Chapter 8:

Habiki, the Triple Threat Triad Lieutenant, walked down the street. He was a tal slender man with a bald hald, and an air nomad tatoo. He had heard about Arashi talk of an alliance between the bending gangs. It sounded like a good idea, but his boss didn't think that way.

When Habiki walked into an alley, he saw three men. He was surprised, but not nearly as they were. "Woh woh woh" said the man in the center, probably the leader. "We don't want any trouble."

"We know who you are." said the skinnier man."

"And we have already dealt with someone with that weird tattoo." added the fatter man.

"You don't know what an airbending tattoo is?" Habiki taunted.

"Look." said the leader pulling out a wad of bills. "As I said, we don't want any trouble. Have our loot."

The men handed over their loot which consisted of bills, watches, and rings. Habiki though this might have been useful. "Alright you guys." Habiki said handing them a large portion of the loot. "You guys can keep the rest of this, but I'll be here next week and the same rate will apply."

Alright, alright." the muggers agreed. "Well get you lots of loot."

After walking down a few blocks, Hibiki walked into a building, and their was his boss, Chikao. He was the leader of the Triple Threat Triad, and had been in charge for years. While he was quite competent, Habiki had always felt he was a little stuck in the past.

"Have you considered Arashi's alliance?" Habiki asked.

"I'm not so sure about that." Chikao replied. "This seems quite dangerous."

"Dangerous." complained Habiki. "What's dangerous is if we let our rivals have an advantage over us. "Kosuke of the Agni Kai Triads has already joined, and Jiang of the Red Monsoon Triads is considering it."

"Alright, I'll go to the meeting." said Chikao. "I still don't think this is a good idea."

Habiki walked out of the room. He was getting sick of Chikao. Maybe the Triple Threat Triads needed new leadership.

I had meet with Kaze, Tetsu, Yao, Sela, and Genji at Kuma's house. "Okay guys." said Yao. "I got some info about the meeting. I have a map of the town, and three copies of the floorplan."

"It's right there." said Sela, pointing to the map. "It's not far enough to walk."

We found a route that lead us to the building while staying out of sight. "Alright guys." I said. "Let's split into trios. Tetsu and Genji, Kaze and Yao, and me and Sela."

We slipped into a door and took separate corridors. When Sela and I peered around a corner we saw a patrolling guard. We backed off and waited for him to get closer. I pulled a rock out of the floor and Sela grabbed one of her Bolas.

When the guard got close enough we jumped around the corner and lunged at him. We hurled our weapons at him and when the guard tried to block my rock, the Bola wrapped around his hands.

The rock hit the guard in the chest. He stumbled at us, but Sela punched him in the gut. "That's it." admired Sela. "Good teamwork."

"Thanks, but there's more to do." I replied.

After walking into a room we saw a pair of guards. "Split up." Sela whispered to me.

We moved to the opposite sides of the room. The guards went back to back and Sela threw a bola at them. The bola wrapped around the guards and I shifted the floor, throwing them to the ground.

After a few more halls we reunited with the other group members. "This is it." I said. "All we need to do this break through the wall and we'll be their."

Tetsu and I stood next to the wall and slammed it as hard as we could.
There was a loud crash and a portion of the wall popped out. Their stood Arashi and the three gang leaders. "So my plan will involve getting the Avatar to become the ruler of the world." said Arashi. He looked over to me. "Who happens to be right here."

I lunged at Arashi and threw pieces of the broken wall at him. Arashi lifted water from a bucket and swiped the chunks out of the air. Around me the mob bosses exchanged fire with my allies. I dodged and weaved, occasionally attacking them but I mostly kept the pressure on Arashi. "So if I am so important to your plans how come you didn't send someone over to get me." I asked.

"I did." he replied.

I felt a powerful burning on my back. I stumbled over and fell to the ground. I saw Yao with his arm outstretched. "That someone is me." he gloated. "I..."

Before Yao could continue, he was cut off when a Bola wrapped him. Yao struggled furiously, but it was all in vain when Sela grabbed his arm and slugged him in the gut. Yao doubled over, and groaned in pain. Sela punched Yao a few more times and kicked him when he was down. She hurled a Bola at Arashi, but he made a bubble of water around his hand, caught the Bola, and froze the water over it.

Sela jumped at Arashi and tried to punch him, but he made armor with water and the punches splashed across it. Arshi then dropped the water, froze it, and kicked Sela's ankle causing her to fall to the ground.

Kaze, Tetsu, and Genji formed a circle around us and continued to battle with Arashi and the gang heads, but they quickly were losing ground. Kaze deflected a fireblast from Kosuke and Tetsu blocked somes rocks from Chikao, but it was not enough.

The punishment continued and the remaining team members defense began to crumble. Jiang and Arashi made a large bubble of water and Chikao filled it with rocks. They launched it at Tetsu, who tried to block it, but doubled over in pain. "That's against Pro-Bending rules." Yao laughed. "But here their no rules."

"Guys I think we need to cut our loses and run." Genji whispered.

They helped Sela and I up, and we backed up out of the room. I blocked blasts from the gang bosses and we escaped down the hall, and they eventually gave up the chase.

Arata and his team managed to escape. "Should we go after them?" Kosuke asked.

"Let them run with their tails between their legs." replied Arashi.

"I'm not sure about your plan with the Avatar." said Jiang. "But otherwise your plan seem great. Sone we benders will be controlling the city."

"As the world should be." said Arashi.

"I'm still not sure if the Alliance is a good idea." said Chikao. "By putting ourselves in such a position of power, we will feel comfortable to do things we would be not willing to do otherwise."

"You really need to adapt to the times." said Kosuke.

"My right hand man said the same thing." replied Chikao.

That night when Chikao was walking home, he heard the sound of footsteps. When he turned around he saw a silhouette in the darkness. Chikao threw a rock in the figures direction and it hurled back at him.

The rock hit Chikao in gut and he fell to the ground. His attacker grabbed him by the arm, and he felt intense pain of nails being stuck in it. When he looked up Chikao could see the metallic glint off his attacker's eye. He was an Iron Assassin.

The Iron Assassin pulled Chikao up and held his hand in front his of Chikao's face. Nails sprung from his fingertips.