Money From Wolfbats

This chapter will probably be the most different of all chapters, but it was a great one to write!

Chapter 3: Shiro Shinobi

Shiro Shinobi glanced out the small window of the radio booth he was seated in and shook his head. Earlier in the day when he had been approached by the former pro-bending team, the White Falls Wolfbats, he had assumed it had something to do with how he had called their final match. Instead, they offered him some money to do a few "things" on the radio. Outside, the three young men saw him peering at them curiously. Ming waved and Shaozu offered a thumbs up. Tahno was writing on a large pad.

They had told him all he had to do was twelve little things, each worth a certain amount of money. He had agreed, mostly to ease his curiosity. They told him since he was working, they would stand outside the window and tap on the glass. His printed instructions would be on the paper. They did tell him that if anyone were to interrupt his broadcast, pull the plug, or summon the metal bending police, they would stop and he would keep whatever money he earned.

A tap at the glass caught his attention. On the paper, Tahno had written, 'Before you go to a break, ask Amon if he has a beautiful singing voice.'

Shiro smirked to himself and leaned towards the microphone. "Ladies and gentleman, we'll be right back after this short advertisement. But first, I'd like to ask a question towards the madman who is terrorizing our fair city. Amon, the people want to know... do you have a beautiful singing voice?"

He smiled ever so slightly to himself as he watched the Wolfbats crack up. He was a non-bender, after all. What could Amon and his minions do to him, other than shock him again?

He continued with his job, advertising the likes of Cabbage Corp's cabbage cars and Narook's Seaweed Noodlery. Another tap caught his attention. 'Wonder aloud how much work goes into Councilman Tarrlok's hair care.'

Shiro let out a scoff that was not picked up by his microphone. He shook his head slowly, but said, "By the way, has anyone ever wondered just how long it takes Councilman Tarrlok to do his hair each morning? Just something that's been on my mind." Another grin from Ming and Shiro resumed to his normal routine.

He soon understood that the Wolfbats had created a system. They would let him speak for a few minutes, then seemed to come up with something for him to slip in randomly. They were trying to make it seem as though these were simple observations of his that he just so happened to release on air.

However, he soon became nervous. Ming had been writing for a couple of minutes now. What on earth did he have planned?

'Breaking news alert! The corpse of a homeless adult male has been found in Republic City Park. The body appears to be covered with small bite marks. Warn about the turtle ducks!'

Shiro had to cover the microphone to hide his laughter. "Really?" he mouthed. "You want me to say that?" The Wolfbats nodded in unison.

Shiro cleared his throat and began his "breaking news". "Ladies and gentleman, I have just received word that the deceased body of a homeless adult male was found in Republic City Park. The deceased appears to have been pecked to death by turtle ducks. I'm warning you, folks, turtle ducks are nothing to mess with. You don't want to make the mommy ducks angry. Beware when you go to the park!"

Outside the booth, Ming was trying to hold Shaozu up. "Where did that idea come from?" Tahno asked with a grin.

"They're vicious," was all Ming said.

"Can you imagine?" Shaozu asked as his laughed on Ming's shoulder. "Can you just see something like that happening?" The other two were quiet for a moment, then joined in with their own laughter.

It took them several minutes to calm down. In that time, Tahno took the paper again. On it, he wrote, 'Refer to Amon's second-in-command as Zappy Zappy Stick Man.'

Shiro grinned. He was starting to enjoy this. "By the way, folks, you know Amon's second-in-command? Do we know his name? I have heard a few people refer to him as "Lieutenant", but I would love to make another suggestion. How about we call him Zappy Zappy Stick Man? How does that one sound to you?"

Before he could resume to his radio hosting duties, another task was set upon him. 'Rant about firebenders for a while. Ask why firebenders have to kill everyone!'

"Forgive me, listeners, but while on the subject of Amon, I'd like to get on my soap box for a little while. He says his parents were killed by firebenders. Well, have you ever realized how many people have been killed by the firebenders? It's crazy! It seems like every time you turn around, someone says a relative, a friend, a stranger they saw crossing the street once was killed by a firebender."

Shiro paused for a breath as the Wolfbats motioned for him to continue. "I get that fire is dangerous. It's very hard to control. But what about the waterbenders? They certainly can do more than splash a little water on you or heal your wounds. And the earthbenders? Just drop a big rock on someone!"

"Shinobi, what's going on in there?"

The four of them, the three young men and the older announcer, froze. From far away, they heard a door slam. The Wolfbats exchanged a look before Shaozu quickly scribbled on the paper 'We owe you 250 yuans. Sorry it isn't more. Will meet with you later to pay you.'

Shiro stood up and motioned for them to leave. His boss was coming, and boy was he not going to be happy!

That night, he met with the three former pro athletes outside a Fire Nation themed restaurant. He shook his head as they paid him, but he was smiling as well. "That was pretty enjoyable," he said. "Despite my boss ruining the fun."

"Are you in any trouble?" Ming asked.

"Not too much. I'm not fired and that's what matters, isn't it?" As he pocketed his fairly earned money, he asked, "Why did you three do this, anyway?"

Tahno shrugged. "Just looking for some laughs when we can find them, that's all."