Splinters dug deep into Chen's fingers, tiny drops of blood ran down the tips and dripped onto the floor. The fifty sixth crate hadn't been the easiest to open. IN fact it had been the worst. Chen grunted as he retracted his fingers, his nails had been ragged and chipped. Barely visible splinters had dug themselves down deep in between the nails and the skin.

"Move!" Ordered Admiral Geming, pushing Chen aside before he could even get a chance to move.

Geming slammed a crowbar between the tiny slit under the lid where it had been nailed down. He pushed down hard and the lid began to rise, bits of wood flew up and then the wooden panels that had made up the lid rose as well, revealing the nails that had been holding it down.

However the lid had broken in a difficult way that had broken large chunks off the wooden panels instead of individually, rather then the whole lid coming off easily. Geming cursed to himself, as he used his own hands to tear and tear at what was left of the wooden lid.

"Damn. I'm really lucky I don't have to fight with my hands. By the way, can't be just use our bending?" Chen asked. Chen bit down on the big enough splinters, painfully removing them and spitting them out, repeating the painful process which made every finger tip blood red and sore.

His hands shuffled through the packaging strips, deeper in the box he felt something metal at the bottom and a great deal of excitement grew in his eyes. He started to pull it out, his hand grasped onto the side of the machine and lugged it upwards, which had been difficult to pull up because of its packaging.

His fears had been realized, a brand new phonograph machine had been in his hands and soon it would be all over the wall.

"Dammit!" He shouted lugging the large machine against the side of the boat. The springs, metal bits, and the music funnel had shattered and was followed by a ball of blue flames which had rendered it completely destroyed. Chen was a little worried, Geming had always seen so calm underground, or at least not as tense.

"Sir, wouldn't it just be easier to use bending?"

"No, I don't want to risk destroying what we came he for. Go open that crate over there!" As Chen's heart rate had finally slowed down from all the box's he had opened, Geming's had started to rise.

"Crowbar" Chen said. He had been eying it the whole time they were there and with his fingers being in poor condition, he needed it. Geming tossed him the crowbar and sat down on a unopened crate to catch his breathe. He had been an old fellow and not so as youthful as Chen or anything other member of The Pride. Yu had been the second oldest and he was mostly anti-social but he secretly admired benders.

Once again the crowbar was wedged under the lid and pushed until it was clean off. Chen proceeded to search through the packaging, still not knowing what he was looking for, his pulled up another phonographic machine.

Geming was furious, he had hoped his tip he had gotten wasn't a fake. Chen eyed the music player from every angle, it had been in good quality and it had been one of the latest editions of the new technology that surrounded Republic City. However its time had quickly come to an end as Chen used his metal bending skills to compress the music player into it was nothing but a rough and ragged, metal ball. It had been completely unnoticeable by the time Chen had finished with it, even the sound funnel was utterly destroyed.

Chen could almost see smoke rise from the Admirals mouth, his fury had been so enraged his could possible become a human bomb.

"Yo, Geming, what are we lookin' for exactly? Wasting all this energy is such a drag, not to mention a waste of time. Can't you just let me off the leash and go wild, we'll save much more time this way." Chen said. He leaned against the wall and shrugged. The cargo ship that they had highjacked had been on the outskirts of republic city and had towers of crates everywhere underneath.

Geming slowly rolled his eyes over to Chen, who had now been picking his teeth with his own pinky finger. He had always thought of Chen as a lazy individual but Jun's reasoning had made up his mind, he would not risk breaking the rules of the clan. Everybody knew that Jun had been spying on the Equalists, or at least that's what he told them.

Geming started to breathe slowly, he could not feel himself control his own heartbeat, slowly down the process to a point of relaxation.

"No Chen, we have used our talents to point that makes us uncoordinated and arrogant. We want non benders to realize the power of us! We want them to fear us. To have already lost a member before the war has already begun was shameful, however those other two sand members seem to take it just fine. Another reason to enforce more barriers upon ourselves."

"Right. So which one died again?"

"Kessen."

"Oh yes, yes, the one who swindled everyone out of the yuans at a single game of cards."

"Yes and having to take more drastic measures like having Sento and Delun on deck of this ship, irritates me. We had only two men kill the WLP vice president and his bodyguards for spirits sake, and yet only one member dies by a mere child!"

The Pride (On Deck)

What about my scroll! Your wasting time you fool!

"You sound ungrateful, surely I've must have mistaken you tone, right?"

Being controlled by a mortal sickens me! But you and I have made a deal. Why the wait?

"You'll get your damned scroll, patience is one thing a mortal had advantage of that a demon doesn't. Well.. me anyways."

Delun...

A slight breeze had blown Delun's traditional Pride robes. He had been on the very top of the boat, trying to get some peace from all the chaos that had been going on after Jun had told them about Kessen's death. Everyone had been shaken up, not my sadness but by shame. Shame that some kid with a sword could have beaten a member of them.

A single breeze of air whipped across his cheek, leaving behind an icy burn which left no mark. With the help of the demon locked away inside him, Delun could feel the chi presence of anyone on the ship. He could feel his leader Geming's and Chen's chi, which had been underneath. Sento had been approaching him from behind. Delun's moderate gaze slightly turned into a frowned and let out a small breath of air.

"The area's been swept, we should start heading down to see what they've found." Sento said.

Delun nodded but never moved. His mind was to focused on another thing.

"Something wrong?" Sento asked.

With the demon inside him his body felt like pure energy. It was if he had been in an infinite avatar state which never went away or had any exhausting side effects. Delun never used his bending except for pure combat purposes. Unlike most water benders who train for their skills, Delun was born with an gift. A gift that should've been a mistake to have given him.

Even Delun hadn't known exactly where it had come from all he knew was that he could manipulate life and death. Crossing over to the spirit world was the easy part. Getting the spirits to reason with him, well that was something else, a whole new challenge.

Delun lifted his hood, covering everything until the side of his face was completely blocked off from sight.

"No, I'm fine." His voice uttered a slight darkness.

Sento looked at him strangely or at least what he could see of him. A questionable expression appeared on his face and he knew more then anyone in the group that something was wrong.

"Alright then, lets regroup and see if they found what their looking for."

"No. That won't be necessary."

Sento raised a brow, confused with Delun's choice of treason. You never went back on a order from Admiral Geming, "And why is that?"

Beside that brown hood that masked a truer evil than anyone had ever seen, he had shown very little interest in the device Geming had so longed for. He had other plans to deal with and he needed to get them done as fast as he could. An crooked grin grew on his face and a slight adjustment added to his tone.

"Because they've already found it."

Khai

Blood seeped through my hands. Warm blood seeped through his fingers, but he felt like it will soon be all over. I had fallen into a dark depression, my mind flooded with violent thoughts.

I can't let this happen, I won't die here.

My one free arm shifted through the loose gravel, a wave of dirt pushed from my arm and created what seemed to be a wall of pebbles. My nails dug harder into the ground and I dragged my body, loose rocks digging and scratching their way across my skin, every time I pulled close and closer to the door where I had been forced to enter. I could feel rocks actually indent themselves into my chest, after ripping holes in my shirt.

I used one good leg to aid me in my race for survival and so far death was catching up. The door was the finish line and I had one blown tire, death already speeding its way up to grab me and pull me to wherever it had decided my fate.

Jun, I will..

My hands had finally reached the cold concrete of the first step. It was harder to get up because I had nothing to grab onto and hoist myself up. My other arm was tucked tightly around my side, keeping the blood from pushing out any harder then it was. It felt like a running hose. Only someones thumb had been halfway on the tip to make the water come out faster.

Stop.. you

My head had connected with the corned of the third step. I grunted as the sharp pain pulsed throughout my head, however it didn't stop. I couldn't tell if I was going crazy or just imagining this pain but my head would not stop hurting, it could feel it vibrate. Pulling my self in front of the door I hadn't changed at all. Death had already beaten me to it and know I was in his hands.

My eyes starred upward and my hands collapsed onto the cement, releasing the blood as if it had been a clogged pressure valve. Blood made its way out of my side. It stained my whole stomach a permanent dark red. It even soaked visibly into my red shirt, it hadn't been as dark so it plainly stuck out.

Light engulfed my eyes, not a blinding light but a peaceful one. It hadn't hurt, it hadn't stung, I let it in like an old friend. I welcomed it, however it didn't know I had a knife behind my back. I was determined not to let death have me. My life was not going to end like this, not while so many thing were on the line, stuff that even did not concern me.

"He's here, but he doesn't look good. What do we do?"

Republic City, Benders, the Avatar, and even Kya. I hadn't seen Kya in forever. I hadn't remember the last time we've seen each other but we'll meet again. Like I've said, I wasn't going to let it all fall here.

"Bring him in. It's time we had a talk."

Somewhere In Anywhere

"Where Am I?" I moaned.

My body was numb, I couldn't feel a thing. Hell if I were laying on a bed of nails right now, I would sleep soundly. I could here voices. Muffled voices, that echoed by my ears but it was all gibberish to me. A warm blanket of light laid across my cheek, not from the sun but from an actual overhead light.

"Calm down Khai, your safe. For now anyways."

That voice, it was an spirit. They're here to take me away! Flying through another dimension at lights speed, I knew all, I saw all, and I forgave all.

"No spirit, don't take me!"

Blurry blobs of mass hung over me like paper lanterns. Grey weights that just held me down to the platform I was on.

"How is he?" A deeper voice asked.

"Delusional, very drugged up. It's almost comical." The first man said.

I regained feeling in my wrists, and it started upward throughout my arms. My hands were still numb, lifeless as if they hadn't been there. Purple blobs floated through the sky like cloud, my whole head felt like it had compressed into itself like implosion

"This isn't funny Arann. This is my little brother, can you help him or not."

"Bo, pump somebody full of lysergic acid diethylamide, you might as well just call the circus.. or maybe a more qualified doctor."

Bo starred at Arann with a fearful stare. Arann had been one of those guys who tried just about everything to get something to a point he liked. Bo had befriended him in the academy while first becoming an Equalist soldier but now he seemed to have regretted it. However, he was stuck with him and couldn't avoid him. The thought that he shot up Khai with LSD, made his mind whirl.

"You pumped my brother with LSD! Dammit, do you know the side affects? please tell me you added something else to it!", Bo shouted angrily.

"Man, relax. I wouldn't just fill your bro with a powerful hallucinogen then walk away saying "screw it I'm done". I had Jun add an extra chemical to it to make it less harmful and more strengthening. Basically it's an energy shot, with the side affect of hallucinations of course.. " Arann informed him. He looked back down at Khai who seemed to be nodding his head constantly. A lot of the drugs and medicine they have received were from Robertson. His advancement in technology was outstanding and with their medical combinations it was like they had been creating whole new human beings.

Arann turned around, shining a miniature flashlight into my eyes. I felt them twitch, I had control of my eyelids, and soon my whole face felt just as it should've been, sore.

"His pupils are dilated. Well it's good he's responding. Don't worry about it, I didn't kill em'." Arann said with a sarcastic grin.

"That's assuring. Listen can you do me a favor and let me be alone with Khai? I want to talk to him alone."

Arann flicked off his flashlight and looked at him with uneasy eyes. Wearing his full on Equalist armor, Bo couldn't really see much emotion in him at all. In fact he had barely seen his face, he had never taken it off. The only thing different about his uniform was that the gold apparatus that wrapped around his head was gone, he said he had removed it because he thought it was useless.

Arann nodded.

I could hear the door shut, my ears had regained some sound but it was slightly deafened. It took my awhile to realize that my brother had been in the room with me. Shortly after the man named Arann left, I could feel pressure on the top of my head. By the way Bo had been reaching over to my head I could tell he was injecting me with something.

I tilted my head to where the point our eyes match. I was unfamiliar with his look. It had always been so aggressive, the eyes of an oppressor, the day we fought at home. Now, he wasn't himself, I could tell he wasn't himself. His eyes were dark but filled with sadness and regret.

"I gave you a sedative, your heart rate should be going down to its normal rate. It should also rid of any remnants of that damned drug Arann gave you. Idiot." Bo said.

His focus of me drifted off. He started to walk off in the distance but not out of the room. I could here medical instruments clink together as they were put back in their drawers. Arann's drug had began to fade, slowly I started drifting back into reality. I also noticed that my arms and legs were held down by leather straps.

"Why?" I said softly.

"Because the drug Arann gave you was a hallucinogen that rapidly increased heart rate. You were loosing a lot of blood when we found you so this drug sped up your heart rate and increased blood flow. All after we secured your wounds of course."

I could feel my heart slow down rapidly. It was almost as someone was squeezing it enough to forcibly slow it down. Nonetheless, I still was able to speak.

"No. Not that. Why.. why are you doing this?" I asked. I couldn't help but to hold back tears. The pain, murder, and future genocides they were about to commit was like a spear to my heart. My family was in on such evil it sickened me to the point of vomiting.

My breathing became irregular. The air was to thick for me to breathe normally, causing me to breathe and pant more then usual. I didn't know if this was an effect of the drug or my emotions.

Bo studied me carefully. He knew he couldn't let me go and yet he wanted something out of me, I just didn't know what. He sat on a lab stool, his arms resting comfortably in his lap and he observed my breathing patterns and my on and off, violent struggles for freedom. He shifted positions in his chair.

"Do you know how to accomplish true peace Khai?" Bo asked.

I kept quiet and didn't answer because I honestly didn't know.

His blank face suddenly turned into a daring glare. he quickly shot up from his chair, nearly knocking it over. He had been out of my view so I hadn't seen much of his movements but I could tell they were rash. His head darted over mine, his face appearing out of nowhere, he continued by pressing his very own Equalist mask down into my stomach. It didn't hurt but It was so sudden, I hadn't expected it. He pressed further and further down and I could feel his hand on the back of my head, lifting it up.

I was forced to stare into the dark green eyes of the cracked Equalist mas that I had damaged during our fight. I starred into face of evil and genocide and I became irritated. Rocking violently, I tried to free myself of my restraints. Bo didn't say a thing, it was if he wanted me to see what the future would behold and this was it. The red dot on the masks forehead symbolized the party and I couldn't take my eyes off it.

The psychological pain that I had been going through rushed throughout my whole body, starting at my neck. My hands pulling harder and harder as if they were trying to grab the mask themselves. However all it was doing was giving me a nice rug burn. The whole psychological pain I had been going through had been fake, but it was the events I was causing on myself which really did the damaged. All in all, he lowered my head. Breathing harder then ever, I finally knew what I had to do.

"Peace must be accomplished by removing the threat. Benders are impure. Running around with the ability to move the elements, does that sound even like something we're suppose to do?"

I had to kill my brother!

"When I'm free Bo, I swear...!"

"Oh you'll get your chance Khai, but now isn't it. Your weak, you don't have enough hatred in you to bring yourself to kill me. Your own blood." He said taunting me.

Pacing slowly around me, he examined my struggling body. I had often had moments where I would pull to the point where it strained even the most strongest muscles in my body. Other times I would shout, cursing him out but he would just keep walking.. and looking.

"You choose death, rather then reason!" I shouted.

"But what if death is caused from the reason Khai? What if by slaying hundreds of the impure we could save hundreds of thousands of the righteous? Maybe millions Khai, just think about it?"

I could only imagine what horror he was thinking of. Then it hit me, something far worse then Republic City's civil war. The citizens of this city weren't the only ones in danger. It was the whole world!

"That's not possible. You plan to eradicate the whole world. Are you fucking insane?" I pulled harder on my restrained. Determined to get my hands around his throat, my wrists began to bleed.

Bo looked at me with cautious eyes, filled with both sadness and anger, he knew something I didn't. I could definitely see the anger and rage that built inside him but so did something else. So did something compassionate and regretful which always confused me. He thought about what I said and leaned close to my ear, his breathing brushed up against the side of my head.

"First we must learn to walk Khai, then run, then sprint. However, we've already begun to crawl Khai. So far we've done the impossible and with the civil war already started. Well, we can just carry out our plans. Most districts already are to cautious and falling apart. Soon they'll begin to crumble and need a new leader. That's where we come in Khai, that where we walk." Bo said without expression.

A long silence swept across the room. I could even hear the whining of air the that drifted through the air vent. Bo leaned back and stood up. He undid one of my arm restraints but carefully kept one hand on my arm to make sure nothing happened. Afterwards he started to walk out of the room after putting on his damaged Equalist mask.

"There's a sword in the weapons cabinet over to your left. Once you get free, I trust you know what has to be done."

I had been laying down the whole time on a surgery table, strapped to cold metal and unknown of my surroundings, expect for what I could see by moving my head left or right. I shouted anything back to him, curses, cowardly remarks, and other questions I ah about him. There was only one question he answered.

"Jun's a traitor!"

Bo stopped halfway out the door, seconds before he would close it. I saw his head lower but no emotional response came from him. I could see his hand tense up from hear that name. I had guessed they had already met. He only answered in his usual deep tone. However it wasn't one I had been expecting.

"I know." Bo said slamming the door.

The next few minutes felt like hours. I had already freed myself from the lab table and secured the katana sword from the medical cabinet. It had taken a long wait to get feeling back into my legs but they had been strong as ever. The katana I now held in my hand was made from high carbon steel, meaning it had a sharpers edge but it had a slight chance to become brittle and break during combat.

Since I didn't have any other weapons or armor, I had no choice but to use it. The lab I was in cluttered with papers on the counter. There were cabinets and drawers filled with medical supplies along with the the table which I had been strapped to. The time had come where I had to leave, my mind was still on my brother and to stop him... I had made up my mind to kill him. I had no other choice, he had permanently changed and there was no way he could be saved.

The halls of the compound had been the same as I had once seen them when I was led by two Equalists to "fight" Jun. Pipes filled the halls, come leaking and spewing hot steam. The alarm had stopped but I had a feeling that the Equalists were still as active as I was. I halted to the nearest corner, two Equalists had been patrolling the area but had stopped to talk to one another.

My feelings have changed toward others. Those who did not support peace must not live on. Those who supported genocide and murder are not human. I stepped out behind the corner. Darkness filled my heart and I started to feel anger take over my body. I couldn't stand the sight of them.

"Is violence a simple matter of defense or a cowardly way to give oneself personal freedom?" I hadn't really directed the question towards them personally but it did get their attention. It was more of a moral question to myself but they turned around bringing out stun batons but I had been ready this time. My years of constant training with both my father and Porter were about to pay off.

"Kill the traitor!" One said, darting at me fast and with electricity flying out of the baton.

It was a quick death, for I had been in a hurry. He lashed out with the baton, only to have it connected perfectly parallel to the handle of my katana. I directed it off to the wall where I proceeded to impale the sword into his palm, pinning it to the wall. His body fell off balance from the painful angle his arms had been bent when it was stuck to the wall. He fell backward into my arms, head perfectly in my hand and one around the chin. Pulling my hands different direction, a loud crunch echoed in the hall and the second Equalist only starred in fear and he watched his fallen comrade crumple to the ground, his motionless body more then enough words to warn him that I wasn't a rookie.

I pulled my blade out of his hand, causing a thin line of blood to run down the blade. I taunted him, aiming the tip at his head, I was hoping my taunting would provoke him to attack. Lucky for me, I was right.

He threw multiple quick jabs which all but one hit me. Since I wasn't a bender, it didn't have much effect on me but it still hurt a bit. He came at me again, this time it was in my favor. Catching his blow, I smashed my fist into his shoulder, sounding off a large snap and a brutally painful cry.

I didn't stop there.

I brought his arm around his back and drove it upwards. Soft cracks but loud cries called out from the man but he only begged for me to kill him when I drove my sword through his hand, much like the first man. However this was a little different. I had pierced through the hand which also impaled the man's back, only to come out the side, opposite of his heart.

The man now screaming and gargling on his own blood, fell to his knee, his arm permanently broken and forced into an uncomfortable position where it only hurt like hell so long the sword was in place.

"Damn..you!" He shouted. Blood ran from under his mask, I could only imagine that his face had been stained red.

He wouldn't survive long. The sword had ran through his chest and by the way he had begun to wheeze, I had guessed I nicked his lung. I removed the sword, and watched as the man collapsed to the ground in great agony. He would bleed out before any medical attention could reach him and with what jun had told me, all the Equalist forces were outside getting ready for the new revolution. I simply walked away, followed my the sound of unimaginable suffering.

I followed through the deserted compound, finding nothing but messy rooms and old prison chambers. Occasionally there was an office or two but it held nothing but old reports of Equalist attacks, however they were torn, ripped to shreds.

Room after room there was no one inside. No Equalist, no scientists of any kind, and no engineers. Trying to hold back my irritable conscious that begged me not to kick down a door, I had finally found a room who's occupants were not just a bunch of scattered pappers.

He struck me as a some one I knew, someone familiar, and thats why I didn't attack first. In fact he wasn't even surprised when he noticed me, unlike the others who bluntly attacked first. He resembled that of an Equalist soilder, regular armor and mask, however the golden rebreather did not stay.

He raised his arms in a shrugging matter but I could tell he was different, an Equalist but I could tell I knew him from somewhere. He looked at the bloodied swords that was held firmly in my hand.

"So I see you got my little present. I see you've got to use it to." He said jokingly.

"So, where do we go from here?" He asked, as if I hadn't looked like an escape prisoner.

His arms were crossed as if he was waiting for a delievery or for me to make the first move. Nevertheless, one of my hands rested firmly on my katana's handle.

"Well, you could tell me how the hell I can escape this place or you could end like the others who came across me. Your choice."

His mood or tone didn't change. I wasn't even sure he heard me, leaning up against the was he siezed me down. A slight shift in his standng position and he beagn to move just enough so I can predict what he was doing.

"And I thought my humor was bad." He said

"It wasn't a joke so much as a threat."

Under his mask, I could tell he was grinning. He couldn't take me seriously.

"Just like your brother, always so confident and so resentless." He movements lead toward a giant pipe that took up no more then a quarter of the room, twisting off the hatch that was built in the side, a large fog rose from the hatch. The smell was unmentionable, it smelt like rotting corpses.

He looked back to see my disgusted face. He laughed.

"Talk about skeletons in our closest!" He laughed harder, walking back to the spot where I first met him.

I was in no joking mood. He laughter did not affect me but from recognizing that old dull humor, I knew perfectly what my brother went through back there in that lab.

"So, Arann. You gunna tell me how to get out of here?" I asked

His hand gestured toward the pipe.

"You can't be serious?"

"Oh I'm serious, as funny as it is, I'm serious. The sewers are the only thing that your able to navigate through city block from here. The streets are full of us, step outside and you'll instantly sound off the entire army." Arann said.

I looked at the steaming, pipe and glanced back to Arann.

"This is a trap isn't it?", my hand clutched tighter around my blade.

"Khai, if this was a trap, we would have better methods to kill you then to lock you in a sewer."

He was right, he could've probably killed me any other way possible. Plus the sewers were endless, so I could have easily escaped once I entered. I walked over to the pipe, the mixture of bubbling hot, old meat sweat across my face and instantly I felt nauseous.

I could heard Arann laughing in the backround but I ignored him, I step one foot down into the enterance to the sewers, which ahd been like a four foot drop onto another pipe, and then another four onto the fece's that incrusted the ground below.

"Before you go, let me tell you not to underestimate your brother. The things he's been through have changed him violently."

I hadn't even thought about it. I knew he wasn't a careless soldier in it for the money. He was a monster that needed to be stopped, along with my father, and all of the Equalist members. Even before I jumped into the filth, I regretted keeping Arann alive. I would have been exactly like Bo if I would have slain him. So I left him alone. I didn't know why he helped me but I guess that maybe he's been pulled to far into this chaos and needs me to get him out, somehow.

I smiled at the thought of myself triumphing over the Equalist party, I knew with the help of John's mysterious army that we could win this. The avatar wasn't alone anymore and we had a much greater chance to win this damned civil war.

I thought back to when Arann announced that he was the one who had given me the sword, a fitting present.

After all, it was my birthday.