"I'm telling you all, it was those Equalists who did it!"
This heated argument was taking place in a small Water Tribe bar, not far from the city centre. The customers looked up at the man who had just uttered this proclamation. He was a bald youth, powerfully built, with light brown skin and tattoos running up his arms.
"Give it a rest, Bayani." The owner's voice was weary. It was clearly not the first time something like that happened. "You've been ranting about them for months now. Isn't it about time you picked another subject?"
The young man bristled.
"Do you think I'm joking? They found a dead police officer. He'd been electrocuted."
"Since when do you care about police officers?" asked an elderly woman, between scoops of her soup. "Not long ago you were going on about how they're all out to get us."
"This is bigger than the police's power play," Bayani ranted. "The Equalists are out to get us all. All benders. And they've started killing."
"Aw, that's nonsense." Another customer had joined in. "Why would they kill some random police grunt?"
"Because he was an earthbender! The Equalists go on about how benders oppress them and dominate the police. They must have decided to start taking action. This will only get worse."
"I knew that guy," said another customer. "He was in trouble with the Triple Threats. He'd racked up a lot of debt trying to court a girl that was out of his league."
"See? They must've done him in, then. Who said it was a shock-weapon? Everyone knows some triad members can generate lightning."
More customers joined the argument at that point.
"And what, they'd send one of those at some debtor? Come on. The Equalists did it. They killed a crooked beat cop because they're not bold enough to come at a real one."
Bayani grinned at the support and was about to launch another tirade, a sudden question cut through the debate.
"Who are the Equalists?"
Everyone turned to look at the person who had asked that question. It was a tall Water Tribe man of strong, if wiry build, with black combed-back hair. His rough, angular face betrayed some hard living.
"You must be new here," the owner of the bar remarked.
"I am. I just got here from the north. I lived in a very small community, so I didn't hear about any... Equalists when I decided to come down here. Who are they?"
"Malcontents who claim that there's some sort of bender oppression going on," Bayani responded in a passionate tone. "They dispense vigilante justice and it's a matter of time before they turn against all benders."
"Matter of time, you say. But now they're actually putting the boot in the triads," said the customer who had defended the Equalists earlier. "They've never hurt a bender who didn't have it coming. Why would they start now?"
"You ask me, they're just another gang. Just one that doesn't use bending," said a young woman sitting over a bottle of wine.
"Well, I'm not a bender, so I don't have to worry," the newcomer said with an awkward smile. Bayani glared at him.
"Sooner or later, every non-bender in this city will have to choose which side they're on," he said. Then he was interrupted by the owner, who slammed his hand on the counter.
"That's enough! I don't want any trouble here, so pipe down. You know talking about politics while eating will only give you indigestion, anyway."
The customers chuckled as they returned to their food and drink. Bayani fumed, angry at being put down this way. The newcomer ate hurriedly and left. He seemed embarrassed to have caused such a stir.
The crime scene was surrounded with police tape. A pale-skinned short policewoman with short greyish hair and round features still stood there to keep gawkers away. The body had been taken away hours before, however. So now she just loitered, bored and useless. Even most of the curious citizens had left, since there was nothing left to see there at that point.
There was someone who approached, though. A lone man, the same one who had just left the Water Tribe bar. He wandered over to the tape, looking around with confusion. It appeared as though he wasn't sure what to make of this situation.
"Stay clear of the tape, citizen," the policewoman said, in a bored voice. At least having to warn away a passer-by broke the monotony. "It's a crime scene."
"Oh, sorry," he said politely. "I'm new here. Just arrived from the Northern Water Tribe. I'd heard someone was killed."
The officer nodded.
"That is correct."
The man looked around.
"But the body isn't here. So why does this area still need to be guarded... I'm sorry. I just don't know much about how it works in the city." His tone was apologetic. The policewoman sighed. She couldn't muster the effort to be official and tell the man off.
"They want to show that we're doing something and relegating two non-bending grunts to waste their time standing over an empty patch of grass doesn't inconvenience anyone important."
"I'm sorry. It's good to see you're doing your job all the same," the stranger said earnestly. The woman snorted.
"Damn right, I am. At least someone appreciates it."
"Not everyone does?"
"I wish." She sighed and forced herself to put on at least an appearance of formality. "I'm afraid I can't talk too much, or further comment on what happened here."
"Oh, I understand," the stranger said with a pleasant smile. "But if you want to relax after this is over, why don't I buy you a drink in that place over there? You look like you could need one, and I could use someone to tell me how things work here."
The policewoman studied the man carefully. That was an unusual way to ask someone out, but... he wasn't too bad-looking – tall, broad-shouldered, with chiselled, striking featured. He had a feeling of keen earnestness about him, and there was something deep in his voice. Why not?
"Sure. It's been a while since anyone offered me that. I'll find you there. What name should I ask for?"
"I'm Noatak. See you there, officer."
The establishment Noatak had invited the policewoman to was a lively club in Fire Nation decorations. The place was quite crowded, with plenty of customers at the tables, the counter and the dance floor.
Noatak's companion for the evening was mostly interested in just sitting back and talking, it seemed. And drinks, of course. As it turned out, her name was Ratree, and she'd been on the force for years.
"So why were you guarding a crime scene no one cared about?" Noatak asked with surprise.
"Because I'm a non-bender," she explained sourly. "That's just how it works in this city. Surprised it doesn't in the Northern Water Tribe."
"I don't think it does. Or maybe I just never paid attention?"
"I think a lot of people sort of... take it for granted. Maybe it's more visible in Republic City, I don't know. I mean, benders have been around forever, right?"
Noatak nodded.
"They have. And that policeman they killed... he was a bender too?"
"Yeah. He's got half the experience I have, but made it higher. Go figure."
"When I heard about it, people said some Equalists did it. Because he was a bender."
Ratree snorted. She'd been drinking for a while, but showed little to no signs of it.
"That's rubbish. Why would they do that? He was a bender, yeah, but he was also an insignificant fool. If he was a non-bender, he'd never have got the job at all."
"Couldn't the Equalists have killed him for that?"
"No, that's not them. He's just... it wasn't his fault things work the way they do."
"It seems they don't work the right way, though. If talented non-benders are kept down just because of that."
Ratree grinned.
"You learn quick, Noatak."
"So who do you think killed him?" The newcomer asks, waving the barman over for another drink.
"The Triads, probably. They're criminal gangs on the loose in this city. He had some dealings with them. Must've gone sour."
"An officer had dealings with criminals?" Noatak's voice was shocked.
"Well, yeah. I guess the higher-ups didn't care. There's two kinds of cops in Republic City, see. There's Lin Beifong's metalbenders, who get the best pay, best gear and all the good press. And then there's foot-sloggers like us. We get stuck with all the important work, and no one pays attention to us. Especially if we're non-benders."
"They say the dead guy was shocked, though."
"The Triads have lightning benders. Or they might have stolen a shock glove. Good things, those shock gloves. They don't need to kill, and they're the best non-bending weapons I've seen."
"It sounds like you like the Equalists," Noatak ventured.
"I don't!" Ratree declared, more defensively than she'd intended. "I don't... like them. They're vigilantes. I don't think they killed that policeman, but what they're doing is still outside the law. I just... they're doing what we should be doing. If the police did their job, non-benders wouldn't be angry enough to form a group like that."
"What about the triads, then? Should I watch out for them?"
"Oh, yes. Nasty bunch. They're gangs of bending criminals. Four major ones. One for each element, plus one that uses all of them."
"Just benders?"
"Well, they have non-benders too. They join them so they don't need to fear from them, see. But they just do grunt work. They don't fight, shake people down or anything. Benders run the show."
"That sounds terrible."
"It is. Used to be worse, I've heard. When they were all ruled by Yakone. He was a waterbender and a bloodbender. They said he'd figured out a way to bloodbend without a full moon. Avatar Aang took his bending."
Noatak twitched imperceptibly, then went on.
"Don't the authorities do something about them?"
"They do. Just... not enough. It would be easier if they didn't consider us helpless. I mean, us non-benders."
"It keeps coming down to this," Noatak remarked.
"I guess it does. It's like... hard to explain to someone who hasn't lived here. But maybe it's the same everywhere? They just expect us to sit on the sidelines while the good benders take down the bad ones. But we don't have to do it. The Equalists don't. I just wish... they didn't break the law."
"Seems to me like they just do what they have to," Noatak said. "I don't know this city. But if things are as you say they are..."
"Yeah. Maybe," Ratree said, deep in thought.
As he departed from the bar later that night, Amon couldn't help but be pleased. His incognito venture was proving to be fruitful. Examining the crime scene in person only reassured him that no Equalists had been responsible for the murder. Killing that policeman would have been utterly useless, but he did worry an overzealous member might have done it. Now he was sure it hadn't happened.
Meeting a policewoman with poorly-hidden Equalist sympathies was an unexpected good fortune. With luck, his subtle suggestions might cause her to fully support their cause. And an informant in the police would be invaluable.
For now, however, it was clear the triads were trying to target them. He rubbed his face. He couldn't keep the spirit corruption contained for much longer. He needed to return to his hideout. But an investigation into the triads' plans was inevitable.
Late that night, a lone figure pushed through a backdoor of a shabby building in the dockside district. It was a man, burdened by two heavy bags of trash. Grumbling and cursing, he managed to throw them into an overflowing dumpster.
"I hate this job..." he muttered. "And where is-"
"I'm here," said a deep, rumbling voice.
"Oh, it's... it's you," the waiter said. Beside the dumpster said a hunched figure dressed in rags, with a hood over its head. The waiter recognized the voice of a man who had approached him earlier. He offered a lot of money for certain information. He was wearing a collared coat and a wide-brimmed hat, then. "Let's get to business. If you have the money, I can tell you what I heard."
The figure reached underneath the rags, producing a wad of banknotes. The waiter swallowed.
"Right. Yeah. I'll tell you what I heard. This restaurant, see, is just a front for the Red Monsoons. I work here because... you know. I can't get a job anywhere else, and if you work for the triads, maybe they won't beat you up as much. Doesn't mean I have to like them."
"Get to the point, please." The man's voice was calm, but firm.
"Right. Right. Well, the boss people of the Monsoons met with the other triads. Some... friend of theirs wants them to go after someone big. Don't know who that is, but someone rich and a non-bender. Must be Hiroshi Sato, I guess. Who else could it be?"
"They didn't specify?"
"No. They must have felt safe, but not that safe."
"Surprisingly prudent on their part. Do they want to kill that person?"
The waiter considered that.
"I don't believe so. They said about putting a scare in them and showing them who's boss. No killing. I think one of them even specified they must not kill anyone."
"That is interesting." The shrouded man handed the money to his informant. "Here is your payment. Do not tell anyone else about this conversation. Now, go before anyone spots us."
The waiter scurried inside quickly. He did not need to be told twice. In fact, he was already making plans about how the money could be used to leave this place for good.
Once he was gone, the other man got up and left briskly as well. He navigated along the twisted maze of back-alleys before reaching a service entrance to the city's sewers. Once he descended down wet, moss-covered stairs, he tore off the rags, revealing a dark, buttoned-up coat with a hood. His face was visible now. It was covered in black veins running upwards from the neck. They crept all over it like an infestation.
Amon put on his mask and pulled his hood over his head. At least gathering information from the waiter had not required him to make his face presentable. He considered what he had learned. The triads were planning to attack Hiroshi. To scare him, apparently. What were they expecting? It would have the exact opposite effect. It would galvanize him, the Equalists and other non-bendes of the city. Give them a new injustice to rally behind. In fact, Amon couldn't ask for a more useful favour out of them if he tried.
If all the four triads were forming such a plan, then someone was directing them. Someone who knew what it would lead to, and approved. The list of such people was narrow. In fact, it consisted of only one person, as far as Amon was concerned. Time would tell if his suspicion was true.
'Why do you play right into my hands, brother?' he thought. 'Do you think you stand to gain from stoking the fires of our revolution? How little you know.'
The Sato estate rose above the suburbs of Republic City. It was located on top of a large hill, and composed of several interconnected buildings. Apart from the living space for its owner and his daughter, it hosted workshops, garages, a racing track and a private swimming pool. At night, it was quiet, save for the pacing of the security guards Hiroshi paid to protect it.
Several satomobiles cut through the night on the way to the estate. They were packed with members of all four triads. It was an uneasy cooperation, to be sure. But they all agreed that intimidating Hiroshi Sato served all their interests. Nonetheless, each triad had their own car. Tensions ran high enough without packing members of rival triads into the same vehicle.
There were four members of each triad – the Triple Threats, the Agni Kais, the Terra Triad and the Red Monsoons. The Triple threats were led by Shady Shin, a waterbender. Apart from him, the mixe-element group consisted of two firebenders and an earthbender. The Agni Kai crew was directed by Min-Ho, a firebender widely known for making up with fire for a lack of brains. The leader of the Terra crew was Ngô Thi Ngoc, a giant of a woman who was exactly as dangerous as she looked. Finally, the Red Monsoons were ordered around by Shila, a woman whose near-psychotic ruthlessness scared even the triads.
The cars did not slow down as they approached the Sato mansion in the suburbs. Those belonging to the Terra Triad and the Triple Threats rode in the front. As they neared the tall, iron fence, the doors of both cars opened. The earthbenders sitting inside heaved with effort and created a massive earthen ramp. Driving at top speed, the cars used it to soar over the fence, landing in the garden before the bodyguards patrolling the grounds could react.
"Police! Call the police! Attack!"
The gangers jumped out of the cars and immediately engaged the approaching security. Hiroshi Sato employed a number of them to guard his mansion. Most of them were benders, but there were some non-benders as well. They had no Equalist ties – Hiroshi had hired a regular security firm. Now they were all bearing down on the attackers, while some stayed behind and tried to call the police.
The triad members spread out wide around the cars, greeting the security with concentrated bending attacks. The Triple Threads led the point of their charge. Shady Shin bent water from a large tank contained in his car's trunk. He directed it onto the incoming enemies and turned it into scalding steam. The ability to do so quickly was his calling card among the triads. As the guards stumbled back out of the mist, the rest of the Triple threats moved in to strike. Their earthbender thrust his hands into the ground, creating cracks under their feet. The pair of firebenders spun around in sync, sending twin arcs of fire towards them.
Around them, chaos was unfolding. Some guards were toppled under a massive rock wall dropped on them by the Terra Triad. Others still were pinned down by a shower of ice shards sent by the Red Monsoons. Finally, a group of singed security workers were desperately fleeing a massive pillar of flame controlled by the Agni Kais.
"Let's move!" Shila shouted. The Triads advanced. The guards had realized how thoroughly outmatched they were. Most of them were routed, hoping desperately for the police to arrive. But the police were nowhere in sight. The gangers had a clear way towards the mansion itself. The eartbenders opted not to take the direct route, instead catapulting themselves right in front of the door. The two guards standing in front of it were too terrified to even put up a fight, at that point.
The leaders of the four triads broke down the door in unison and strode in nonchalantly. The owner of the house stood in the middle of the entrance hall, defiantly. As if daring them to strike him down.
"See, Mr. Sato? All your money could not stop us," Shady Shin said, casually. As he spoke, the earthbenders casually knocked over a part of the front wall of the mansion.
"Your guards are scattered like lizard crows," Ngoc said contemptuously. She then punched a hole in the floor, sending cracks far and wide.
"You forgot your place, Sato. Overstepped your bounds," Shila snarled. Hiroshi was still silent, staring right into their eyes.
Min-Ho said nothing. Instead, he occupied himself with setting fire to the entire carpeting in the hall. Hiroshi Sato likewise remained still and silent. He just looked on his tormentors with deep disdain and contempt.
"The police... well, they'll get here eventually, won't they?" Shin asked. "They seem slow, though. And what reason would they have to hurry? You don't exactly endear yourself to the authorities. Stirring up trouble all the time."
"Where's your daughter? Hiding somewhere?" Ngoc asked. "Has more sense than her dad, it seems."
"Where are your Equalists? You're all alone, Hiroshi. Won't you say anything?" Ming-Ho finally asked.
The answer was silence. The earthbenders had finished breaking down the front wall of the manor entirely.
"Thought so," Shin said. "Remember what happened today. There's still a lot to wreck in this house. And we might decide to go looking for your daughter next time."