that trippy last chapter, I figured I'd switch gears and return this novelization/re write to the more grounded tone LoK generally has. This is also the chapter where my little OC finally earns his keep. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 8: Shades of Blue

Crime waves rising! In the wake of Amon's de-bending of Lightning Bolt Zolt of the Triple Threat Triads, and the disappearance of Shady Shin, all-out gang war looks to be brewing between the various bending gangs: who will end up coming out on top? Meanwhile, the man of the people Ziyou is faced with a critical decision: will he don the mask and become the vigilante Shaobing again? And perhaps the bigger question is, should he?

-X-

It was Ziyou's "humble" opinion that things in the gang-controlled parts of Republic City had gone from bad to much, much, worse.

In the weeks that had followed Lightning Bolt Zolt's de-bending (and as a result Amon and the equalists showing that they meant business), a gang war had erupted between the three chief criminal groups in the city for dominance. Still reeling from the loss of their leader, the Triple Threat Triads were vulnerable, and the Agni Kai and Red Monsoon gangs both knew it. Every day members of both gangs would make increasingly brazen attacks on members of the Triple Threat Triads, not caring who else might be caught in the crossfire. And they did far more then just attack them. Agni Kai's lured many firebenders in the Triads away from the gang and the Red Monsoons did the same with the waterbenders. Recruiters from both of the Triad's chief rivals stood just outside Ziyou's house shouting to passing young water and firebenders. In the case of the former, recruiters would often say something a lot like:

"Come young waterbenders! Come join the Red Monsoons! Abandon the weakness of the Triads and embrace our strength!"

While meanwhile, an Agni Kai recruiter was likely to say: "The mixed nation nonsense of the Triads has made you weak my firebending brothers! Join us and become pure again as we use our cleansing fire to wipe out the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe scum once and for all!"

As Ziyou saw both walking home and from his house, the Red Monsoons and Agni Kai gang's attempts to take Water and Firebenders away from the Triple Threat Triads was working. The gang was becoming badly understaffed in two of their three divisions, and the roving bands of Triads in the city were now just as likely to be trios of earthbenders as they were to be one of each bending type. And of course, for every loss of men the Triads suffered, there was gain to be had for their two rivals.

A fireball went at the head of the Red Monsoon recruiter.

"Stay away from our boys, scumbag!" Shouted a senior Triad. The Red Monsoon thug snarled and then whistled, causing several other Red Monsoon thugs to appear. Next thing Ziyou knew the whole street had erupted into violence, with fists, water, fire, and earth all flying in every direction. As people were sent hurtling through the air and into the ground, Ziyou found himself having to navigate the chaos and rush back home as quickly as he could. Fortunately, his old agility hadn't gone away, and he was able to dodge stray bending attacks long enough to reach his house and lock the door.

And then one day it became painfully clear to Ziyou just how much the gang war had spread, and how little individual lives mattered in the course of it all.

The Four Pillars was a nice restaurant right across the street from where Ziyou's family lived. The place was under protection from the Triple Threat Triads and was also a popular hang-out for the gang. As a consequence the restaurant tended to be a little crooked, but it hadn't stopped Ziyou and his family from going there so many times for each of the three meals of the day, that Ziyou wouldn't have been surprised if they accounted for at least a quarter of the place's business.

Ziyou remembered how his grandmother had so eloquently put it: "I don't care if they take a bribe now and again. They make good food and keep us all fed. So I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm willing to swallow my pride. Along with the next meal I buy from them."

Ziyou didn't always like to admit it, but his grandmother did have a point. Really, all the restaurant was trying to do was keep itself from being victimized by the Triads anymore than they already were. All they had to do was pay some money now and again and all was good. It wasn't something anyone liked, but in the end Ziyou was forced to live with it after hanging up the blue mask. Had he not, things may have been different, but as it stood now he was forced to accept lesser evils rather than stamp them out.

And then the restaurant became the next place to be hit by the gang war.

It was night, and Ziyou and his family saw it all unfold from their windows. A satomobile sped up to the restaurant, brazenly sporting the logo of the Phoenix King. The doors to the satomobile opened and out came three Agni Kai gang members featuring all the trademarks of the gang: shaved heads with top-knots as the only hair, brown and dark red uniforms, and an arm band with the Phoenix King logo on it.

The group of thugs wasted no time in attacking the restaurant, with one thug kicking the door down with a fire-encased foot while the others blasted the windows to pieces with firebending attacks. As the restaurant began to light on fire, the thugs made their way inside. The interior of the Four Pillars lit up with the flames of the Agni Kai gangs attacks, and smoke began to fill the inside of the building as well, making it impossible to see what was happening within. People screamed and fled from the restaurant in terror only for many of them to be stopped by the Agni Kai gang.

The whole thing was over as quickly as it had started. In mere moments the whole building was on fire, with people running for their lives. Then the unfortunate owners of the restaurant were dragged out, their hair and green clothing both singed from flame and looks of utter terror on their faces.

"No, No! Don't do this! We're protected! We're under the Triple Threat Triad's protection!"

One of the Agni Kai gang members walked up to the terrified co-owner.

"Is that right?"

Ziyou and the rest of his family all looked away as the Agni Kai thugs fired fatal blasts of flame at the owners of the Four Pillars, their dying screams filling the night.

-X-

After the destruction of the Four Pillars restaurant and the cold-blooded murder of its owners, Ziyou knew that he could no longer stand by and do nothing. Republic City needed someone who could stand up to the gangs who's three-way war was now putting innocent lives at risk and in some, many, cases ending them.

The task-force was no help, as it had been formed to counter Amon and his equalists, not the gangs. The metalbending police were little better, as they were stretched thin between helping the task-force against the equalists, and in doing what little they could to keep the gang war from getting any worse then it already was. They kept the dam from breaking outright, no question, but for every hole they plugged, three more appeared. The problem had to be dealt with at the source, and that meant doing to the Agni Kai and Red Monsoon gangs what had been done to the Triple Threat Triads: strip them of their leader. But that was something the police couldn't do. So Ziyou would.

As he came to this resolution, his mind flashed back to events of the past…

"This has to stop." Ziyou's father had said resolutely, all the while looking as though he'd been carved right out of stone as he gave his son a severe look. "I will not bury my only child. I simply won't do it. You need to stop this vigilante business right now."

"I'm keeping Republic City safe!" Ziyou protested as he continued to bandage up his injuries, his mother all the while handing him more bandages along with alcohol to help the injuries. The look on her face was a perfect match for her husband's, but she said nothing.

"The police exist for a reason, son!" Ziyou's father said, exasperation present in his tone as much as anger. Then, he sighed deeply and fingered his eyebrows as he shut his eyes tightly. "Honestly, when I first learned you planned to be putting on a costume and mask every night and go off and fight criminals, it was only because of what your mother's father did that I didn't immediately call the men in white coats. But now, I have to put my foot down."

"With respect father, I'm not a child anymore. I have a right to make my own decisions."

"Ziyou, please." His grandmother had said, the normally self-assured look on her face having changed to one of almost pleading. "Your grandfather was a great man. Better than I was before I met him. But now that's he gone, I don't want to lose you too. I want you to outlive me, not the other way around. So if you won't stop because your parents are ordering you to, than please do it for me. So that I can rest easy knowing you won't be risking your life every day."

This, Ziyou seemed to consider. He looked at the blue mask that now rested on a table, then at his injured body, and then back at his parents and grandmother, focusing especially on the latter. "I'd have thought you of all people would have supported me in this, grandmother."

When his grandmother said nothing in response to this, Ziyou sighed deeply and said: "Very well. I'll stop. For you. I promise that this will be Shaobing's last night."

Ziyou's mind returned to the present. He regretted breaking his promise to his grandmother, and to the rest of his family besides, but he could not stand by while more people were hurt and killed. Not when he could do something to stop it.

He really was his grandfather's spitting image.

Making his way to where his family kept his grand-father's weapons, Ziyou took them out and then went to his room where his costume and mask still lay.

The time had come for Shaobing the Blue Spirit to live again.

-X-

For one to defeat an enemy, they must first know the enemy.

Shaobing knew the enemy. He knew all there was to know about the three different gangs worth learning.

His targets were a small pack of Red Monsoon thugs in the process of harassing an elderly man for money. The Red Monsoons were Yakone's gang, who had held together long after their leader had been sent packing by Avatar Aang so many decades ago, though having said that his absence had left the gang crippled for time after. The members were pre-dominantly of Water Tribe or part Water Tribe background, though they were known to accept non-benders of Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation backgrounds as well. But all benders in the gang were Waterbenders. And these waterbenders were the leaders, all of them users of the long illegal technique known as blood-bending, which they used to get non-gang members to do their dirty work for them, as well as to use as a form of torture on those unfortunate enough to earn their wrath.

As it stood the hapless man the group was mugging was doomed if someone didn't come in and help, as having no money to give would only mean much, much worse treatment. In fact, Red Monsoon gang members had a twisted sense of honor: if given what they demanded, they'd be far less likely to hurt whoever they were bullying. But if one didn't have anything to give as this old man clearly didn't…

Shaobing didn't need to spend too much time pondering the possibilities to know that he didn't plan on letting the thugs have their way. Seeing how only the head thug did not possess a weapon, Shaobing was comfortable that he was dealing with mostly non-bender members, which wasn't surprising. If the three gangs had one thing in common, it was always relegating the small jobs and dirty work to the non-benders. Small wonder Amon and his equalists existed.

Shaobing decided to go in hard and fast, but also decided to make his entrance a little dramatic. Using the agility he had not neglected even after hanging up the mask, he nailed the first thug right in the back with his two feet in a kick that hit the one thug like the charge of a large animal, sending his face right into the pavement. Another swinging kick struck the second thug in the mid-area of his back, causing him to gasp in pain and fall over. By this point, the other Red Monsoon thugs had turned around to confront their attacker, only to have their clubs sliced to bits by the hook swords Shaobing now wielded in both hands.

"You're about to have a very bad day."

Shaobing chained the hook swords together and slashed at the feet of one of the thugs, tripping him up, while simultaneously kicking the other back. The one waterbender in the gang attempted to summon some sewer water from the nearby drain to use against Shaobing, but the masked man swiftly closed the distance and pummeled him into submission.

Something hard hit the back of Shaobing's head with force, causing him to drop his hook swords and fall to his knees.

"Monster! Come on our turf, die on our turf!"

By now, the old man had run off, so Shaobing knew he no longer needed to worry about him getting hurt. Even so, he had gotten careless. Shaobing narrowly avoided the next swing of the last gang member's club as another one forced himself back up. Entering a fighting stance, Shaobing tried to block the next swing of the one thug's club only for the blocked strike to hurt more then he had expected. Steeling past the pain as best he could, Shaobing side-stepped out of the way of the next swing, grabbed the club, and dislocated the thug's arm. He howled in pain and Shaobing threw him over his head.

The last thug came charging at Shaobing and threw a few punches at him. Shaobing side-stepped to avoid each punch, weaving out of the way of every desperate attack the thug made. Finally letting out an exasperated grunt, the thug charged forward, catching Shaobing off-guard. The thug tackled him with the full force of his body, staggering Shaobing and leaving him vulnerable. The thug then punched him first in the gut and then in the face. Shaobing's mask took the blow, and he kicked the thug off of him, also taking the time to pick up one of his grandfather's hook swords. The thug managed to grab the other one and held it out menacingly at Shaobing.

"Really? Fine, go ahead. Just try."

Letting out a roaring scream that was equal parts desperation, hatred, and fear, the thug ran at Shaobing, hook sword in hand, and brought it down on him…only for Shaobing to snag its hook tip with the hook-tip of his own and pull it out of the man's hands. In a lightning-like motion, Shaobing had the two hook swords to the thug's throat in an x, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"No one touches these but me, got it?"

The thug nodded rapidly. Shaobing then pulled the swords away from the man's neck only to then do a spin-kick to the side of the man's head, which knocked him out instantly. Shaobing then tied up all of the thugs and left them for the police. As Shaobing ran off, the back of his head still throbbed non-stop from where he had been hit. He was amazed he hadn't been downed right then and there, but as had always been the case, he was tougher than he looked.

There's gonna be one real nasty bruise there tomorrow. Good thing I've got hair to hide it.

-X-

The grim and nightmarish future Korra had witnessed still weighed heavily on her mind, and two things made it worse: one, no matter what she did or did not do, she still had no way of knowing when or if that terrible apocalypse would still come to pass. And the other thing was that she had no one to talk to about it, as it wasn't exactly something anyone would be likely to believe. Tenzin had twice asked her what her experience in the Spirit World was like, but both times she had made it abundantly clear to him that she did not want to talk about it. And that was that.

Desperate to find some way to get her mind off of it and to stop worrying about the future (which apparently included her death among other things), for just a few precious moments, Korra thought to see if any pro-bending matches were happening. Something to take her mind off her troubles. But then she remembered that the championship wouldn't be starting for another two days.

And then Korra remembered how she herself was part of her own pro-bending team, and that it had been quite a while since she had last seen, never mind trained with, her two teammates.

It was about then when Korra decided what to do with herself.

-X-

It had been so long since either of the Fire Ferret brothers had seen their teammate that Mako had taken to fearing that Korra had walked out on him the same way Hasook had. Bolin assured him that Korra would never do such a thing, but even so, it was hard not to notice that Korra had been missing practice session after practice session, and the championship was now only two days away.

"I know Korra has other responsibilities in her life besides pro-bending, but this is ridiculous. At least Hasook showed up to practice…"

Bolin overheard Mako's angry mutterings as he walked in with some earth discs that he levitated with his earthbending.

"So no Korra for practice again I take it?" Bolin asked sadly.

"No, doesn't look like it." Mako said in a tone that matched his brothers.

Bolin tossed his discs away and pouted, sitting down and slouching…before his expression suddenly brightened. Curious, Mako turned to see what Bolin was staring at and there she was.

"Hey guys…" Korra said sheepishly, the look on her face one of embarrassment and perhaps even quiet shame. But Bolin didn't care. Korra could have been in tears and he'd likely still be happy to see her again.

"Korra!" Bolin said happily, running forward and bear-hugging her before anyone else in the room even had a chance to react.

"Aw man, we've missed you around here!"

"I've…missed you too, Bolin" Korra said with a nervous smile before adding: "But you're kind of crushing me right now…"

"Oh, right, right. Sorry. Just got a bit excited is all." Bolin released Korra and backed off a bit. Mako walked over to Korra and looked at her harshly.

"Where on earth have you been?" he demanded in a tone that reeked of barely contained annoyance.

"Good to see you too" Korra replied in a deadpan. "Being on Tarrlok's task-force and then working more on my airbending training's taken up my schedule. I'm sorry."

"That's it? That's all we get?"

Korra's voice took on an indignant tone as she replied: "Well, if you want me to get down on my knees and—"

Mako gave a weary sigh and cut Korra off: "No, no that's OK. I'm just glad you're back." He said in a tone that tried its hardest to sound sincere.

"So anyway…" Korra said. "I guess I've got some catching up to do."

"No kidding" Mako said in an exasperated tone. "Well, better late then never. Come on, let's get started."

And for the rest of the day Korra was so intensely trained and drilled by Mako and, to a lesser extent Bolin, that there wasn't the slightest bit of time for her to think, much less worry, about anything else.

And Korra loved it.

No Amon, no equalists, no de-bending. No Tarrlok, no task-force. No Spirit World, Air-Bending, or absolute nightmare of a future. Just her training intensely with her two teammates to win the pro-bending championship.

Deep down, Korra couldn't help but find the whole thing a bit insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Between Amon and his equalists and now a future apocalypse to worry about, winning a championship seemed so meaningless by comparison. But perhaps that was the beauty of it. For just a little while, Korra could let her problems, fears, worries, and troubles go, however monumental, and just enjoy something dumb but fun.

So Korra kept at her training, and no matter how much Mako criticized or berated her, compared to everything she had on her shoulders at the moment it was paradise on earth.

If only it could last longer.

-X-

Another day, another strike against the gangs. That was how it worked for Shaobing now. His first day back on the streets had gone less-than smoothly thanks to his being out of practice for so long, and he was hoping that tonight would be better.

His targets this time around were a gang of Triads in the process of shipping some illegal goods into the city, namely a compound dubbed "Dream Powder" by those who traded it that if inhaled by people gave them a feeling of intoxicated pleasure. The stuff had first appeared shortly after the Hundred Year War's end, and had been banned in Republic City for as long as the city had existed. But that had only allowed the gangs, mostly the Triple Threat Triads nowadays, to make quite the lucrative business selling the stuff illegally. Shaobing had stopped more then one shipping of it during his first tenure as a costumed hero.

There were three younger members loading the crates of the compound into the back of the van, and Shaobing could see from his hiding place that the three junior members were scared out of their wits. Honestly Shaobing couldn't blame them. The Red Monsoons and Agni Kais were not only recruiting numerous waterbenders and firebenders from the Triads into their respective gangs, they were also brutally punishing those who wouldn't. The Triads were losing men and ground by the day, but even so, they refused to give in.

But they were still suffering, and it showed. Even the senior members, where once they all reeked of arrogance and smugness to the point where it radiated off their bodies in waves, now had slightly panicked expressions they did their best to hide so as not appear to weak. But they could still be seen by those who looked at the details: the shifting eyes, the cocky and self-assured grins replaced with humorless expressions more often then not. They were cracking. They only needed a little bit more force to shatter completely, like a rusting hammer being slammed on an anvil.

That anvil would be Shaobing.

Finally, the younger Triads were finished loading the goods into the back of the truck and it drove off. That was Shaobing's cue. Leaping off of the rooftop he had perched himself on, Shaobing planned to land smoothly onto the top of the truck, rolling as he landed to ease the impact. But he hit the truck's roof a bit harder then he anticipated and aside from no doubt giving his shoulder one nasty bruise, he also almost went sliding off the back before grabbing onto the edges and forcing himself into a more stable position.

Damn. When did this get so hard? Shaobing thought as he steeled past the fierce burning pain his shoulder now felt before making his way to the front of the truck. By the time the younger Triads made their way to the back to see what had landed on top of their truck, Shaobing had already dropped down on the front of the truck, blocking the driver's vision and scaring both him and the passenger out of their wits.

"Pull over. Now."

Not surprisingly, the driver didn't cooperate, instead trying to shake Shaobing off. With expert agility, Shaobing made his way to the side and kicked the side window open, also kicking the driver in the face so he would lose control. Not the gentlest or perhaps even the most well-thought out of plans, but Shaobing was determined to get the truck to stop.

He succeeded. His kicks managed to knock out the driver, and the truck slid out of control, overturning and crashing before the Triad in the passenger seat could get to the wheel to steer the truck out of the way. But not before Shaobing managed to leap off and roll to the ground to safety.

The crash wasn't bad enough that it killed or seriously injured any of the passengers, but it was enough to keep them all incapacitated long enough for the authorities to nab them.

Except one.

The side of the truck fell in on itself, a display that Shaobing knew could mean only one thing. Indeed, the metal door was then blasted off, and out stepped the one Triad not knocked out by the crash. And as both his blasting off the truck door and the pieces of metal he launched at Shaobing both showed, he was a metalbender.

Terrific

Shaobing dodged out of the way of the hurled slabs of metal and drew his grandfather's twin hook swords, ready as he could make himself for a fight against an earthbender. The usage of metalbending likely meant a former cop who had gone crooked, which also meant that Shaobing wasn't dealing with a run-of-the-mill thug. This man would know how to fight properly. His former police chief would have seen to it.

I think I may be a bit out of my league here…

The man fired out several slabs and chunks of earth at Shaobing and it was all the vigilante could do to avoid some of them. One very nearly took his head off but he managed to side-step out of the way just in time. Shaobing silently cursed his current situation. He was slower than he should be. While age-wise he was still in or only slightly past his prime, it had still been far too long since he had been in a fight. Oh, he'd made sure not to neglect his agility, but he hadn't been in an actual fight in so long, and he was slower than he should be. And he was going to suffer for it.

Another large piece of rock hurled his way, along with another slab of metal that would have bi-sected or decapitated him if it had hit him. Shaobing was cutting it close. If he wanted a chance he'd need to close the distance between him and his opponent, and fast.

Shaobing started making his way towards the metalbending cop turned senior Triad as fast as he could, side-stepping out of the way of many of his attacks and smashing others to pebbles with his grandfather's hooks swords. Finally, he managed to close the distance enough that when he chained his hook swords together and swung them at the Triad he had to duck to avoid them, only for Shaobing to then twirl them again, this time near the Triad's legs, which tripped the earthbender and sent him flat on his back.

Before he could even think about getting up, Shaobing was standing over him, hook sword pointed at his throat.

"Tell your friends I'm coming for them next."

Shaobing then kicked the thug right in the face, breaking his nose and knocking him out.

"On second thought, I'll tell them myself."

-X-

"Oh man, this Shaobing guy is awesome!"

"Bolin, put the newspaper down. This the last day before the championship begins, and we all have to be at the top of our game."

"Ah, you're worrying too much, bro. We've all been training hard since Mr. Sato got us our place in the championship. Its not gonna do us any good if we train ourselves to death."

Mako nodded and his facial expression softened. "Yeah, yeah, you're right. I'm just nervous is all. I've never been this close to the level of money and fame this championship will bring us if we win…we could kiss our lives of poverty good-bye."

"You know I hate to break it to you, but money isn't everything. I mean sure it must be real nice to have lots of it and all, but I mean come on: there's more to life then just one big pile of yuans."

Mako smiled smugly. "Don't give me that. I know you want to win that prize money just as much as I do."

"Didn't say I didn't. Just that you could afford to not treat it as the end-goal, ya know?"

"Right, and I assume for you fast satomobiles and faster women are the two most important things right?"

Bolin said nothing, instead flashing a knowing smile that quickly transitioned into a mischievous grin as he fondly recalled his more recent girls of the week. Truth be told he thought some of them were really nice and wouldn't have minded entering into more serious relationships with them, but it just wasn't to be.

"Hey guys" Korra said, finally arriving. "I'm here. Sorry I'm late, had to go through the usual morning rituals and all. Tenzin can run a tight ship sometimes. What did I miss?"

"Ah, nothing much" Bolin said, going back to reading the day's newspaper. As he did, he said: "Hey Korra: Shaobing fights and beats up members of all three gangs, and you've fought and beaten up Triads. Maybe you two should team up sometime, double the bad guy butt-kicking!"

"Who's Shaobing?" Korra asked. Though the name sounded familiar, Korra couldn't remember where she'd heard it from…

"Just some crazy guy who runs around in a blue mask beating up members of the three bending gangs." Mako said dismissively.

"He's awesome!" Bolin said. "I mean seriously, this guy took down a truck! And everyone in the truck! And he doesn't even seem to be a bender! Talk about skills!"

"He's a vigilante." Mako said in response to his brother's gushing praise of the masked man. "And here I thought he'd disappeared too."

"Guess he decided to come back." Korra said.

"Well, obviously. But why?"

Korra shrugged. "I don't know, seems pretty obvious to me: he wants to help people. I mean, I stood up to some Triads on my first day here, so what's so bad about what this guy is doing?"

Mako shrugged. "Nothing I guess, it just seems like a good way to get yourself hurt. Oh, and, don't get any ideas."

"What do you mean?"

"About seeking this guy out. It's a bad idea, so don't do it."

Korra frowned. "But I wasn't planning to…"

"Good. Now then, let's try and get in just a bit of last-minute training today…"

-X-

Korra made sure to be alert as she left the pro-bending arena, not wanting to get ambushed by Triads looking for payback again. But as her eyes scanned the whole of the scene in front of her, there wasn't a soul in sight. So Korra kept walking. She was all set to go back to Air Temple Island when a voice stopped her.

"Avatar. I wonder if I might have a word with you?"

Startled, Korra turned around to see a man clad in mostly black clothing with a blue trim, and gray greaves and vambraces. But his most notable feature was the blue mask he wore over his face that Korra recognized from Bolin's newspaper.

"You're that Shaobing guy aren't you? My friend thinks you're a nut."

"Eh, I've been called worse. What do you think of me?"

"I don't know…I mean I hear you fight against the bending gangs. Seems to me like they're doing that well enough to each-other though. What about the equalists?"

"Yes, but their gang war is endangering innocent people. I don't like that. And to answer your other question, I plan to get around to the equalists. But not until I leave my mark on the gangs."

"And you'll do that how…?"

"A few days ago an innocent couple were murdered in cold blood, and their restaurant burned to the ground by the Agni Kai gang. In their names I'm taking the Agni Kai gang down."

"Yeah, I heard about that. That was terrible, but they're a whole gang of firebenders and you're just one man…"

"Exactly. That is the reason we are even having this conversation. I am here to offer an alliance."

"I was figuring as much. Thanks but no thanks. My friend specifically told me to stay away from, you and even if he hadn't, I've had enough 'alliances' with crime fighters to last a life-time."

"Ah. Well, I won't force anything on you, but if you will not help me, then I will be unable to get justice for the Agni Kai gang's victims without killing myself, and I cannot do that because this city needs me. The only reason I did not return sooner was because I trusted you to protect this city in my place. But now you seem unwilling to do so."

"I'm not 'unwilling'." Korra shot back, Shaobing's insinuation hitting her hard. "I just don't want to get involved in your crazy war with the gangs."

"My plan is simple and will benefit the entire city. I seek to take down the Phoenix King, the leader of the Agni Kai gang. With their leader gone, they will suddenly become vulnerable, and the other gangs will exploit this vulnerability, weakening all of them and making life easier for you, me, and everyone else in the city."

"So…you're planning to set all the gangs up against each-other?"

"The gangs are already at each-other's throats. I'm only changing the alignment of the pieces on the board slightly. Take away the leader of an army and the army loses cohesion. If the Phoenix King is removed from the equation, his gang will suffer. This is a good thing."

"Wait…do you mean kill him?"

Shaobing shook his head. "No. Not necessarily. Just defeat him and leave him for the police. Before Amon came around and Lightning Bolt Zolt was de-bended, the Phoenix King was the most feared man in Republic City. The police would have arrested him long ago if they knew where to find him. But they don't."

"Oh, and you do?" Korra asked skeptically.

Shaobing nodded. "Yes. Let's just say I have my ways."

Korra didn't need to ask what those ways were. Clearly Shaobing could be more than a little ruthless when he wanted to be, and was more than willing to bust a few heads if it served the greater good. Small wonder some people thought he did more harm then good.

"Right…so, say I believe you, which I don't: where would this 'Phoenix King' be?"

"The thing is is that the Phoenix King has decoys, all of them placed in a separate little location to be found throughout Republic City. The key is to know where the real one is hiding. Namely in the last place you'd expect to look for him."

"Which would be?"

"Air Temple Island."

"What?"

"The Phoenix King is on Air Temple Island disguised as one of the Air Acolytes. He runs his gang from the safety of the island and no one's ever known. Until I held some young punk who knew a bit too much over the edge of a tall building for a little too long and he let the information slip."

"That's crazy! Do you honestly expect me to believe—"

"Believe what you will. But I am telling you the truth. And look at it this way: if the Phoenix King is on Air Temple Island, would that not put you in a more ideal position to help me? It is practically your home after all."

Korra thought about it for a moment. Shaobing, much as Korra hated to admit it, did have a point. But she was still a little skeptical.

"If what you're telling me is true, and the Phoenix King really is on Air Temple Island disguised as an Air Acolyte, how will we know which one he is?"

"We won't. But every once in a while the Phoenix King leaves the island to deal with things a bit more directly…like dealing with squealers."

"You're using someone as bait?"

"My informant won't be there. But the Phoenix King doesn't know that. He is walking into a trap, but it will only work if I have you at my side. To put it simply: I need you, Avatar Korra."

That last bit caught Korra off-guard. It wasn't often that people said out and out that they needed her. In fact, Korra couldn't recall a single time when a person had said those words to her. And truth be told, it felt good. Not that Korra necessarily liked people being helpless, but to have someone say that they needed her to help them, it gave Korra a feeling of empowerment and self-worth that definitely caused her to reconsider Shaobing's proposal, as well as view the blue-masked man in a better light.

"Please, Avatar. Help me bring justice to these criminals. And to get justice for their victims."

Korra thought about it. Then she thought about it some more. Then she gave her answer.

-X-

"So when will the Phoenix King be showing up?" Korra asked Shaobing as the two stayed perched in their little hiding place, their choice of location giving them a nice view of the streets below.

"Soon. The Phoenix King can't have squealers go unpunished for too long or they'll think he's grown soft. At least that's how he himself sees it. You'll know him when you see him."

Korra nodded and she and Shaobing were silent as they waited for the Phoenix King to show up. The minutes ticked by slowly, and Korra found herself finding it hard to sit still. At least Tenzin had bought her story about why she was not coming back to Air Temple Island right away. He'd likely find the truth out later though, which was not something Korra was looking forward to. She'd already gotten a few angry lectures from Tenzin, and those few had been more than enough.

Finally, Shaobing broke the silence with the words Korra had been waiting to hear for a while now: "Here he comes."

Sure enough, a couple of satomobiles drove up. Both were actually quite plain and unremarkable in appearance, but Korra could guess why that was. It would be much easier to commit crimes if you looked inconspicuous.

A few men in Agni Kai gang colors filed out of each car. One of them was significantly larger then the others and built like a Komodo Rhino, sporting not just the usual arm-band with the Phoenix King logo, but also a tattoo of it on one of his arms.

"I think that's our Phoenix King." Korra said.

"Now hang on—"

But before Shaobing could stop her, Korra had already leaped down fireballs flying. Too caught off-guard to react, two of the thugs were knocked down immediately while the others were forced to backpedal, unable to return fire. Once Korra landed she engaged the remaining goons, including the Phoenix King himself, with a mix of firebending and earthbending, the latter of which managed to tear up the alley they were in quite a bit.

"Nuts, it's a set-up. Come on, we gotta bail!"

But Korra was relentless in her assault, unleashing fireballs and chunks of earth left and right, managing to do quite well against the hoodlums. On a certain level Korra wasn't surprised. Given the Agni Kai's MO of committing hate-crimes on innocent people, Korra wondered just how often the cowards ever actually fought people who could fight back. If the way Korra was wiping the floor with them was any indication, not often.

One Agni Kai thug did almost manage to get Korra while she was distracted, only for a bola to sail through the air and wrap itself around his legs, making it easy for Korra to down him. Turning around, she saw that Shaobing had finally joined the fray, now engaging two more of the Agni Kai thugs. Through a mix of his hook swords and punishing kicks he made swift work of them.

Soon only the Phoenix King and one other thug remained. Korra unleashed everything she could on the big brute, who did his best to disperse and redirect all the fire balls Korra slung at him. But even he was struggling. Korra was forcing him back.

Shaobing, meanwhile, went after the last thug, who was more light on his feet then his fellows, managing to expertly avoid every slash of Shaobing's hook swords. Notably though, he never once made a retaliatory attack, which made Shaobing suspicious. Then finally he managed to snare onto part of the man's shirt with one of his hook swords and pull him to the ground. Shaobing stood over him, ready to knock him out, when he saw the man flash a remarkably smug grin. Then Shaobing's mind put all the pieces together and he realized what was going on.

"Uh, Avatar, that's not—"

But before Shaobing could even finish his warning, the thug he had pinned unleashed a massive blast of blue fire that sent Shaobing flying on his back and also grabbing Korra's attention. The thug brought himself fully up to his feet with a spinning move that sent powerful streaks of blue fire flying in all directions, forcing Korra back. Now back on his feet completely, the thug looked at Korra with contempt.

"So this is the Avatar everyone's been talking about. And the Blue Spirit who's been giving me and the other gangs so much trouble. I'm not impressed."

And with this, the real Phoenix King shot several more blasts of blue flame at Korra, who carwheeled out of the way of them and went over to Shaobing, who was in the process of forcing himself back up to his feet.

"What do you say we switch dance partners?"

Korra nodded. She used her earthbending to conjure up a shield of rock and gravel to block the Phoenix King's fire blasts, before shooting the earth out at him and his brutish decoy. Both dodged out of the way, but the rock hit the Phoenix King's satomobile, causing it to tip over and fall down on its side.

"You're going to regret doing that, little girl."

The Phoenix King shot out another torrent of blue fire, which Korra and Shaobing only narrowly evaded. The vigilante went after the decoy while Korra started slinging fire balls at the real Phoenix King, along with other firebending moves that the Phoenix King managed to dodge or dispel quite easily.

"You thought I was just another mook. But I'm the most powerful firebender you'll ever meet! I wield blue fire like Azula, the daughter of the great Ozai!"

Korra dodged another barrage of blue fireballs shot at her and retaliated with several long arcs of flame meant to force the Phoenix King back. But he dispersed them and advanced, unleashing blue fireball after blue fireball.

"You should have stayed in the cold were you belong, Water Tribe trash. Republic City belongs to the Agni Kai gang. We're the oldest of the gangs! We've been here since the beginning and we'll be here at the end! We'll finish the war great Sozin started! And then all you Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom vermin will go the way of the Air monks!"

By this point, Korra had grown sick and tired of dodging the Phoenix King's attacks, and even more tired of his racist ranting. So she decided it was finally time to turn the tables and go on the offensive.

"You know what your problem is buddy?" Korra shot back as she entered what she had since dubbed "leaf mode" and expertly dodged every shot and ball of blue flame the Phoenix King sent her way until she was in front of him.

"You talk too much."

And with that, Korra used her earthbending to create a slanting pillar that shot out and struck the Phoenix King right in the face, causing him to cover it in pain and step back. Korra then forced him back further with blast after blast of firebending, before finally sending him flying back and over the satomobiles with a powerful firebending-assisted kick. Not planning to give the Phoenix King time to recover, Korra leaped towards the bigoted gangster and went at him again.

Meanwhile, Shaobing had since taken to attacking the decoy, using his smaller size and superior agility to dodge all of the brute's firebending attacks. Unfortunately, the mountain of muscle was just a little bit faster then his size would suggest, and he was able to dodge all of the slashes and strikes of Shaobing's hook swords. Then, the thug managed to grab one of Shaobing's hook swords as the vigilante swung it at him. With one pull the thug broke the sword like it was a tiny branch on a tree, and grabbed Shaobing by the throat with his other hand. But as he threw the broken hook sword blade away, Shaobing said simply.

"You shouldn't have done that."

Shaobing kicked the thug right in the throat as hard as he could. The thug gagged and gasped in pain and released Shaobing as he clutched his throat. Shaobing raced forward and punched him hard in the groin, which brought the man to his knees. Shaobing then mercilessly pummeled the thug with a flurry of his hardest punches and kicks.

"You really shouldn't have done that, moron."

Meanwhile, Korra and the Phoenix King were still engaged in a deadly dance, with a never-ending exchange of fireballs and many other firebending moves between the two. But the Phoenix King's being blasted back and previously struck right in the face had managed to knock the wind out of him somewhat, and Korra was managing to force him back as she kept at him, using earthbending as well as firebending to keep the Phoenix King on his toes.

But in spite of this, the Phoenix King just refused to go down, his hatred of Korra for her being both the Avatar and of Water Tribe background no doubt making him fight with increased ferocity.

Then Korra remembered how Amon had so easily taken down Lightning Bolt Zolt. True, he had de-bended him, but he had first managed to get him in a restraining hold. While it didn't exactly thrill Korra to try and imitate the moves of someone like Amon, it was the only way she could think to end the fight. She and the Phoenix King were just too evenly matched.

Breaking off unexpectedly, Korra took advantage of the Phoenix King's brief moment of shock to sprint towards him, doing her best to run at him the way Amon had gone after Lightning Bolt Zolt. Spinning at the last minute, she just narrowly avoided the Phoenix King's blast of blue fire. Knowing that she was cutting it more then a little close, Korra nevertheless kept at the Phoenix King, trying to get him in a restraining hold similar to what Amon had done, but wound up only grabbing the Phoenix King's wrist. Deciding to make do, Korra hit the Phoenix King in the mid-section with a firebending assisted kick that blasted the thug backwards. Suddenly getting what was an admittedly crazy idea, Korra used the Phoenix King's recovery to call waterbending from the nearby river. Bringing it down on the Phoenix King as hard as she could, Korra froze it, trapping the Phoenix King.

"Stupid little girl! Fire melts ice! I won't—"

Korra cut the Phoenix King off by using earthbending to encase her arm in a rock gauntlet and punching him as hard as she possibly could, which managed to knock him out.

"Oh, shut up."

A loud thud caught Korra's attention. Spinning around, she saw the decoy Phoenix King lying in front of her, beaten, bruised, bloodied and knocked out cold.

"What the heck happened?" Korra asked as Shaobing staggered into view.

"That jerk broke one of my hook swords. I lost my temper."

"I can see that…" Korra said as she looked at the downed thug. Shaobing in turn looked at the incapacitated and unconscious Phoenix King.

"Taking down evil firebenders. My grandfather would be so proud." Shaobing turned to Korra and bowed respectfully. "Thank you, Avatar Korra. Thanks to us the Agni Kai gang will be left leaderless and vulnerable. The Triads and Red Monsoons will have a field day exploiting our victory tonight."

"Will the police even be able to hold this guy?" Korra asked curiously.

Shaobing nodded. "Yes. The police have been looking for this animal for a long time. We just delivered him to them on a silver platter. They can appreciate that or not. I don't really care. I'm just glad he's going to be going where he belongs." Shaobing walked back over to where his one hook sword has been broken and discarded, and picked up the broken pieces. "Tsk, tsk. This isn't going to be cheap repairing, assuming it can even be done. Oh, grandmother's really going to have my head now…"

Shaobing turned back around and bowed to Korra again. He was about to run off before Korra called out to him: "Hey wait! Who are you?"

Shaobing stopped, turned around, and said simply: "Now if I wanted you to know that, why would I be wearing this mask?"

"Come on, I helped you. You owe me."

"Helping those who cannot help themselves should be reward enough for the Avatar. It's always been for me."

And with these parting words, Shaobing ran off into the night, and Korra just shook her head.

"Corn-ball."

-X-

The next day would be a big one for Korra. The Pro-Bending championship was to start on that day. But before the first round could even begin, she found herself looking at the day's newspaper with the headline: "Shaobing with bender assistance defeats Phoenix King!"

"What did I specifically say to you yesterday?" Mako asked as he held the newspaper in front of Korra.

Korra just smiled.

Author's Note: I intentionally made the Agni Kai gang the AtLA equivalent to skin heads, since the name suggests a Fire Nation background and I'm sorry, but the Fire Nation in the original show were very evocative of the Axis Powers to me, what with the whole "militaristic society led by dictator that waged war with the rest of the world, committed genocide and locked people up like animals and treated them worse" bit. Just saying.

And yes, I added drugs to the AtLA world, but hey, drugs were around in the 20s and 30s and it's the aesthetic of those decades that is present in LoK. And honestly, drugs have been around for way longer then the 1900s.

I can understand if this chapter, and Ziyou/Shaobing's entire character for that matter, came off as having a very superhero like in feel, but I can't help it. I love superheroes, and hey, does LoK not kind of have just a bit of a superhero tone at times? I mean, when you think about it, Korra, and later the second Team Avatar, are technically Republic City's superheroes without the costumes. And Amon's been compared to Doctor Doom so many times its hard not to notice.

And of course there's Mako's background being a blatant copy of Bruce Wayne's….