I do not own The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra. Both versions of Avatar belong to their respective owners.

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Zuko decided that it would be best to show up early to the gym. He still wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to do this, but getting it done sooner would probably be in everyone's interest.

That was why he had stepped off the island and made his way to the city just a little bit of time before the sun rose. Buhtaka had wanted Zuko to go to the gym later, but Zuko didn't see any point in waiting. The sun was up, and that was all the energy he needed. And if he got there early, he might be able to explore the gym a little bit before anyone else was there. Doing that might allow him to learn more about what pro-bending was. And that way, he wouldn't have to ask so many questions to whoever would be stuck working with him.

He was already out of time. He didn't want to seem more out of touch than he already was.

Zuko retraced the road he had been on yesterday, but then he stopped. There was a park just across the street from where he was standing. And he hadn't been to a park in... it was more than seventy years, but Zuko could not for the life of him remember the last time he had gone to one. His father had never been one to go out, and his mother usually took him to plays.

And after he had been banished, he didn't really have time to just stroll. He had elements to learn and a psychotic Fire Lord to stop. And then... the ice incident happened. He hadn't even thought of going to a park in a long, long time.

Seeing no issue in trying one now, Zuko crossed the road, narrowly dodging all of those moving metal death-carriage machines, and walked into the park. As soon as he passed the gate, his vision was filled with green. The grass all seemed freshly cut and trimmed, as did all the trees. The same could be said about the lakes that were there, as they seemed perfectly clean and blue. The walkway that let people stroll in the park also seemed clean.

To Zuko, it seemed like a really good park to walk in after so many years.

So he did. He got onto the walkway and started sauntering his way to the other end of the park. He had woken up very early, so he still had plenty of time before Butahka needed him back at that gym. He could actually relax while he walked towards that part of the city, taking in the sights and feeling the fresh air on his skin. It had been a long time since he had been able to do anything like this.

"Are you tired of living under the tyranny of benders?"

What?

Zuko turned his head to see a man standing on a stage. He was speaking through a voice amplifier, and behind him was a banner. One that showed a masked man with a rising sun behind him. A white mask with a red circle on the forehead. Was that supposed to refer to the chakra point?

"Benders have abused their power over us non-benders since the beginning of history. And the bending elite of this city has forced us non-benders to live as lower-class citizens. Are just going to sit back and take it?!"

A crowd was forming around the man. They all seemed to be just as angry as him. And it was confusing Zuko. He had heard that some no-benders could often be jealous and maybe angry at benders, but he wasn't used to such a blatant display of contempt towards them. back during his youth in Fire nation, firebenders were seen as a gift from Agni himself. Not being a bender was considered unfortunate, but it didn't necessarily exclude you from improving your life. You could always improve your class or standing if you pushed yourself hard enough and made the right calls. At least, that was what Zuko had been told growing up.

Was that a problem in this city?

Zuko didn't involve himself with the crowd. He did want to cause a scene, so he tried to maintain a distance away from the stage.

Unfortunately, the man who was speaking noticed him. More specifically, he noticed his face.

"Just look at that young man over there. It's obvious that a firebender is responsible for the damage that was done to his face."

Just as people were starting to turn around, Zuko quickly hid his face. He didn't want t get involved in whatever this was. And he certainly didn't want a bunch of strangers to judge him or pity him over his scar.

"If you are tired of living like this, then join Amon. Join the Equalists!"

Equalists? That was a name Zuko hadn't heard of before. But he supposed that it would make sense. With the Hundred Year War over, it was natural that people want to focus on other things. Especially seventy years later. But he never expected to see non-benders all united and riled up in this manner.

Admittedly, he might have a little bias on the issue. Zuko had not gained his firebending until he was eight. Before that, he had tried to find and practice other skills just in case, as a way to still be useful to the royal family. He eventually wound up learning under Piandao, who was one of the greatest swordsmen in the world. And Mai had been a non-bender, along with his mother. So Zuko had never really looked down on people who couldn't bend. He just saw them as people.

But not everyone shared the same opinion. And these people seemed to be tired of it.

Zuko decided to just walk past them and leave them be. They weren't hiring anyone, so Zuko had no real reason to cause a scene here. And besides, if they wanted to fight for better rights, who was he to stop them?

In any case, he had a gym to go to.


It took Zuko a little longer than he would have liked after that detour, but he managed to find his way back to the gym. And once he was at the site of the building, he walked inside.

Buhtaka had told him that pro-bending was usually a team sport, so he expected other people to get ready inside the gym.

Even so, he wasn't expecting the amount of activity he was seeing inside the gym this early. There were people everywhere, all of them practicing their own bending.

"There you are, kid. I was waiting for you."

Zuko turned his head to see Buhtaka walking towards him. The same bowler hat and small mustached face.

"I came here early."

"True. But everyone gets here earlier. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it someday," Buhtaka said as he rested his hand on Zuko's shoulder. Zuko did his best to not react.

"Now that you're here, it's time to show you how to bend like a pro." He turned his head around, looking for a specific person. His smile widened when he found that person. A young man who looked around Zuko's age, withstanding dark hair and yellow eyes.

"Mako! Get over here!"

The same person who had been sparring with someone who seemed to be an earthbender turned around. He walked right up to them.

"You called me Butahka?" He noticed Zuko. "Who's this?"

"A new fighter I picked up yesterday. Agreed to be part of the solo-pro fights."

"You're actually going through on that? I thought it was a publicity stunt," Mako inquired.

"Nope. I talked it over with the marketers. This is something that could increase revenue. So I need you to get him ready."

Both Zuko and Make raised their brows at Butahka.

"I saw this kid fight yesterday. He has what it takes. He just needs to learn how to change his style for the ring."

"Butahka, I-" Mako began protesting.

"And remember who lets you have a place to sleep, Mako. Good luck."

The manager quickly walked away, leaving Mako with some new guy he had never met.

"My name is Zuko, by the way."

"Mako. But you probably already heard that."

The experienced pro-bender scrunched his face as he sighed. He already had enough issues trying to figure out how to keep his team together. Hasook was becoming more of an issue than he might be worth. But he and Bolin needed a waterbender, so they had to deal with him. The only other option was finding and paying another waterbender. Something neither he nor Bolin could afford.

And now Butahka wanted him to train a new recruit. Something he had no idea how he would make time for. But Butahka was in charge, so he might as well see what he could do.

"Come with me. Let's see what you can do."

Zuko followed closely behind Mako, the two of them reaching a small circle in the corner of the gym.

"Alright. Let's start with something simple. Throw a fire blast at me."

Zuko's eyes widened. "Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't have asked otherwise. Just show me what you can do."

He seemed confident, but Zuko didn't feel like handing out matching scars to people. Mako was unlikely to have ever trained with dragons, so he probably wouldn't be able to handle Zuko's maximum output. So it would be a good idea to hold back a little bit.

So Zuko made a fist a threw a basic fire blast at Mako's chest.

A blast that the pro was able to deflect with his own blast.

"Not bad. So you have some fighting training, which is good. Now you just need to learn to fight the way we do."

"So how do we start?"

Mako pointed to a stand on the other side of their corner. It was holding what looked to be exercise equipment.

"Get some gear and put it on. Then we can have a mock sparring session."

"A mock session? Right now?" It was only Zuko's first day after all.

"The best way to learn pro-bending is to actually do it. Butahka says you've been in actual fights before, which is good. Gives you an advantage the others don't have. All we have to do is learn how to polish it until you can go on stage."

Zuko decided he might actually enjoy this sport. He did tend to rush into things and make up strategies on the fly, often to his uncle's dismay. Those were things that this sport seemed to need.

"Ok. Let's do that."


Hours Later...

"Keep your arms closer to your chest. Being too loose is not a good idea in a fight."

If Zuko had been airbending, he would disagree with Mako. But since he could only use fire in a pro-bending fight, he kept his tongue back.

For the past few hours, Zuko had listened as Mako ran him through the basics of competing in a pro-bending fight. The basics included how to wear the padding properly, how to stand in the ring, how to block out noise from crowds (Zuko wondered how that would go), and how to attack.

The fighting was very different from traditional bending, as Zuko quickly noticed. Traditional bending was an art form, meant to be expanded in all forms of life, not just combat. Pro-bending was all about combat. Every move made was meant to be precise, quick, and effective. It was almost like Sozin's style of firebending, but less focused on maiming your opponent. Just on getting them down.

Zuko had a distinct feeling that Toph would love this sport. He didn't know where she was, but he hoped she was fine.

Mako, for his part, was handling his impromptu teaching job a lot better than he had even expected. It helped that Zuko wasn't like a lot of the people that came to this sport. Most of them came here full of ego and eager to make some good money and get famous. A lot of them didn't have what it took to actually compete and get noticed.

But this Zuko guy... he might actually do well.

"Makoooo. You've been working with that guy for hours. When are we going to train?"

Zuko saw another person from the corner of his eyes. He looked slightly younger than both him and Mako, and he had green eyes. Since he was wearing equipment from the gym, that meant he was probably an earthbender.

"Bolin, come on. Butahka told me to help the new guy, so I have to. We can practice tomorrow, little bro."

Zuko was surprised when he heard Mako call the Bolin person 'bro', but he quickly got over it. Even in his time, he remembered how some colonials had a mix of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom blood. That would probably become more common over time.

"Tomorrow? Mako, we have a fight next week. And Hasook's not here, so we need to keep ready."

Mako groaned. Zuko didn't know who Hasook was, but he had a feeling that Mako was not a fan of his teammate.

"Of course he isn't. Hey, do you think we could continue tomorrow?" Mako asked Zuko. "I don't know when Buhtaka expects you to fight, but I think we can spare a day. You already know most of the fundamentals, so we can just practice expanding them. Is that alright?"

"I think so," Zuko said as he took the helmet off of his head. It had become almost stuck to him with sweat. He hadn't noticed until he felt the moisture and heat on his forehead.

"Ok. Come on Bolin. We need to get ourselves ready."

"Yes!" The younger boy shouted in glee. He then sheepishly turned to Zuko. 'No hard feelings, right?"

"No, it's fine. I think I learned enough today. You two sound like you need to prepare."

"Oh, thank you so much. I was afraid I was coming off as rude and that you would think I wasn't a good person, and then maybe you wouldn't want to come around as much, and then I would be down one more person to talk to. Don't get me wrong, everyone here is great, we're like family, but it's always nice to have new people..."

"Come on bro."

Mako grabbed his brother's shoulder and dragged him away.

"I'll see you tomorrow!"

Zuko casually waved the two brothers away. He had to admit, Bolin almost reminded him of Sokka in a way. They both seemed to have a tendency to run their mouths. But Bolin didn't seem to be as creative or intelligent as Sokka. At least not yet. Zuko was going to come back tomorrow, so that might change in the future.

With that thought in mind, Zuko put up his equipment and walked out of the door. His first training day hadn't been too bad. And now he had something to look forward to tomorrow.

So far, Republic City didn't seem too bad.


"They are the problem. They have damaged the world. They must be corrected."

Inside a dark room hidden within an abandoned apartment building, one man was kneeling in front of a nailed board. A board that had pictures of Republic City's elites. The police chief. The council members. The Avatar.

All of them were benders. And all of them needed to be bought down.

His musings were cut short when a knock came from the door.

"Yes?"

"The people are here Amon. They are waiting to hear you."

"I will be down soon."

Amon could hear his follower walk away. He took his white mask and placed it firmly on his face. It was the mask that drew his supporters to him. It was the mask that they rallied behind.

And it would be this mask that would replace the lies of bending supremacy. He would not rest until he bought about true equality.


Zuko remembered where the mask stand was. It wasn't too late either, with the sky only being orange. So he decided to stop by. And the shopkeeper noticed

"Come to check on your order?"

"Just to ask about it. How's it coming along?"

"it's coming along just fine. Just got the materials and the paint ready. Give me a few days, I should have an original mask all set for you," the shopkeeper informed Zuko. "I have to say, I don't usually get many requests for dark-colored masks. Most folks want something flashy and bold."

"Well, I'm in the mood for something different. I'll be back in a few days."

See you then kid. I think you'll like how it comes out."

Zuko certainly hoped he would. He had plans for that mask. He knew that pro-bending, as fun as it seemed, would not be enough to satisfy him in life. But with the mask, Zuko might just find out what would.


This is where the fun will begin. I never imagined that Zuko would be satisfied by just living in a big house and occasionally going outside to fight people in a ring. He has plans for what to do with that mask. Plans that I am very much looking forward to.

I always figured that Zuko would figure out pro-bending pretty quickly. Korra was able to learn the rules on the fly during the first season, so I see no reason as to why Zuko couldn't. Especially when he was in a war for so long, and the sport is basically just being paid for fighting in his mind.

I was thinking of introducing Asami in this chapter, but I realized that it might be too soon. Either the next chapter of the one after, she and Zuko will meet. Whatever happens after that is yet to be seen.

Anyway, please leave reviews, tell me what you think, and I will see you all next time.

Bye!