Chapter 3

Earth Training Interlude

A/N: With the seventh episode of Korra now free for the scrutiny of demanding fans everywhere, I believe that I should establish the rules of the game. No, Levi will not be appearing in every episode. He will only be present in the company of Chief Lin Bei Fong, if at all. Thus, he will be at the Gala in honor of Korra that Tarrlock set up. Levi, at present, cannot bend, but I have an idea of how to give him these abilities. It will involve Amon. Leviticus will gain earth-bending and only earth-bending. The manner in which he will gain these abilities is tied to a rather interesting theory I have in regards to Amon and the Avatar. But that's for later.

Hajime.

…

Leviticus shifted uncomfortably in the black armor; trying to force his head back another inch, struggling to adjust his back to a more acceptable degree. You would think that when one learned Earth-bending that one would just have to show up and work all day but no it was posture this and technique that. You would begin to doubt that Lin Bei Fong was the daughter of Toph Bei Fong, persevering extraordinaire, when Lin was terrifically reluctant to teach someone earth-bending, while Toph had almost literally jumped at the chance to teach the Avatar, parents or not. Granted that statement must always be followed by the eternal asterisk that reminded everyone that Toph had hated being brought up in such a pompous environment, but Lin couldn't have been this different, right?

Levi managed to fractionally extend his neck back into a straighter position before giving up and trying to look marginally presentable. The aforementioned police-chief looked him up and down while a dozen or so other policemen looked on, not a few snickering at Levi's open anxiety at the tall women. The gray hair and scars on her, coupled with the many small details of the face she had inherited from Toph and her unknown father where very scary indeed. 'Let's see them take those glares' Leviticus thought in a moment of inspired wit.

True to form, having found nothing in Levi's appearance that she could fault, Chief Bei Fong turned her megawatt glare on her guffawing men, silencing them with on look that promised double scrutiny for them when she was done. "Your first task as an earth-bender in training…"

Levi's eyes when wide in preparatory joy.

"…is to move that boulder." Bei Fong pointed at the offending big rock in training arena, ignoring Levi's crest-fallen face and the ensuing laughter from the assembled metal-benders it caused. "If you can move the boulder to the other side of the court and back, you'll pass onto the next step of earth-training. And for the rest of my men," she said in a risen voice, "we will be having a mandatory endurance test right now. Five hundred pushups to begin with."

There was a large amount of grumbling, from all parties for various reasons. For Levi it was because he was supposed to move a huge stone across a field. For the men, it was because they now had to do five hundred pushups, most likely in the earth-bender way (which meant with boulders strapped to their backs). For Chief Bei Fong, it was because she had been roped into teaching a kid that claimed to have physic powers, but next to no actual earth-bending aptitude.

Bending… it wasn't something someone trained for. With the exception of the Avatar, only those born with the ability could ever learn to bend the elements. These people, benders, usually carried some sort of physical trait that identified them as benders, most commonly their retina color. Earth-benders where green, fire had yellow, water blue, and air gray. Leviticus's were black. Not a good sign for any prospective bender. But Levi had heart, and was incredibly stubborn. Those, above all else, were what made an earth-bender.

Leviticus tried to keep those in mind, but was having a hard time remembering exactly why he had wanted to become a metal-bender in the first place. Sure they were cool and all and they could ride on wires in addition to being able to control both metal and earth, but the training was hellish. Move A Boulder was just the tip of the iceberg. Up at dawn for runs and workouts, dress rehearsal, then the actual tasks of any earth-bender-in-training, then more physical work, then lessons in what laws you could and could not break in pursuit of a fugitive, finished off with even further exercises. It was like the army!

Of course, Levi knew from his mother that the army at least had better food. MRI's and that stuff where amazingly tasty, and those where just for the front lines. The food was supposed to be completely worth it.

Now for metal-benders, they had the short end of the stick. While the food was definitely edible, very little was actually enjoyable. Most days it was noodles with some vegetables, though some of the men ate out on their own money. Others made do with what they happened to have. Levi, with next to no money whatsoever (his bet that the fire ferrets would be winning the tournament was yet to pay off) was stuck with noodles and vegies.

Back to the task at hand, Leviticus decided that the easiest way to get through the boulder was to move it forcefully. From everything that he was familiar with in regards to earth-bending, Occam's razor was in effect for the whole of the style. So knowing that, Levi cocked an arm back, and let his fist fly into the rock.

The police-men were interrupted from their one hundred and fiftieth pushup by an unearthly scream. Levi made his way back to Chief Bei Fong and stuck out his swelling hand, blinking back tears. After inspecting the four broken fingers, Chief Bei Fong just turned Levi around and told him that he still had one fully functional hand. And two legs. And a head.

'I wonder if those Tokka shippers were right.' Levi speculated. 'Only Sokka's daughter would tell me to use my head to attack a boulder.'

…

"Come on Leviticus; tell us your real name. Please."

Leviticus Wilkes, which was his real name, glared at Yamato, one of the two police-men that had decided to tail along with him as when he had tried to get out of compound that was headquarters to get, ere, gear, and he and Kamenosuke, also known as Kame, had decided to grill him on his name.

Leviticus is not a name you give a uke!

Leviticus cames from the Christian Bible (though Leviticus was willing to drop it, after actually having read that particular passage of scripture), and was not funny, or stupid, or a lie. It was his name and that was final.

"Come on man!"

"I'm telling you, it's my real name!" Leviticus then promptly took the mature route and shoved both hands in his ears. "Lalalala, I can't hear you lalala," Ever so louder as Yamato shouted for attention. Kame finally walked out of the market he had been grilling for food… (grilling, ha!), and paused to take in the apparent shouting match between the two out of uniform police-men. "Well, I can see what you to are up to. Can't accept that you two are in love and just turn it to anger." Kame made kissing noises as Leviticus and Yamato now loudly shouted at him.

So that was how the day went, Leviticus and Yamato arguing over Levi's name, and Kame making kissing noises at them when it got out of hand. Strangely, Levi was starting to like these guys. They were crazy as hell and annoying as fleas, but they grew on you and had an odd habit of managing to stop just when things got out of hand.

Kame was one of the few actual water-benders on the police force, having first trained as a healer, and then transferring to the barracks for on the spot medical attention. He had been the one that had healed Levi's hand when he broke it.

Yamato was an almost standard earth-bender. Overly stubborn, easy to get going but hard to stop, just like a boulder. But he managed to remain grounded and intelligent at the worst of times. He'd grown up an orphan on the streets from age thirteen, after his grandmother died (his father ran off after knocking up his mom, and she had died in labor).

The two had known each other for maybe seven years, Yamato being twenty one and Kame eighteen. They'd been friends in the police academy, and spent what little time they could either goofing off together or trying to pick up chicks together. They were just those sort of guys.

Leviticus finally managed to pinpoint what he was looking for- a blacksmith. After thanking Yamato and Kame, Leviticus commenced the dark task at hand and entered the shop of one Daisuke and Co.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for a custom job. I'll pay big for it." The on duty blacksmith –Daisuke? – was quick to accompany me.

"You see sir, we are not just any blacksmith. We have been servicing Republic city since its founding, and even before that. We have a long and storied-."

"Alright, but let's cut to the chase already." Leviticus cut in impatiently. He needed a weapon that he could us inconspicuously, not a history lecture. "I would like to know something though." Leviticus lowered his voice as Daisuke led him into a back room. "I would like to know if you have ever heard of a fire arm?"

"Herm, a fire arm? I can't say I have. Could you please elaborate." Daisuke leaned in intrepidly, his question not so much of one, and more of a command. Leviticus decided to fill him in.

"A fire arm is a cylindrical device that contains some sort of explosive material that, when detonated with in said arm, propels a small slug at great velocity. Think of bomb shrapnel, but focused. Are you following me?"

Daisuke was following him.

After going over the particulars of guns and ammo, Leviticus was presented with what Daisuke pictured as a fire arm. Spectacularly enough, it looked a lot like a flintlock pistol.

"I can have this done in three weeks, after testing and refinement. It will be difficult for me to complete this, but I am not a master smith for nothing." Daisuke seemed to be talking more to himself then to Levi, but Leviticus just put it aside or the moment. Finally refocusing on the young earth-bender-trainee, Daisuke clarified something. "This design is revolutionary. It will change the world! I only have one request."

"Name it."

"I want the patent. Give me that, and it's free."

"Deal."

Leviticus wasn't sure, but for one terrible second, he thought he could hear the thousands and even millions of born and unborn beings that were suddenly wiped from existence by his invention of the gun.

…

Night had soon fallen over Republic city, and the work day was winding down as people slipped into trams and Satomobiles, people began the long walks home, and the amoral rushed to the many bordellos and pubs that riddled the city. And Leviticus, for some reason or another was swept into one of these with the triumphant Yamato and the blushing Kame.

"Table for six please." "Yes, the strongest in the building." "Yes, he's of age."

"No I'm not!" Leviticus shouted, just loud enough to grab the attention of the patrons of the saloon. One of the girls that had been standing up on an old fashioned balcony glared at Yamato. "Exactly how old is this kid anyway?"

Leviticus paled, partly from the fact that the girl was wearing a very short skirt that, from his angle, was giving him an 'ocean-side view' as a friend from the real world would have called it, and partly because he hadn't yet looked up the age of attainable majority.

"I'm sixteen." This was Levi's desperate attempt to avoid getting in bed for a one night stand. Sexy or not, he did not want to sleep with a girl whose name he didn't know. He still gave the wrong answer.

"Oh well, just send him up. We'll have him working with me in no time." The girl declared.

An imaginary wind blew through the room.

"Where'd he go!"

Leviticus, meanwhile, had shot out of the building, around a corner, and into the protective lights of a ramen stand. "Anything you have, just cheap got it." The stand manager cocked an eyebrow, but began preparing a bowl of miso ramen. Leviticus had never felt more relieved, especially when Yamato and Kame shot past the stand, frantically searching for their partner. Those only made Levi laugh aloud at them.

After the miso ramen and the evasion of his comrades (and by extension, the protection of his virtue) Leviticus felt ready to take on the world. But after twenty minutes later, Leviticus was starting to regret ditching the dynamic duo. Where was he again? That street tram looked awfully familiar. Were those the same rich guys from thirty minutes ago? Where was he!

Levi started to panic, moving down one of the many alleyways that dotted Republic city. The dirtied rags strung up on wires to dry flapped listlessly in the hot wind, and Leviticus broke into a terrified run. 'This is a dream, it's a dream, it's a dream, Avatar's a cartoon, bending's impossible, you ARE ASLEEP. WAKE ARG!'

Leviticus ran head long into a burly man that was standing in the middle of the alley and fell flat in his back. "Watch where you're going punk." Gigantor stalked off around Levi and left the defunct earth-bender to himself. Leviticus finally settled to thinking about why he was here, and happened upon an epiphany.

He was in a fan-fiction.

That was it, that was it, that had to be it. The only way he could have defied the laws of physics and landed in the Avatar verse was to have had been written.

'Okay, so does that mean I can do stuff.' Leviticus took a look at some conveniently placed trashcans, and then angled back his arm. "Metal Bending… go! Metal Bending, go! Go! Attack! Fly. Ere." Okay, maybe he couldn't do stuff.

Leviticus groaned aloud. Come on, wasn't being the protagonist in a fan-fiction meant he was supposed to super awesome? Guess not.