Mako woke to the sound of footsteps and laughter in the hallway. His eyes slowly adjusted to the light fixture above. As he tried to sit up, he clenched his abs from the pain and laid back down when his back rejected getting up. He felt the bruises and the cuts received by Bolin and he immediately cursed him for what he did. Mako didn't get why his brother acted that way nor did he care, he just wanted to get on with his life away from his family.

When he finally adjusted to the light, he looked at his surroundings and remembered he was in the infirmary of the Agni Kai Triad. He noticed multiple beds lined up across from him and beside him, but he was the only one in there. In the far left corner he noticed the doctor, Payam, was looking at his clipboard, Mako could clearly see his name on the sheet of paper, and realized he was being evaluated.

"How bad is it doc?"

The doctor immediately turned around. Mako saw the shocked amber eyes look at him as if he'd seen a ghost. He wore a standard doctor uniform; white coat that went down to his knee caps, white pants, white gloves, but black shoes. His face was a fair oval shape but nearing the age when it began to show wrinkles. He was tanned, but not a dark tan, it was more on the red side. He had a vertical scar right under his left eye from when his father went crazy one night, and a voice that didn't match who he was. The guy was nice but his voice was deep and powerful.

"Spirits, you're awake?!" Payam moved towards Mako and scanned his eyes. "How are you feeling? You took a nasty hit from that earthbender, if he had hit you a little harder; your back would have given out. Lay on your stomach."

Mako moved as best he could, but the pain was too much. Payam slowly but quickly moved him on his stomach.

"Mako, I'm going to heal your back the best I can, but you need to remain still as I apply it. It is going to sting at first, but it'll get easier over time."

Mako nodded in approval.

Payam moved towards the sink and filled a bucket of water; he brought the bucket next to Mako and slowly moved the water up to his back. The water was cold and was applied to the entirety of the back. Mako could feel his back start to burn and sting, his face scrunched together from the pain. But soon, it got better and Mako relaxed his muscles.

"How long have I been out?"

"Only a day, but you weren't supposed to wake up until the day after. Honestly Mako you're stronger than you look, most of us thought you wouldn't wake for a week."

"How goes the operation? Are we going to raid the bank?"

Payam looked at Mako with disgust. "Don't add me into this... operation. What you're doing, what everyone here in the Agni Kai Triad is doing, is wrong. I'm only here because I was forced to, not because I wanted to. You people came into my house and threatened my family. If you continue to go down this path, you better be prepared for an early grave, because that's all you're getting."

"Well unless you want us to finish the job, I suggest you start telling me what I want to know."

Payam sighed.

"Yes. Tomorrow, Cabal, you, and a few of his best men are going to rob the Republic City National Bank. But let me just say that this is a big mistake."

"I don't need you to tell me anything, all I need you to do is heal me."

The room went silent for what felt like hours. Next thing Mako knew was that the water was taken off from his back.

"Lay on your back."

Mako turned and realized that his back felt perfectly fine now, he could move quicker and his abs didn't hurt as much. Payam added the water to his abs and the same burning sensation from before came back. Mako saw the glow of the water as Payam moved his hands in the same slow motion over and over again.

Before Mako could say anything, Payam was finished. Mako sat up without any pain in the body and got out of bed. He put on his duster shirt and walked out the door without giving a thank you to Payam. Outside, he saw that the hallways were relatively empty. He walked down the left and opened up to the side of the main hall. To the side of him was the side of the up-sloping staircase. He could hear the fountain in the middle burning with fire. As he walked towards the steps, he heard a familiar voice; he moved around the corner and saw it was his leader, Cabal, sitting next to the statue of a black dragon alone. Cabal looked at him.

"Well, look who it is." Cabal was a tall guy who seemed he could lift the statue all by himself. His voice had an accent to it, Mako wasn't sure where from, but it sounded foreign. His lifeless, dark brown eyes stared at Mako as he walked towards him. Mako saw the side burns were starting to grow out to the side of his face; he had a striking face, one that could be singled out in an entire room as one of the best. He wore a red and gold coat that had a phoenix in the middle. His hair was slicked back and wore black pants and black shoes. "How ya doin' Mako? Most of us thought you were a gonah."

"I'm feeling better. Payam gave me some lip, but nothing to worry about."

Cabal raised a brow

"Did he know? It's best I give 'im whuats comin' to 'im. People like 'im need to learn their place in this world Mako. They need to learn hard workin' men like you an' me are the superiors in this establishment. I might 'ave to kill his wife, that'll make 'im think about what comes out of 'is mouth."

Suddenly a loud explosion occurred on both sides of the building. Mako could hear the screams on both sides and felt the hair of the back of his neck stand up.

"Mako, go check whuat's happenin' on the right side of the buildin', I'll go check the left!"

Mako ran as fast as he could, he smelled smoke coming from the barracks. As he was nearing the hall he heard the sound of firebenders as they were trying to fight something back. By the time Mako reached the barracks he saw his comrades scream as they were being electrocuted by a girl in a red and black striped outfit with a gold scarf. His comrades fell to the ground and saw the light fixture above was tilting left and right. The girl and Mako stared at each other for awhile mostly because Mako was too shocked at the scene around him. This girl took down five of the best firebenders in the triad and she wasn't even catching her breath.

The light went out and Mako saw the emerald green goggles moving as fast as possible towards him. He shot a fire ball at her but she easily dodged it to her left. He continued to shoot as many fireballs as he could but she kept dodging and dodging, she looked like blur, a single image that just kept coming forward. Mako put both of his fists in front of him and shot as intensely as he could. The hallway lit up into a cascade of orange and red that seemed to never end. At the corner of his eye, he saw she was right beside him. He twisted his body to where he was going to kick her with his heel but she zapped his leg, he felt it go limp and numb. He was about to shoot more fire at her but she grabbed his fist and let out as much electricity as possible into his system. Mako never experienced this type of pain before, he screamed at the top of his lungs. Slowly, his body went numb and he could feel he was about to black out. He fell to the floor and could see she wasn't even hit once by anything he threw at her. He looked at the mask and saw something frightening in it, something lifeless.

Mako heard loud footsteps down the hall becoming louder and louder the closer they came. He heard a deep, scratchy voice.

"You benders need to learn, you're useless in this world."

Mako could see a hooded man with a single red dot on top of his white mask. The masked man came down to Mako's face.

"It's time the oppressors became the oppressed."

Quick note, I just wanted to say that not many people viewed chapter 8. I'm not sure if it's because it was boring or short or what, but reading it helps with the plot and I'd appreciate if you'd read it. Thank you.