Chapter Three: The City

Yet another day came anew on Air Temple Island. Tenzin started the day early with some of his students of the Air Nation at the spinning gates. The airbending master didn't wear the jumpsuits that many of his students chose to, but rather his traditional garments.

"This obstacle is essential for all of you to pass because it presents the basis of much of what airbending is. Finding the path of least resistance, being able to change your course and being patient with yourself. Forcing your way through here will always end up first," Tenzin lectured his students. "Whoever's ready, start."

Bumi approached his brother from behind, watching as the next student went through the spinning gates.

"Oh, c'mon Tenzin," the former general teased, "getting these poor boys up so early? They're just some new airbenders that got here a week ago. Dad never did that to you."

"Dad never taught a group of people other than his children," Tenzin retorted. "Anyways, since you're here Bumi, do something important for me." Bumi raised a finger to Tenzin before he could go on.

"I am not going through those boards," Bumi told him.

"No, no, it's not that. I need you to talk to Kya. Tell her she should take another look at Mako's arm; her healing powers might be useful to him now," Tenzin explained to his brother.

"Oh, and why can't you do it yourself? You know she's just over there getting grub ready for breakfast," the former general said indignantly. Rather than waste his energy arguing, Tenzin took two steps forward to set himself up properly. Without notice, he shot a blast of air at Bumi to put his brother far on his way to delivering Tenzin's message to their sister. Tenzin turned his head to look at his sibling.

"Thank you!" he shouted to Bumi.

"Master Tenzin," a young boy began to ask, "I thought we weren't supposed to be violent."

"We're not," Tenzin answered, with summoning an ounce of wit he told the boy, "I chose the path of least resistance. When you get older and more experienced, you'll have a better understanding of how these things work."

Mako was packing a duffle bag full of his things. A few sets of clothes, and to this bag he tried to tie onto it his sleeping bag. However, this task proved difficult with his injured arm. He grunted, fiddling with rope and dropping it because of the pain in his arm. His attention was called away when he heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" he responded, loudly with cynicism. It was probably his brother there to nag him or Tenzin seeing if he "wanted to talk."

"It's Kya. Can I come in?" she asked through the door.

"Sure." Mako did know what to make of Kya's appearance at his bedroom. He looked over as she walked towards him, water floating in front of her glowing the characteristic light blue it did when a healer used it.

"Let me see your arm," Kya said. Mako took of his sling and dropped it on the floor. The firebender sat next to Kya as her water engulfed his arm. There was a long silence before the healer decided to say anything.

"So I heard you were looking to leave for the Fire Nation," she opened with. Mako stiffened, having had this talk three times now he wanted to stop beating a dead horse.

"Yeah," was all he decided to answer with.

Kya studied Mako's posture, trying to decide how to approach him. The wounded firebender stared out the window at the morning sky. His body was turned away from the healer as she worked on his arm. Kya had heard what other told her of Mako, but hadn't really dealt with him much in the past few days because she was helping the Air Nation with the wounded soldiers that were throttled by Kuvira's giant mech.

"Thank you, by the way," Mako put in, interrupting Kya's thoughts.

"Any time, dear," the waterbender answered. "Listen, if there's anything you need to talk about, you can always talk to me. I've been hearing a lot about you the last few days and I think going to the Fire Nation is great and all, but I also saw you from the temple shouting and spewing fire into the air-"

"Stop," Mako commanded. The matured woman was taken aback by his firmness, unsure of what triggered his reaction.

"We're worried about you-"

"You want to talk?" Mako asked pointedly, raising his voice.

"Yes, talk, not yell," Kya answered sternly. "You can't be going off into the unknown so out of control like this."

"Who do you think you are, my mother?" the young man fired at her.

"No, I know you wouldn't talk like this to your mother if she were here. Is that what this is about?"

"No! It's not!" Mako shouted. Ripping his arm from Kya's healing water, the firebender stood up and retreated to the window, his back to the healer. "If I wanted to be bothered, I would've asked. Now just leave."

"I'm not done yet..." Kya answered, thinking of what to say next. "I'll finish what I was doing and then leave you alone, okay? Your arm will be a lot better, but you still might need that sling."

"Fine." Sitting back as he was, Mako held his arm out for Kya to finish her business.

Korra and Asami stood at the yellow spirit portal once again, looking at the gateway back into Republic City. The Avatar looked a bit worriedly at the portal, then at the Future Industries owner.

"We shouldn't have gotten to the portal so fast," Korra announced. All Asami could do was give a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it took us days to get out to where we were in the spirit world, and now we got back so fast, as if it wants us out. And I don't think that means anything good," the Avatar explained.

"Well, we've been gone some time now," Asami started, trying to comfort Korra, "the world still needs you. And I think the spirits and the spirit world knows that."

"Right..."

The Avatar willed herself to renew her confidence and determination. There was already a plan; she was going to the Earth Kingdom to help Wu decentralize the Earth Kingdom. Such disarray had been imparted on the world after Kuvira's onslaught that now the world needed her once again to exercise her conflict resolving abilities. She picked her head up and stood squarely, ready to pass through the portal.

"We can do this..." Asami said softly, taking Korra's hand. "Together."

At about noontime, Mako headed towards the docks of Air Temple Island, one arm still in a sling and the other carrying an empty sack. He fixed his eyes on the transport barge that periodically brought goods to the island now that it served as a sort of supply base for Republic City.

"Hey bro, where you going?" Bolin called from afar. Mako took a deep sigh as he prepared for another conversation he just didn't want to have. He turned to see his brother running to catch up to him, and spoke.

"I'm going to the city to find food for my trip," the firebender answered.

"Oh! Let me come! I need to go to the city anyways to help Opal. She said that there's been a lot of crime in the city with people returning and finding their homes... shattered," Bolin told his brother in his typical antics, clutching at his heart to dramatize his last words. "So if you come with us you can be all super-cop again and we can help you find food!"

"Bolin, I want to go on my own," Mako replied flatly.

"What do you mean you want to go alone? C'mon, when's it going to be when we get a chance to go on an another adventure like this together? We gotta go together!" Bolin went on cheerfully.

"Alright, fine. Then take this for me," Mako gave in. He handed his bag to his younger brother and began to turn around.

In a sharp turn of events, Mako swiftly put his knee into his brother's groin. Bolin keeled over, not expecting the blow as a fist was put firmly into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. The firebender picked up his bag from Bolin and looked down at him.

"I said I wanted to go alone," Mako repeated firmly.

The older sibling took off towards the boat; it was almost time to depart and he had no time to lose. Bolin groaned as he sat himself up, feeling the pain of his brother's precise strikes.

Mako found himself roaming the largely forsaken streets of the war torn city in no time. While people may have been suffering, the spirits were as calm as can be. They glided across the sky in harmony and skittered across the ground gracefully. Mako found himself rather lost as the city was so transformed by the spirit wilds and destruction.

"Seems you're a little lost there, Mako," a familiar voice said from an alley.

"Shady Shin. You know, I was looking for one of you guys," Mako said, turning to face the triad. But he was not the only one to meet the former cop. Two of the other Triple Threats came out of the dark alley to meet him. There was a tense moment in time as the two stared each other down.

"I see your down a limb, buddy. What're you doin' out here anyways? You pick up that funny cop business again?" Shady Shin prodded.

"Nah, Shin. I think you guys owe me a favor, and I'm calling it in," Mako told the gangsters.

"What do ya mean, kid? You better watch your tone," Shin fired back.

"You see," Mako began to explain, "there was an instance or two in the past few years where if I pushed hard, I could've put all of you in prison. Like when you conspired with an enemy of the state, you know in the whole Unalaq crisis. Or when you vandalized city and public property in the chase back to the docks- I'm sure it's all coming back now."

"You're getting a bit cocky there kid, what do ya want?" one of the triads demanded, annoyed.

"I was wondering if you had a bit of food around. I need food for a few days and I know you guys aren't letting yourselves fall short." Mako's words hung in the air for a moment before the triads began laughing in his face.

"You really don't know diddly squat about how we are; get lost kid. C'mon, we're leaving," Shady Shin told his companions. Turning away, the gangsters began to leave the lone firebender where he stood.

They called his crap, plain and simple. Everything Mako had said held little weight. But the young man, like a dog with a bone, wouldn't let this pass by him. He slid the sling off his arm, wiggled it to a fighting stance, and took a strong punch at one of the triads from where he was. A fireball knocked Shady Shin's left flank on his belly for a moment, before they all turned to face Mako.

"I'll show you whose 'kid,'" Mako uttered rather sadistically.

"You really came looking for a fight? Well you're gonna need a hospital bed real soon!" Shin declared vehemently. "Get him!"

The two triads tagging along with Shady Shin split in opposite directions. One bent up earth and hurled a rock at Mako while the other jumped into the air, bringing a rain of fireballs down on the former cop. Mako was able to dodge the boulder, deflecting, then dodging, then blocking the fireballs. The impact of the strikes on his arm made him wince; his limb still hadn't fully recovered. Kya told him it'd be awhile.

With a roar, the earthbending gangster lunged forward, punching several more rocks at Mako while the firebender pushed in close, swinging heated flares of flames at Mako's head. The once pro-bender was able to doge in close the firebender and grab his arm an lapel, swinging the criminal into an oncoming rock. But by the time he did that, the earthbender lined Mako up for a powerful maneuver.

"Haaagh!" With a mighty shout, the earthbender performed an axe kick on the ground; when his heel dug into the destroyed street, a rock catapulted Mako high into the sky.

"Whooooaah!"

Mako panicked; he hadn't been launched like this ever. But the former cop thought quickly; this would be a perfect opportunity to strike back. As he began free falling back into the fray, he focused his energy to soften his impact on the ground. Closer and closer the ground drew, and when he was only tens of feet from impact, his legs shot downward. A powerful stream of fire cushioned his fall, and the flames expanded and dissipated in an outward direction. The gangsters were forced to the ground by the overwhelming force. But only for a few short moments.

Shady Shin walked out from the alley he was in originally; he never left to join his comrades in the fight. But now, it seemed they would require a bit of assistance.

"You know Mako," Shin began, "all these years without my bending has made me learn some... alternative styles." The way Shin's voice drawled and trailed annoyed Mako.

"What do you mean, alternative styles?" Mako pointedly questioned. Shin didn't say anything; he got in a fighting stance with his hands up in front of him. He simply waved his fingers to gesture Mako to come at him.

Mako summoned all his anger and swung shot after shot at Shady Shin. The gangster weaved in and out of the oncoming fireballs and flares until the two were in arm's reach of each other. Shin let Mako struggle to hit him a bit before his fingers reached out to hit pressure points along Mako's side and up to his right shoulder. Mako's left arm swung around to try and shoo Shin away, but this was easily dodged and his right arm was hit too.

"Agh!" Mako staggered off to the side. His side stiffened up and he clutched his right arm. He turned to face Shin who took his time to straighten his posture. Then, he darted towards Mako again.

Shin drew close quickly, but at the twitch of a nose, the retired pro-bender kicked up fire with all his limbs functional. With rapid swipes, Shin's balance was broken and then the gangster was hit by a powerful kick of furious flame. Shin was blown back, being slammed against a decrepit stone wall off to the side.

"Maybe we should start calling you Shoddy Shin for your bad chi-blocking skills, huh?" Mako teased antagonistically. But that instance of losing focus cost him; a large rock plowed him forwards from behind. He ended up face down in the street. The two other triads got in closer to Mako to finish their business.

The young man lifted his head up, and tried to push himself off the ground with both arms. His injured arm gave out, but then he was able to get up with his knees and abdominal strength.

"You're through, punk!" the firebending triad yelled. Mako faced an onslaught of flying rock and fireballs, and he was able to doge some of it, deflect some of the fire and shatter some of the rock, but in the end took two solid stones and a blast of fire. Mako's body skipped further down the street, and he struggled to get to his feet.

His arm clutched the other as he wondered what the next move is he'd pull.

A/N: Hey guys. I managed to get another chapter out while in college and I don't intend on dropping this story. A couple words on this chapter: it may not seem clear why Mako was looking for the triads but the next chapter will have a bit more on that, and I'll make the next chapter as long as I need to so long as Mako gets on a boat headed for the Fire Nation.

Hope you guys enjoyed!