...

It was now nearly impossible to move on these streets up the shadowed slopes of the Fifth Hill. The flow of marchers was being forcibly compacted by the narrow lanes between tall painted walls of merchants' mansion compounds. Xinfei's toes had been trodden on a number of times beyond count and even Xiaobao was once almost forced off his feet by the collective push of this many people surging like salmon in a spawning stream. Torches and lanterns were made superfluous here by the modern gas street-lamps but still many of the crowd hefted their own flames high. That harsh light beat on Xinfei's cheeks. He wondered how many people here tonight had genuine grievances with Islander supporters and how many had come outside to investigate the march and been swept along by the press of humanity.

As the two brothers pushed forward, or rather Xiaobao pushed forward and Xinfei threaded along behind him snaking from gap to gap, the faces they passed became more serious and more grim. An informal mechanism of diffusion-by-apathy had allowed the procession to sort its most ardent nationalists to the front of the pack. This pack was now arriving at a small gas-lamp lined square near the summit of the hill. On every side, huge double gates of ornate wood guarded the treasure-filled mansions that loomed up behind their compound's walls.

"Traitors!" some of the marchers screamed out.

Xinfei could see the upper floors of various mansions peaking out above those walls. Many of the windows had lamps gleaming in them but he couldn't tell which was Gaoli's which might be hiding Ayika. At least if she was here then there were strong gates between her and the riled public. Just how had she gotten mixed up with people who lived in houses like this? Xinfei looked around the square now clogged with protesters but he couldn't see where the University boys who supposedly had control of this demonstration were stationing themselves. This display was not looking particularly controlled at the moment.

More cries rang out from the crowd as protesters surged up the streets into this square.

"Murderer!" screamed someone.

"Thieves!" cried another.

"Mister Gaoli, our grievances are many! What you hear now is the will of the people!"

Ok, that sounded promising. Xinfei tugged on his brother's sleeve and threaded his way to where he assumed Zhangyi and his friends would be found.

He located them near the center of the square, pressed up against the rim of a small ornamental fountain. They did not seem to share his worries about the crowd's tone. The student leader's face lit up when he saw Xinfei. Zhangyi grabbed Xinfei's wrist and brought him in to clap him on the back. "Do you see this?! Ha! The people are finally moving! They are listening!" Zhangyi thrust his arms above his head as he tilted his head back with eyes closed in rapturous exhalation. "Do you hear them? The city has finally woken up!"

Of the other two students, Chonglong shared in this excitement while Jiang continued to look very uneasy. This was certainly a very different reception from what the boys had received for their rabble rousing efforts in the past. Jiang's silent skepticism expressed the view that there might be such a thing as too much success. Standing next to them was an older man that Xinfei thought he recognized as one of the other nationalists at the disastrous warehouse meeting. The man wore the patch of a Lower Ring guild tailor and while he bore his emotions less openly than the students he seemed even more determined. There were a few men like him peppered through the crowd. Men in whom anger had turned hard. They made Xinfei nervous.

The tailor muttered so that Xinfei could barely hear him over the din of the constantly swelling population of the square. "I doubt most of these people even know why we're here."

Zhanyi nodded. "Then let us provide them with guidance." With a hand on Chonglong's shoulder to steady himself he stood up on the lip of the fountain. The light of the lamps in the square threw him into sharp illumination against the stars. He called out as loudly as he could over the mob. "The merchant Gaoli lives here! He is a traitor and we are here to show him the city will not forgive him again!"

Xinfei doubted that in this pervasive volume anyone more than four meters away noticed Zhangyi was speaking but those nearest to him got the gist and from there the message seemed to percolate outwards. The nature of the cries from the crowd changed.

"Death to Gaoli!"

Xinfei saw the University boys grow worried at this interpretation. Especially when at the far end of the square the protesters began to attack the gate doors of a mansion compound while others began to throw rubbish and other scraps over the wall. It was not the mansion Zhanyi had been pointing to.

He cupped his hands and yelled again, wobbling on his unsteady fountain-top perch until Chonglong reached out to stabilize his legs. "No! That is the wrong house! Gaoli lives on the north side!" However, his exhortations showed no sign of overruling the democratic assessment of a crowd who felt confident in their collective decision. Zhangyi looked down at Jiang. "What's wrong with them? The family names are carved between the gates!"

Xinfei saw the carved characters etched in marble but he had to doubt that any in the mob could read that ornate calligraphy script that was apparently second nature for these rich boys. Even when he knew what he was looking for he could barely make out what might be the 'Gao'. From his brother's furrowed brow Xiaobao could not discern even that much.

Across the now packed square, Xinfei saw a single torch suddenly arch up into the air and slowly tumble down over a compound wall. That was not good. Xiaobao grabbed Zhangyi by the arm. "Those people are trying to set fires! You have to stop them!"

Chonglong snorted in derision. "None of these households would let a fire take hold. They will have every staff member out and prepared already. Let the crowd vent. The merchants can take care of their own."

Zhangyi was not so blasé. "No, this is a bad turn. We will lose legitimacy if the crowd turns to vandalism." He raised his voice to yell as loud as he could. "Hey! People! No throwing fire! That is not the mechanism of change!" From here he tried to regain control by starting up a suitably political chant again.

As Xinfei expected, no one listened. The only reply was a voice from across the square, calling out from within the targeted compound itself.

The man's voice roared out from somewhere behind the gate. Xinfei could barely make out the words over the noise of the square. "Desist this unlawful behavior at once or you will face the consequences! Disperse! I will be forced to defend my home! Leave now!"

The crowd laughed. Not all of them were clear on what a 'desist' was but they knew no flabby merchant or household watchman was going to dare stepping outside those gates against so many. Individually these marchers might be shop-boys or bricklayers but together, on this night, nothing could challenge them. A few yelled back rather rude suggestions of what other unlawful behavior they might consider if they were let inside while others continued to throw rubbish over the compound wall. Another torch was hefted and thrown and though it failed to reach the house's balcony it bounced off the side and down out of sight behind the wall.

The voice from the compound was heard again. "I have warned you!" This was only answered with jeers.

Then the lefthand gate of that compound began to open outwards. The motion was so smooth and sudden that it actually startled the crowd, causing many of them to take a step back. But soon enough the group processed this unlooked-for windfall and began to press forward, whooping and hollering in excitement. This night was no longer about politics and the Fire Nation. It was about these people having so much while others had so little. The front row of protesters was still cheering when the first blast of magically propelled bricks smashed into them like meteors falling horizontal across the earth.

The excitement turned to screams so quickly that the rest of the crowd filling the square turned as one, every person whether they could see or not swiveling to face that open compound gate. Those who could not see could still hear. They heard the terrible impact of breaking stone and another round of bloody anguished screams above dull meaty thuds. A rent appeared in the mass of protesters. In the open gate there now stood two men in light green robes richly embroidered with turquoise thread. They bent their legs in well-practiced attack stances as they raised their fists once more. One was old with a magnificent grey mustache, the other was younger with a similar mustache in shining black. They looked like father and son. They were earthbenders and when they moved their arms in the ancient forms a large chunk of the paved square ripped its self free to stand up vertically between them. Then this newly raised wall of tight-fitted stone began to topple down on the heads of the packed protesters. There was no where to run and the screams redoubled. The earthbenders continued to attack.

The crowd was now fighting itself. Twin impulses of bravery and fear manifested at different rates to produce violently mixing currents as many struggled to get away from the front lines while others rushed forward to provide aid or fight back. There was no room to move. The people filling the side streets were pressing forward to see what the commotion was, trapping everyone in the square against the rage the earthbenders. For a split second a swirling bodies parted and Xinfei saw a protester with a hammer in his hand break from from the crowd to rush at the elder bender who was momentarily distracted. The protester got within five paces before a flying paving slab the size of a chair caught him on the side of his head. He went down hard and the scene was hidden again.

Zhangyi was horrified. "No. They can't do this. Those two are attacking citizens!"

Xinfei saw his brother staring at the earthbender's methodical rampage and recognized the hard look creeping over Xiaobao's face. It was the look that led to the man who never started a fight finding himself in so many of them. Xinfei yelled out to counter his brother's heroic impulses. "We've got to run! The city guards and Public Safety will have to show up soon! If we don't run now we'll be caught between two sets of benders!"

The middle-aged tailor beside them spoke up. Xinfei had forgotten about him. He had been quiet but now his face twitched with deep-rooted anger. "No. No more running. The spirits protect us." With careful devotion he reached into his bag and drew forth a carved mask, dark and polished. He stretched the band behind his head and lowered it over his face. This was the first time Xinfei had been so close to a Mask being used. After all the creepy things Ayika had said, he half expected some rush of wind, or image of twisting shadows, or trembling in the earth like when the benders began. But there was nothing, just a tailor with a bit of wood on his head. A furious tailor. Without even realizing it Xinfei took half a step back as though he could almost feel the anger and primal ferocity that radiated off this man.

The tailor spoke through the gnashing of his teeth. "The common people of this city've spent too long without power. It's time they had hope. And it's time that the traitors know fear." His voice echoed strangely behind its new carved shield.

He stepped forward and the densely packed crowd mysteriously parted around him before reforming. He disappeared from their sight. Xinfei fought his way up to stand on the lip of the fountain next to Zhangyi and he saw three other similar ripples moving through the sea of panicked heads, all advancing to the broken field the earthbenders had cleared. The father and son could not advance very far from the gates of their mansion compound without being surrounded so they had contented themselves with smoothly raising up low barricades of piled stone while they continued to pelt the helpless masses with magically flung bricks. The son had a gleam of wicked enjoyment that mingled with fear in his eye as he stomped his foot against the ground, sending a brick jumping up to hover in mid air. With a twist of his body his fist came forward and at the point of impact an unseen force propelled the fired earth forward into another bashed and bloody back. He was still smiling when a masked man smashed through his reenforced stone barricade with only the strength of one naked hand.

In the time it took to blink the masked man burst forward, darting with such speed that his fingers scraped the ground like a quadruped beast. The earthbender barely had the chance to face his attacker before a hand clamped down on his forearm. The snap of bone was audible.

"Aaagh!" The rich bender screamed in lightning-struck pain that paralyzed him in sudden shock. The man in the mask was drawing back his free hand for a tiger-palm strike against the merchant's head. This attacker was faster than was possible. He was stronger than was possible. He was not using bending at all but somehow he was unstoppable. He was a tailor in a mask.

Xinfei only had time to think that there was going to be one less bender in the world when the ground suddenly erupted beneath the masked man's feet. A rough spike of stone shot up between the Mask and his prey, forcing him to release his grasp. The stricken son fell backwards as his father sprang to his side, crouching as his fists rose into the next earth-stance. The chubby tailor slid back, maintaining his balance on the torn and shifting ground as easily as a cat dancing on a wall. There was something more than human about his motions. Now other masked figures emerged from the crowd, slipping forth like shipwrecking crags from the falling tide. They did not speak, but a sound that might have been barking laughter could be heard over the screams in the square. Then Masks attacked and the earth burst forth in retaliation.

The Masks moved fast enough to dodge every magical attack. They could leap like crickets and run along the sides of walls with the ease of lizards as they avoided the erupting earth. And they were strong. Strong enough to block the attacks of benders with their bare hands. But though they hurled one-handed blocks of broken stones that two men would have trouble lifting, the benders could halt the course of these projectiles in mid air with one shift of their palm. Still, the only thing saving these two wounded benders was the fact that the men in the masks seemed incapable of coordinating any attack between them. The Masks fought in a confusing manner, sometimes into each other or pausing as if distracted by an unknown sound.

One of the Masks dodged a flying pile of stones and dropped down to a rest in the bright pool of light at the foot of one of Gaoli's famous gas-lamps that still lit the square. That man in the mask turned and seized hold of that metal pole. There was the horrible sound of screeching ripping metal and then the flaming iron sapling was souring free through the night. Earthbenders could not block metal, but it seemed the Masks could tear and throw it. Xinfei could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Ayika had been right, there was strange magic at work here.

The lamppost smashed through the merchants' earth defenses and laid them both down. The only one who rose back up was the son with his useless hanging arm. The masked tailor panted while behind him the newly exposed hole in the street burst into a jet of fire shot forth where some errant spark had ignited the escaping gas. Then he tilted his head back and trumpeted triumph in a demihuman roar. The another Mask moved forward to the earthbending son and it was quickly over. Both benders were down. A bloodcrazed cheer rang forth from the terrified mob who was desperate for any victory. Common people could not fight benders, but tonight they had. The night abounded with monsters but for once at least some were on their side. The eager calls of "Fire!" echoed down crowds in the streets. It was a command, not a warning. The fear of the earthbenders was now turned to anger and desire for retribution. Tonight the fury of the unfortunate was unleashed.

One of the masked men leaped up and with the grasp of one outstretched hand swung himself on top of the high compound wall. Below him, people were already pouring through the open gate into the now undefended mansion compound. The screams of women echoed out from inside. At this distance and in the wavering light Xinfei could not be sure but he thought that the Mask on the wall was the tailor. But when that man called out Xinfei was thrown into deeper doubt. This voice was different.

"Children of our City!" The masked man roared out, three times as loud as Zhangyi had ever managed in his efforts. "These traitors try to force you down! They try to silence you! But the spirits of our Nation look out for us! They will protect you! And you will bring justice to the traitors and foreigners! Do you hear us, Merchant Gaoli? We are coming for you! All you race traitors will fall!" The crowd cheered in response. For the first time, the common people had lashed out and they had won.

Zhanyi's mouth worked soundlessly as he looked at where the two earthbenders had vanished under the surging mob. The other Initiated wearing their masks had dashed off down other streets, leading detachments of the mob out to other targets in the neighborhood. Targets Zhangyi had never considered. The crowd didn't care. The people who lived behind these walls were rich and the protesters were not. But tonight the poor had powerful unlooked-for allies.

Beside Xinfei, Jiang murmured, "It seems the people have spoken."

Xinfei pressed close to his brother. They should not be here. This was bad. Government earthbenders would be converging, the street was shooting fire into the air and people who put on wooden masks could tear through iron with their bare hands. They'd come here to look after Ayika and now they were in need of rescuing themselves. This was not about Lizhen's murder any more or Ayika making friends with some rich girls. This was the seed of a revolution. That was when a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

There was a woman's voice behind him. "Fortunately for you, this isn't a good time to say I told you so." Xinfei turned and saw a dark face twinkling under braided hair. Despite everything he had seen he smiled as relief thudded in his chest. Ayika had found him. Ayika was here and he couldn't even bring himself to notice her teasing. They were together now and at least that one thing was right. Xinfei grabbed her into a tight hug. Around them the crowd roared up into the night as jets of fire shot up from the street-stones.

...

Mizumi looked down from the third story window of the Gaoli house at the chaos below. She carefully unclenched her white knuckles from the windowsill. Somehow the protest in the square had devolved into even more disorder. Across the square two Kingdom benders were on the attack. But now something had changed. Someone was fighting them. People were screaming and from where she stood looking out above it all she could do nothing. Yes, it was her current position and not her fear that kept her in inaction. She was not terrified of the earthbenders. She was not terrified of the crowd. She was not terrified of anything that thought themselves capable of defeating benders. She was not, and she kept telling herself that.

Beside her, Lili gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth. "What happened out there? Are the Changs alright? I don't see them anymore."

She had to mean the father and son earthbenders. Their formerly methodical assault on the crowd across the square was now a chaotic burst of thumps, screeches and clouds of dust. Fighters from the crowd were now running around near that open compound gate and none of them had not been hit yet. Mizumi had just been watching those two benders brutalize the crowd and now Mizumi referred to them on familiar terms. "You know those people?"

"They're my neighbors."

"They were attacking defenseless nonbenders!"

"I said neighbors not family. Ah! No! Did someone just break one of my dad's street-lamps? Who are those people?!"

There was a plume of fire across the square. The tall metal lamp had been torn free with one bare hand. Earth Kingdom magic could not do that. Mizumi knew it shouldn't be possible but there was only one group which had shown hints of such unknown power; of such strength. A group who had previously fought an earthbender to a draw and blocked boulders with an open palm. The Masks were out there. Out where Ayika might be. Mizumi pushed away the thought that the other woman might have been caught in the earthbenders' devastating first attack. Ignoring Lili's confused jabber, Mizumi anxiously scanned the chaos in the streets beyond the Gaoli compound gate that was holding back the angry mob. Suddenly she saw a familiar form jutting up a full head and shoulders above those around him.

She cried out, "I see Xiaobao!"

Lili clutched at the balcony railing. "Who? What are you talking...Oh freaking, that man over there just jumped three meters without using earth magic! He's not a bender! How is he...?!"

Mizumi was thinking quickly as she tried to block out the sounds of the riotous crowd below. "I think I see some of the university boys too. They were at the meeting of the nationalists and the Initiated. It is sense that they would be involved in leading this. If Ayika got caught out there she would try to find them so she could try to stop this. We have to help her!" But she did not move.

"How are you still worrying about that girl?" Then Lili gasped in panic at another crash of the angry crowd beating against her gate. "The city guards have to be here soon, right? Right?"

A sound of cracking wood drifted up from the courtyard below. The Gaoli household servants jumped back from one of the compound gates where a few splinters had just raised up in one of the bars holding them shut. Those elegant doors were designed more for show than for function, a decision that the Gaolis must be regretting now. The frantic press of the mob was proving likely to do what the unorganized effort of individuals had not come close to. Mizumi and her father were trapped in here with Lili's family and those servants piling furniture against the gates could not help for long. Still, she found herself frozen at this windowsill.

Lili grabbed at Mizumi's hands. The other girl was terrified, speaking each word before they finished coalescing in her mind. "You know the leaders out there? We have to get them to move away from my house! There must be some way to convince them. To trick them. Bribe. Something to draw all this away. Please, Mizumi. I need your help!"

Mizumi nodded and as soon as she did so she suddenly knew she would be able to try. It was strange how two scared people joining together could multiply the bravery in both. Now all she had to do was sneak out of the building, meet up with Ayika in the middle of a violent and terrified mob, convince anti-fire nation protesters to listen to her, and then forcibly move a giant riot featuring men of impossible power in masks. If she succeeded she might as well try firebending again for the first time since she was ten since as much luck as this plan required might just spontaneously generate the talent. But she was Fire Nation. That meant bravery. She glanced out over the balcony one last time and clenched her fist.

"All right then. How do we get out there?"

...