_
Chu's confidence became Li's as the more novice girl absorbed everything being said. She wasn't entirely sure what it was. If the heat was getting to her or it was the presence of the King, or if the sound of syllables bouncing along on the smoothest voice she had ever heard was affecting her, but in that moment, Chu's words were the truest ever spoken to her. It was nothing so enlightening as to be a regurgitation of some well-known quote and definitely not a dismissal of her fears. It was simply the truth: Chu had experience and she knew she was good, so there was nothing to fear. They'd practiced. They'd prepared and planned. They'd spent all year beating back the competition to get to where they were now. They were ready. What they did next was only natural. A part of them. A habit.

Whatever was making her nervous before was quickly forgotten and replaced with a determination to prove herself worthy of standing next to Chu. "You're right."

·····································

When the opening ceremony had finished, the field was cleared and both teams moved to take their place for the toss-up. Two players would meet in the center and the ball would be jettisoned a short distance into the air above them from the ground. It was then that the game would begin as both players attempted to take first control of the ball. The two players in question were of course Chu and the Wolfbat's own Kanna. A renowned player in her own right who'd helped to keep her team's crown in the Stickball world.

Kanna strode up to the middle of the field, her stick tucked under her arm and a determined smile on her lips. Her head of shoulder length white hair was tied up by a band that matched the color of her jersey: slate gray and a streak of orange that complimented each other. Piercing gray eyes regarded Chu as if challenging her, weighing her worth well before the game had even begun.

She stopped only a few feet away from her and dropped the end of her stick into the dirt so she could rest her hand on the edge of the flat end. She shook her head. “It’s not going to happen, Chu. Face it. You can’t beat us. You can’t beat me and your team sure as hell won’t do it.” She raised a brow and flashed a smirk. “But I tell you what, if you quit and join us, I’ll uh… I’ll let you lead the reserve team.” Kanna pursed her lips at Chu and nodded at her. “That’s a pretty good deal, yeah?”

Chu Hua laughed, shaking her head as she set up her stick and got into position. “Sorry, babe. I haven’t played in the minor leagues since I was a kid- not about to start now,” she said, mocking. She took a moment to get her legs properly on the ground, making a small grunt as she adjusted her arms. Her and Kanna had a history, you could say. When they were both up and coming players they had had a very short-lived fling. Short-lived because, as Chu Hua would say, Kanna was a crazy bitch. She was indeed smoking hot, but… absolutely insane. Since then, they had developed a red-hot rivalry on the field and an even tenser relationship off-field. Kanna had singlehandedly been the reason she had rejected a lucrative transfer to the Wolfbats a few years ago, and Chu Hua did not regret it one bit. She enjoyed being the underdog.

“I bet you think about me every night, huh? You better get ready to think about me every time you look at your empty trophy shelf, too.”

"HA! The only thing I think about..." Kanna began, pulling her stick out of the dirt and grabbing it in both her hands. She settled into a position mirroring Chu's and leveled her face out with hers. A fire had been lit in her eyes. "...Is how much of a disappointment you are in the field... and the sack." The corners of her lips began to turn.

Chu Hua clicked her tongue. “I think your mom might disagree, Kanna. She’s a real big fan of my moves. And she's much better than you.”

There was a very obvious pause as Kanna took a moment to process what she had just heard. When before she was nearly leaned against Chu’s nose, now her posture was frozen and whatever fire in her eyes had been burning brightly was quickly turned to ice. Her lips had stopped curling and it seemed as though she’d also stopped breathing.

Without warning, she dropped one end of her stick and threw a right hook at the girl aiming for her temple. It was fast, faster than most could follow, but Chu was a seasoned player of the game of Stickball. Tracking fast moving objects was the name of the game. She ducked at the last possible second, letting Kanna’s fist connect with her helmet instead of her brain. The dull sound of bone slamming against hard plastic was accompanied by a dumb-founded look from Chu. The game hadn’t even started yet! In a moment’s breath, she tackled the other woman to the ground, turning them into a flurry of flailing limbs. “Ref! REF!” she began to shout. The entire stadium seemed to gasp all at once, and then transform into a wild crowd screaming “FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!”.

Meanwhile, Kanna was trying to find her lungs. The speed of the reaction and the force of impact was enough to expel all the air from her chest and the weight of Chu on top of her was keeping that air out. She couldn’t breathe, and began to flail about wildly in a vain attempt to get Chu off who was very successfully pinning her in place.

By now, players from both sides of the field began to converge on the two, amidst cheers from the now excitable crowd. Two referees had also dove into the scuffle and began prying them both apart, to which Chu Hua quickly scrambled away and raised her hands in a pacifying gesture.

Suddenly finding herself able to breathe again, Kanna immediately opened her mouth. “Get the fuck off me!”

“I’m off, I’m off, you fucking psychopath!” Chu screamed back. She breathed hard for a moment, retreating into the safety of her team. “Dude! Ref! Penalty her, this crazy bitch just hit me out of nowhere before the game even fucking started! That’s insane. I can’t play with someone that’s gonna clock me out of nowhere.” She could feel her face getting hot as she gestured to Kanna who was being hoisted from the ground.

As soon as she found her feet, she attempted to charge at Chu again, but was stopped by a firm arm across her torso. “You keep my mother out your fucking mouth!” she screamed again, flailing wildly in the other’s direction as her eyes flared with an anger that was typically unlike her despite her character.

“Kanna!” The ref pushed her back and kept her in place while the adrenaline pumping through her veins burned off. Meanwhile, Li had by now caught up with Chu and joined the others in forming a protective circle around the girl. They kept some of the other more aggressive players on the opposite team at bay and their own in the back, staying any further altercations.

“Are you alright?!” Li asked, stealing occasional glances over at a red faced Kanna.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Chu Hua murmured, rubbing her head. “She’s just nuts. I told her that her mom was good in bed and she went off her rocker.” It was strange that she had reacted like that- it wasn’t like Kanna. In fact, it wasn’t like any sane person. Jokes about moms were common. Chu Hua loved her mom, but she wouldn’t beat someone up if they impersonally talked shit about her on the field. Was she okay? She sighed, and took a glance at the royal box, where the king and his court looked impatient, whispering. “I just wanna start the game already.”

_
"Look, I just thought maybe you wanted to talk to him cause you're going through some tough shit too."

"Why would I want to do that?! I nearly killed him!" He whispered. "How the fuck would talking to him help me? He can't even talk!"

"Well I DON'T KNOW... forgiveness? I'm not a brain doctor. I don't know how this shit works! I just know that he's here and when I mentioned you were also here, he started acting all weird, okay?"

"I don't even know what that's supposed to mean to me, or why you would even mention I was here but honestly, fuck him, alright? I don't have time to deal with him and our-."

"There you are! I was looking for the two of you, I have news." The interrupted boy turned from the smaller girl toward the familiar voice of Vasra. She smiled at them both, the color of a small victory visible in her weary eyes. "Your father has made a marked improvement..." she said, "...but he isn't out of the woods yet." The boy nodded in understanding, the visitor from his past already forgotten. His father was one of the construction workers who had been seriously injured while on a job. The wounds he'd sustained would not have been a simple fix. There had been large lacerations to his entire right arm and immediate treatment would have been necessary to stave infection and save the limb. However, his family was poor and a trip to the hospital was out of the question. A medical bill for a visit alone would have been immense. Instead, he and his partner were transported to the kitchen where word of a 'miracle doctor' had spread. Although hardly a replacement for Upper Ring care, the work she'd done on him was enough to ensure proper healing and that more importantly, he would not lose his arm. Full range of motion, however, was out of the question, so the victory was bittersweet.

"Is there a problem? What is all the commotion?" Vasra asked after having noticed that the daughter of her patient was not as invested in the news about her father as her brother was. She was more focused on the commotion unfolding at the other side of the kitchen. The boy turned as well, following Vasra's gaze and seeing again a person from his memory. The last few years hadn't been kind to either of them, but if there was one thing he could acknowledge, it was the fact that both of them had changed. The Weiyuan he knew was gone, replaced by the adult the teen had grown into. It was enough of a difference that he almost didn't recognize him. Then there was the woman next to him who he could also place. A pusher of various illicit items that they were quite good at moving, from what he'd been told. The two of them were buried in their own conversation that he couldn't quite hear. But while he didn't know what they were saying, he could hazard a guess. A boy from his past who was now a man had walked back into his life. There had to be a reason, especially since he was not alone. Besides the other kids who had been with him at the time of the incident, and his younger sister, Weiyuan was the only person who knew about the sins of his past and more than that, he was sure Weiyuan was acutely aware of his presence. He didn't know how the mute would react, but a part of him didn't want to wait to find out.

_
"Uh..." Sumire interrupted the group with an aimless wave of her hand and a voice dripping of concern. "T-there's something wrong..." With a few quick taps on her pad and another swipe toward the glass, the information on Jin was dismissed and replaced by a readout of the pipeline. A number of small squares were sitting at various points along its length, marking the current locations of all active Pipe Runners. Around these squares were smaller boxes populated with general information including a picture with a name, a date of birth, the date of a Pipe Runners registration and their registration number. There was also information relating to a Pipe Runner's status, such as duration of current time beyond the walls, number of recent patches made to the pipe and a log of any serious issues they'd recently come across, all of which was infinitely more important to Sumire's job.

Sumire, however, was not paying these much mind and was instead focusing on a series of caution symbols appearing in quick succession. They started from the plant and were traveling East toward the storage facility. She looked down at her pad again.

"Multiple ruptures along the pipe from a... buildup of pressure that's moving straight toward us..." She looked up, past the glass of the panorama to the distance where the end of the pipe disappeared over the horizon. Interrupting the blue of the sky were a number of pink-hued jets where spirit energy was being ejected into the surrounding air. Newer ruptures continued to appear as the buildup rapidly approached. "...Moving straight toward us very... very fast." If Sumire was any good at math, and she liked to think that she was, she figured it'd be under them within the minute. "Oh holy shit." She turned to the rest of the group just as the alarms began blaring loudly. Behind her, pink spouts burst from the pipe like fingers, clawing their way toward the storage facility.

Ignoring the others, Sumire dropped her pad and immediately bolted for Jin, throwing her arms around his body as she tried to tackle him to the ground.

_
"Is there a problem? What is all the commotion? This isn't the place for-"

The girl turned to start explaining the situation but they were both interrupted. A sound like the crack of thunder broke the ambience of the room and in the span of half a second, their entire world was flipped on its side. An explosion rocked the soup kitchen, blowing out the windows, killing the lights and knocking every loose item to the ground. Tables, chairs and people were flung from one side of the room to the other, landing in twisted heaps amidst a hail of debris. The force of the unseen blast was strong enough to rip kitchen appliances off the wall, moving stoves and toppling one of the large fridges. When the shaking and noise had finally stopped and the dust settled, the once vibrant room full of life and conversation became little more than a dark box filled with a cacophony of panic.

_
A beam of pink light erupted in the far distance, piercing distant clouds and pushing into the sky. It persisted for a handful of seconds before it disappeared, leaving little trace behind save for the circle shaped hole it punched.

The commotion in the field paused long enough for everyone to notice, each player and all those in the stands turning to look in that direction. Once it was gone, murmuring from the crowd drifted over the field and a few of the players began to whisper to each other.

"What the... what in the hell wa-" The soft sound of a muted, distant explosion cut Li off. "What is going on?"

_
The pitch black was pushed back as emergency generators kicked in, dousing the tossed room in a haze of red light and revealing a world turned upside down. People lay in motionless piles buried under tables and chairs. Parts of the wall and ceiling had collapsed, exposing a steel skeleton and wire vines. Much of the underlying framework had been damaged in the blast, severing important lifelines to the kitchen such as a gas pipe. To make matters worse, a fire had ignited on a small pool of grease that had collected in the corner. The flames were slowly started to spread, as was the smell of gas.

Those who could still stand began to pick themselves up off the floor and while most hurried out the doors, some remained to help others. They quickly got to work clearing debris and digging up anyone shouting for help who were buried. Those more seriously injured, having been impaled or blunted by the objects that had been tossed around the room, were carried out.

The boy was also standing by now, but was strangely motionless and despite his sister coming up and trying to get his attention, was paying her little heed. Instead, he was staring intently at Weiyuan.

"Hey! What the fuck are you doing?!" She yelled again. "We have to geaAAUGH!" He shoved her hard to the side where she landed against an upturned chair next to Vasra. Ignoring her pained grunt, he began marching mindlessly toward the thing from his past. Unbeknownst to him, he'd been gouged from a pipe that was sticking through his torso but despite the blood pooling at his feet, was ignoring it. When he was finally close enough, he attempted to reach for Weiyuan and grab his throat with a single hand.

_
Sumire opened her eyes to notice that she was still standing. In fact, despite the effort she put into saving Jin, she really only managed to give the man a more violent hug. The force behind her tackle did little more than push him back a half a step.

Thankfully, despite the perceived nature of the danger the build up of pressure in the pipe had been, the resulting explosion only managed to do minimal damage to the structure. The command center was after-all built into the wall itself. They stood over 300 feet above the ground, so besides the glass of the panorama shattering and some objects being tossed around, little else happened.

Heat found Sumire's cheeks as she quickly pulled away from Jin and began trying to dust herself off of him. Her pats against his chest was doing little to clear the dust embedded in his clothing but was doing plenty to fuel her embarrassment. "Uh. Wow! Glad you're uh... str-SAFE!" She chuckled nervously. "That could have been extra bo-BAD." As she backed further away and began to dust herself off too, the others in the room gathered themselves as well, checking to make sure they hadn't dropped anything during the commotion. They all seemed unharmed, save for Vyska, who began to scream as her gloves burst into flames and the heat began to eat away at the skin of her hands.

At the same time, two other operators were now standing and staring intently at two individuals. One moved toward Sumire, who was unknowingly backing into him. The other began moving toward Theyra. The first grabbed Sumire around her neck from behind and began to squeeze, forcing a surprised but soundless cough from her now gaping mouth as her eyes began to widen. She began clawing at the hands holding her. The second moved to do the same, reaching for Theyra in an attempt to grab his throat while the others were distracted by Vyska's screaming.

Location · Date & Time · [&vietmyke]Synergy Storage Facility

<sub>_
Jin watched the small talk between his boss and the Xuoshi engineer with a mild interest. He was more curious as to what they were doing than anything else. It was generally talk about making their job on the line a little easier- which was surprising to Jin to say the least. The thought of higher ups actually giving a shit about the general conditions of the Pipe Runners was the last thing Jin expected them to actually be doing. He was more expecting some sort of backroom or underhanded deal- occurring under the guise of a 'ride along'. Though that being said, he could still be wrong. Maybe it was all an elaborate ruse after all.

Whatever was actually going on, Jin would never find out- as Sumire was quick to gather everyone's attention. It took a second for Jin to fully be aware of what he was looking at, he wasn't used to looking at data displays from this level. The wave of caution symbols appearing on the screen quickly followed blaring sirens and a wave of pink explosions along the pipeline stretching out in front of them. Stepping closer towards the window, Jin watched the blossoming flowers of energy with morbid interest before his mind truly registered what was happening. His eyes darted for Sumire, mouth opening to tell her to stand back, but he'd barely gotten a word out before she flung herself at him.

The impact of Sumire's smaller frame against his did little more than rock him a step or so back. Jin blinked- physical contact wasn't a regular occurrence in the life of a Pipe Runner, a mixture of surprise and amusement passing through him as he lightly patted his junior's head.

"Safer than a seatbelt." Jin chuckled as he watched Sumire step back, noting the flush to her cheeks as she quickly began dusting herself off. The mood quickly shifted however, as a strange feeling, a sort of pressure on his brow made itself present, though Jin was quickly distracted by Vyska's screaming. Jin quickly turned to his boss, noticing the burning hands. Turning back to Sumire in time to see the Operator behind her grab her, Jin's eyes widened in surprise.

"Woah! Hey what the fuck?! 'Mire!" Jin shouted out, quickly closing the distance between himself and his junior. "Get the fuck off her." Jin continued as he grabbed the operator's wrist with one hand and wrenched it off of Sumire, his other arm quickly wrapping around her and pulling her behind him. The operator's eyes looked glazed over, vacant, but seemed to still have awareness, as the arms clawed, flailed and grabbed at the two of them. His mouth was agape, but he seemed not to hear or respond to any of Jin's prompts.

As Jin struggled to keep the man away from him and Sumire, he could've sword he saw what looked like a shadow or a cloud of smoke behind the crazed operator. Normally, he'd be too busy to clock that, but the shape was vaguely that of a human's, and tethers seemed to connect it to the madman in front of them. Whatever the true nature of shadow was, Jin couldn't tell- he was far too distracted as the operator swiped at him again, his time managing to scrape across Jin's face with an outstretched hand.

"Sonova bitch!" Jin growled as he covered his face. Jin felt the metallic taste of blood on his lips as the blow from the operator broke the skin. "Fuck off!" Jin bellowed. Squaring his feet, Jin placed his hand on the psycho operator's chest and shoved the man away as hard as he could.

All the tension and pressure on Jin's brow suddenly lifted as a gust of wind followed his shove. Jin had air bended before, so he knew what it felt like, but he'd never felt it like this before. Usually, he had enough self control to not accidentally bend- his life was on the line after all, but now it felt unruly, wild and free. The mad operator took a half step towards Jin, struggling against the massive current of air pushing at him before he lost his footing and was sent flying head over heels across the room like a ragdoll. The massive windows of the control center shattered as the body was thrown against it and shoved through, glass shards and chunks flying outward along with the wind.

The warm desert air met Jin's face as he and Sumire stared out the broken window. "You okay?" he asked. Sumire nodded breathlessly. The two shared a look for a moment before looking back out the window, down at Jin's hands, then back at each other.

"Fuck." The young operator said quietly. Jin nodded in agreement.

"Fuck."</sub>

Lower Ring Soup Kitchen · [&Exit][&Abstract Proxy]Lower Ring Soup Kitchen · @Exit@Abstract Proxy

_
Weiyuan opened his eyes, though his vision was initially blurry. His ears rang and his whole body seemed to buzz. He slowly rolled his head to the side, trying to see what was going on. When his gaze fell upon Chae-Won, he froze. She too was on the floor, but she wasn’t moving. Panic finally began to overtake him until he finally saw the faint movement of her breathing.

He’d have felt more relieved, but the muffled sound of a commotion reached his abused ears. He saw the one person in the room he desperately didn’t want anywhere near him coming straight for him. So, rather than relief, his dread and panic were redoubled. On the bright side, it did wonders for getting his limbs moving again.

He crawled and scrambled away and to his feet, just in time to avoid their grasp and make it out the door. The few people he could see nearby were already fleeing, wanting to be anywhere else after the explosion. Certainly no one would be seeking to help him. He doubted they would have even had the world not just blown up around them.

Instead, he ran a few feet down the dingy street, found a dumpster, and climbed over a few damp cardboard boxes to huddle behind it, pulling his knees up to his chest and throwing his arms over his head, clamping his eyes shut, trying to be as quiet as possible. In that moment he heard a strange rumbling noise and felt the ground beneath him tremble.

He feared it was another explosion, but it was both too close and too quiet. He cracked an eye open only to see slabs of stone had risen out of the ground around him, up to his waist, almost forming a cone around him. For a moment he was confused, but then it hit him. Earthbending? Had he done that in his panic?

No, no, no, he couldn’t do that! More than anything else, something like that would get him killed! He had to go somewhere else! If he was found like this, even Chae-Won might never speak to him again… or worse.

He frantically clawed his way out of the little, earthen fort he’d inadvertently created, but in his haste stumbled and tripped, sending himself sprawling back into the street for all to see…

Badgermole Stadium · [&Exit]Badgermole Stadium · @Exit

<sub>_
The game stopped in the middle of an intense play. Chu Hua slowed to a halt in the opposing team’s zone, panting as she came to such a sudden stop, her stick clutched in her right arm. She stared into the sky with the others. “The fuck…” A blast of pink light shot into the sky, followed by the sounds of an explosion. Her eyes widened, glancing back and forth. “No idea,” she answered Li, furrowing her brows. “Maybe firewo-”

Chu Hua gasped so sharply she felt her ribs might break. No. Nononono. Not here, not here, not here, please-

Li’s eyes snapped over to Chu. The star player looked like she was exerting herself, which of course they all were, but none more so than Chu. They’d barely begun and she was already kicking ass. However, the gasp was telling.

“You alright?”

A sensation that Chu Hua could only describe as fire filled her body. She never, ever used firebending- even the very thought filled her with dread and terror- but this was… it was all-consuming. She felt the fragility of her surroundings, the heat building in her body begging to release, to destroy, and said fuck no. What was happening to her? It was still uncontrollable. Her head swimmed as she tried to rein herself in, to avoid ruining her life. An unbearable heat built in her skin, a deadly fever, and she moaned, grappling onto the nearest person as she tried her best to keep from toppling over onto the ground. Sweat dripped from her temples as a look of abject terror filled her face.

“I don’t… I don’t feel well,” she whispered.

“Holy..!” Li struggled with the girl for only a moment as she readjusted herself to better balance the both of them. What surprised her more than anything, however, was the heat coming off of her. It was so intense she could feel it bleeding through the girl's protective gear. “You’re burning up!” She exclaimed. Taking Chu's arm, she threw it over her shoulder to take her weight, but when she grabbed her forearm, Chu's skin immediately scalded her.

“Aah!”

Li screamed, recoiling from the pain and nearly sending them both toppling to the ground, but she was quick to react. She kicked out and caught them both before either of them had leaned too far, righting herself and Chu. Looking back at her in surprise, she could see now the beads of sweat that had formed on her brow and how quickly they were beginning to fall. There was a very obvious pained look on Chu's face and it was clear something was very wrong with her. Ignoring the burning coming on her hand and being mindful of Chu's exposed skin, she tried again to support the girl's weight and found a position that was successful albeit somewhat awkward. One hand was on her shoulder and over her shirt, which was still uncomfortably hot. The second was pressed into Chu's gut in an attempt to support her midsection. It was even hotter here.

"What is happening to you?!" She asked, turning Chu around and beginning to guide her to the bench near the nurse's station. By now a second player had noticed the two and moved to help. "Don't touch her skin!" Li warned. "She's crazy hot right now and I don't know what's going on. Just help me get her to the nurse's station."

"Okay!"

In the stands, a commotion had begun around a singular individual who, after a moment of looking rather uncomfortable, was suddenly launched fifty feet into the air. They flailed about wildly for a brief moment before they fell back to the ground, landing particularly hard against a guardrail and snapping their neck. Immediately, screams erupted from the crowd and people began scrambling from their seats, jumping over fencing and other people to get as far away from the freak accident as they could. Both Li and the other player stopped in shock.

Chu Hua immediately tried to remove her hand from Li’s bare skin. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry-” but she was practically scooped up by Li and another Badgermole, and had no choice but to comply with their ministrations. She continued to make small noises of pain and, frankly, fear. It couldn’t end like this. She had worked so hard to this end. She couldn’t allow herself to be revealed now, in a stadium with thousands watching her and even more millions watching on the TV. The RSF would execute her in a moment, no matter if she was famous or not. It would all be over.

Her concentration subsided for a moment as the screaming began and a body hit the field. She wasn’t stupid- that was a bender. Something awful was happening. She let out a scream of pain as fire flared in her once more, this time nearly uncontrollable. At the last moment, though, she managed to rein it in, although not without her body temperature spiking and her muscles spasming. Chu Hua gasped, panting. She distinctly felt the soles of her shoes burning and smelled the burning rubber.

At this point, the heat pouring from Chu was too much for either girl to bear. The pain of their proximity was enough to pull them out of their momentary shock and they both backed away, stumbling to the ground on either side of her and leaving Chu to support herself in her suffering. Li scrambled backwards to cooler air as blades of grass beneath Chu began to wither and the air around her began to tremble.

“Chu?”

Around them, players were running off the field now as yet another man on the opposite end of the stadium had erupted in flames.

By now, she was breathing hard, panting on hands and knees on the field. What was happening to her? What was happening to everyone? Chu Hua only faintly registered others experiencing what she was, but she saw enough to know that something was wrong. She had never felt like this before, and… she couldn’t control it. She screamed in agony as her insides were boiling. Just then, as she clutched her head in her hands, Chu Hua burst into flames, lighting much of the grass field on fire with her.

The feeling of relief was almost instantaneous. But just as that came, despair did too. As soon as she could stand, Chu Hua stood, dumbfounded, staring at the spectator box where her family sat. A feminine figure in a yellow dress came running down the stairs, followed by those she knew to be her parents and sisters. Her entire life had just fallen apart. She didn’t know what to do but run. She started bolting towards the emergency exit, bringing flames with her.

Li swung hard, slamming the flat end of her stick into Chu’s shoulder and sending the girl toppling sideways to the ground.

“Y- You’re fucking ONE OF THEM?!” She screamed, stepping up to the downed girl. The look in her eyes was changing wildly, from a rage filled hate to one of confusion and hesitation. Of sadness but also one of disgust. Her lip quivered slightly as she raised her paddle into the air above her head and stared down at the women. It took a moment, but the same look of determination she’d worn for Chu at the start of the game found her again as a decision was made.

A loud crack rang out and Li’s head was suddenly tilted violently forward. As her eyes rolled back, she dropped the paddle harmlessly behind her and fell face first to the ground. Standing behind her was Kanna, who immediately reached for Chu and pulled her up by the hand. Wrapped protectively around her own was her bandanna which had previously been holding up her hair.

“Fucking GO!” She said, shoving her toward the exit and following after her.

By now the rest of the stadium had descended into complete chaos as Chu was not the only person suddenly starting to bend. Fearing for their lives, many began making for the exits while others attempted to subdue the danger themselves. RSF security had already converged on a number of benders closest to them, but a few had entered the field and were now moving toward Chu. Their weapons were raised and they were shouting at her to stop and although they were moving fast, it was obvious they were not going to intercept the athlete before she made it off the field.

Chu Hua took Kanna’s hand, a dazed look on her face. Everything had happened so fast. Li… She stared at the eighteen-year-old girl on the ground for a heartbeat, still registering the pain in her shoulder from where she had hit her so hard. There wasn’t a minute to contemplate the girl who had looked up to her so much, though, because Kanna was shoving her and screaming at her to run. Kanna, who hated her. There would be time to think about that later- for now, she had to run!

Although they were being followed by men with many guns, Chu Hua and Kanna were still athletes in the prime of their careers- namely, they could run fast. Chu dashed after Kanna, through her own quickly spreading flames and past panicked crowds. The adrenaline from the game and from her own bending was still present in Chu Hua’s system, as she barely felt the awful burns of her own making. The fire trailed past her, as she was still unable to control her own bending, consuming the stadium in a fiery blaze.

As they were running, Kanna spotted an extra ball lying on the side of the field. Without breaking her stride, she shoved the flat end of her paddle underneath and knocked the ball into the air ahead of her. She then carried her forward momentum into a horizontal swing, smashing the paddle into the ball and sending it careening toward the nearest officer. It collided with the center of his face, breaking his nose and causing him to trip over himself and crash into the ground.

It was a small victory that would buy them a sliver of time to lose security in the halls. All they had to do now was get away from the fire that Chu was dragging behind her and they could easily blend into the crowd. As soon as they stepped under the concrete of the stadium and were in the halls, Kanna eyed and yanked one of the wall mounted fire alarms. The sound of ringing bells filled the air and water burst from pipes in the ceilings, sprinkling down around them and putting out the fire trail Chu had been leaving behind. It also had the added benefit of forcing people to shield their eyes and look more down at the ground. Those who didn't already know would never be the wiser and the ones that did were too busy running away. Of course there was the mist coming off of Chu’s heated body from the quickly evaporating water, but this was the better of their two options. Now, with the noise and the chaos and the confusion an effective camouflage, Kanna took the opportunity to lead Chu to relative safety. They turned down a few corridors until Kanna eventually found a door that would be familiar to them both. A little known storage room, partially forgotten, that had often been used in the past by the two for private trysts. Kanna opened the door and pulled Chu inside, closing it behind them both.

“FUCK!”

Chu Hua stood for a moment, shell-shocked. Then she collapsed against the wall as everything hit her all at once. She shook, bringing her knees to her chest. She wasn’t crying- the tears evaporated so fast she couldn’t. Everything was gone. Everything she had worked for, everything she had dreamed of having, every relationship she had ever built- burnt to ashes. She had tried so hard for so long to keep this secret and… had failed. She would not be getting married in two weeks, or winning a championship, or being inducted into the Hall of Fame. It was all over. Chu Hua clutched her hand around a dusty piece of paper, startling as it lit on fire. It brought her back a bit.

Kanna. Chu Hua looked at her with hooded lids. Her ex-girlfriend, her fiercest rival, the girl who had punched her in the face earlier. “Why… why did you save me?” Her voice was hollow. “You hate me. You should have let me die- my life is over.”

Kanna stepped away from the door she was leaning against. She had been trying to listen to footsteps on the other side to gauge what was happening and as far as she could tell, for now, they were safe. However, there was no telling how in control Chu could remain in the enclosed space and to make matters worse, water was beginning to seep in from the outside. As she turned around, it splashed under her cleats.

"Yeah. You’re right. I fucking hate you. Your face irritates me and what you said about my mo-...” She paused, collecting herself in the moment so as to not go off on an unnecessary tangent. “Look… I don’t hate what you are." A frustrated sigh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead, her mind finally realizing just how deep a hole she'd dug herself. It all happened so quickly and she'd barely had time to register the split second decision she'd made. Now, it was too late to go back and she had to commit. She opened her eyes and knelt in front of the defeated girl, being sure to give her enough space to breathe. "You're not the only bender I know..." She glanced at the corner of her eye as an odd expression passed over face. "... And your life isn't over."

“Easy for you to say. Do you know how hard I’ve worked for all this, Kanna? It’s all gone.” Chu Hua planted her fingers in the trickling water, allowing herself to create a flame which immediately fizzled out. “I was supposed to get married in two weeks. I was gonna win fucking Nationals today. But now… well, unless we miraculously get out of here and I live some pathetic, lonely life in the Lower Ring or the Outskirts, I’m only destined to die by firing squad- or worse. Just because you’re some fucking secret rebel sympathizer or something doesn’t fix that.”

“No. It doesn't help because I'm not a 'rebel sympathizer'. I just also happened to have had a firebending mother that they took from me because she refused to listen. I don't expect you to understand what it's like for people on the other side because you haven't lost that yet. You don't even have them. Not really. You haven't made your own family to abandon. You haven't made promises that you break. You haven't told someone that you know what the fuck you're doing when you really fucking don't. I bet you think you're fucking clever too, don't you? Just like she did. That if it wasn't for whatever the fuck happened today, you'd live the rest of your life just fucking fine, except you're not! One fucking mistake and that's it! She's gone! Two fucking weeks ago. So fuck you! You’re still here and you have a chance.

You love An don't you? Don't put her through what my mother put me through. I know a place you can go away from all of this. I know who to talk to and how much they want and that they do most of the leg work. All you have to do is want to do it. You could take An along too. It might cost some but your family will be fine. I’m your proof of that.”

Chu Hua was quiet for a moment. It made sense why Kanna had reacted so awfully earlier; she would have too. “I’m sorry about your mom. But I did everything right. I kept my mouth shut, I acted normal, and… still.” She gestured to the stadium and the fire alarm’s roaring.

“Huh? What are you talking about? Where the fuck would I go?! You can’t escape the RSF without going into the Wilds, and there’s nothing out there.”

"There is. I mean..." She bit her lip. "...I've been told. Apparently it's another thing they like to sweep under the rug. Not all benders are crazy murder psychopaths and... People live outside the walls. I don't know how but it's a big world out there. It's not that hard to believe. And people are always showing up from outside the walls so I've heard. Maybe they all look like they've been through hell but anything's gotta be better than dying.

Apparently there's a town that you can get to and supposedly, they don't care if you're a bender. Supposedly. I admit it’s not one hundred percent, but I do know one hundred percent your life here is over… but it’s not done. You can get out of here."

Chu Hua looked momentarily in disbelief. That was impossible; Ba Sing Se was the only city left in the world! Everything else was irradiated to shit. “That sounds like total bullshit, but… well. You’re right.” It seemed to cause her physical pain to admit this. “I don’t have any more options.” A tear came unbidden to her eye, and she wiped it away. Damnit. She didn’t like crying in front of Kanna, or anyone for that matter.

“You’ll probably enjoy having me gone, huh? You’ll win all your matches without me there to fuck your plays.”

”Don’t kid yourself, sweetheart.” Kanna said, rising to her feet. She was standing now in water a few inches deep. ”You were never going to get to win nationals…. Not that it matters.” She half laughed as she stared at the door. ”I won’t be winning any more trophies anytime soon either. I’m as good as a bender for helping you out, but at least this way… maybe someone gets to live this time.”

Chu Hua stood too, the water still steaming at her feet. She frowned- they should probably leave, but Kanna’s comment was more concerning. “So you’re just gonna stay here and die?”

”No. The plan is to get you to An so you two can get somewhere safe.” Kanna answered, half ignoring the real question. She knew what she was asking but if she were being honest with herself, she wasn’t entirely sure what she was going to do.</sub>

Outside Soup Kitchen · Late Afternoon · In Collaboration with [&.Killamrix88]Outside Soup Kitchen · Late Afternoon · In Collaboration with @Killamrix88

_
“N-Nelu! I’ve got one over here!” A nearby voice called out.

A male in an RSF uniform approached slowly with a gun drawn and his hand over a radio on his shoulder. He seemed rather nervous, but it was hard to tell if it was because of the deteriorating situation unfolding around him, or if it was because he’d seen the younger man bend. Despite the screams of help coming from the blasted doors of the kitchen behind him, or the scrambling of those more seriously injured and in obvious need of help, all else was being ignored save for Weiyuan.

“D-don’t move!”

Weiyuan turned his head to look at the officer and felt his heart drop into his stomach. This was about the worst possible outcome. Honestly, he might have preferred his zombie-bully to this… though technically that hadn’t yet been ruled out, police or no.

Standing up didn’t seem like a good idea so instead he just stay where he was, laying on his back, and quickly put his hands up in the air in surrender. Thinking about it, maybe if he just stayed put, said bully would arrive and distract the officer. Yeah, that could get him out of this!

That was great to imagine and all, but he made one terrible miscalculation. He put his hands in the air a little too enthusiastically, causing two, short pillars of earth to shoot up around him in another unintentional display of bending. His eyes went wide in horror, his pupils shrinking to panicked pin-points as two shots rang out. One hit the pillar of earth dead center, removing a sizable chunk and kicking up dust. The second ricocheted off the pavement near Weiyuan’s head and punctured the tire of a nearby car causing it to rock violently as the tire flattened out.

The officer dove behind another vehicle with windows blasted. ”Fuckin’... Shots fired!” He yelled into his shoulder. ”Nelu! That’s an affirm on another bender! Earth! He’s resisting!”

”Circling back to you now.” A voice answered back. ”Vanguard’s on board. I’ll deploy before landing.”

”ETA!”

”Two minutes.”

”What do I do?!”

”Nothing stupid.”

The officer peeked over the hood of the car he was hiding behind at Weiyuan. ”D-don’t you fucking move!”

All he had to do was not move. If he made no sudden movements, surely he wouldn’t accidentally bend again. It was simple. Or it would have been if he wasn’t being shot at! Of course he flinched. Of course that was enough to set off his bending again.

And of course he couldn’t even attempt to explain himself because he was mute!

It really was the perfect storm of unfortunate events.

His arms retracted close to his body, hands balling into fists just trying to make himself smaller and keep his extremities away from the gunfire, but in the process the pillars of earth, what was left after the gunshots took a chunk out of one, effectively imploded. It was a violent display of cracking stone, and yet didn’t threaten the officer at all. The small pebbles that went flying didn’t even go far enough to touch the car the man hid behind.

If anything, the only one suffering was Weiyuan as the crushed stone showered him in dirt and dust, getting in his eyes and mouth.

He doubted the man would see it that way.

Now what? He’d just did the last thing he should have in that moment. Now what? Nowwhatnowwhatnowwhat? Nothing came to him. Nothing at all. His mind just went… blank.

Well if not moving just wasn’t working, then it was time to make a move that would get him out of this alive. It wasn’t a fun mess to wake up to, but then they never were. He knew he effectively existed only to deal with the specifically unfun bits.

Weiyuan suddenly just rolled over, swinging his arm to call the earth to come with him, flipping up a decently sized slab of earth to cover him.

”I said doN’T MO-...!” The officer rose from behind his own cover and squeezed off a few more rounds at the Bender, putting bullets into the dirt slab and the ground around him. The slab itself wasn’t tall enough to cover him if he stood up, so Weiyuan started crawling, looking for his exit. There… wasn’t really one, but there was that dumpster. He then pulled up another, much smaller, chunk of earth beneath his foot, like a runner’s starting block. He pushed off, going into a sprint and focusing one last time.

This one would be trickier, as the earth he needed was a little farther away.

All the way down here, the foundations of the buildings were still brick and concrete, unlike the ugly sheet metal and recycled plywood of the upper floors. In other words: earth. He pulled at the foundation of the nearby building with everything he had, causing a few chunks of stone to slam into the other side of the dumpster, shoving it into the middle of the street so he could drop into a slide to throw himself behind it, leaving it between him and the officer’s gun.

He pressed his back against it, panting and trying to just take even the smallest moment to get his bearings. Normally things weren’t THIS desperate when he woke up. Normally he had more than a split-second to figure out what was happening. Sure, as his other self grew more stressed their thoughts would start to bleed together a little, so he was never completely lost, but this was just… too much.

Why was he being shot at?! Why was his bending so unstable, yet powerful!? Where the hell was Chae-Won when he needed her?! And… and… why was there so much dirt in his mouth!?!?

Wait, no, that one was kinda coming back to him.

Not hitting what he wanted to, the officer quickly ditched the car and began swinging around in an attempt to outflank his quarry, keeping some distance from Weiyuan so as to preserve his perceived bubble of safety. However, before he could get around to find another angle, a metal pipe knocked the gun out of his hand and a second later, smashed into the side of his face. He hit the ground, crumpling to a defeated heap as his assailant began beating on him with the improvised weapon.

Weiyuan heard himself being rescued, though maybe he shouldn’t jump to conclusions too quickly, before he saw it. The sound of the metal pipe striking the gun reached him, and then the sound of the pipe hitting the officer followed. Repeatedly.

He stuck his head around the corner of the dumpster and watched the individual go to town on the poor man. He found it strange that he felt any pity for him, but… there it was.

Perhaps it just felt too familiar.

He stood up, mouth opened to protest, but of course nothing came out. The next time the pipe swung, Weiyuan moved almost without thinking. A swirl of dust shot up, surrounding his hand, forming a thin, earthen barrier that lessened the impact as his hand closed around the pipe to stop their swing.

He froze for a moment. If they hadn’t seen him before, they sure as hell knew he was there now… and they might not be so happy about him stopping their beating. And, of course it wasn’t like he could just explain himself! Had they even known he was there at all? Had they been there to help him, or did they just really, really not like the police?

Realizing he was just standing there like an idiot with his hand wrapped around their pipe, he quickly let go and backed away, unsure of what to do now.

Both the stranger and the RSF officer turned to look at Weiyuan, one through cloudy eyes and the other through a curtain of his own blood. Suddenly, the man dropped the pipe and lunged at Weiyuan, arms and hands out in an attempt to grab his throat.

Weiyuan was lucky in a way that a fear of retaliation had been quite literally beaten into him at a young age. He was still surprised by the nature of the attack, but not that it came. There was clearly something wrong with this person. Realistically speaking, he and the officer were on totally opposing sides, but this strange person didn’t like either of them!

That and the glazed over look in their eyes. Were they on something? It hardly mattered. He just needed to get out here.

And yet he couldn’t do it. If he left, they might just go back to beating the RSF officer to death. Even if he told himself that wasn’t his problem, even if he told himself the officer had tried to kill him, it just wouldn’t sit right with him.

Fine then. He’d just have to make this quick.

He jumped back away from another lunge from the mindless individual clawing at him. He then set his feet and charged back toward them. Right before he impacted them, he called on the earth under his feet and as he pushed off, the earth under his foot jutted out, launching him forward even faster.

Like a human missile, he crashed into them, tackling them to the ground with his full weight. They clawed at him of course, but that worked for him – he wanted their arms. He reared back and caught their wrists before their hands could find his throat.

It was a chore, but he once again used his full weight to pin their arms to the ground… and then into it. As their wrists impacted the street, he used his bending to make the ground crumble and sink their hands into it, solidifying it again as he pulled his own hands free.

It was a trick Chae-Won had used against him again and again during training. It had been the perfect training tool, really. It was a trick that only worked on him so long as he couldn’t bend his way back out of it, so he’d been forced to get better in order to nullify it.

He’d never had enough time to master it, but he’d figured if everything else was coming easier than normal, then this would as well.

He then quickly turned around and grabbed their ankles, sinking those into the ground as well, leaving all four limbs trapped. It would suck for them for a while, but at least they weren’t exactly hidden. Someone would dig them out sooner or later. Hopefully they’d be less rabid by then.

That just left the beaten and bloodied officer.

Dammit. He still couldn’t just leave. He took a breath and steeled himself to just do it and get this over with. Without any more hesitation, he went over to them and grabbed him under his arms, hauling him toward the dumpster. The bastard was heavy, or maybe he was just too small compared to him for it to be easy. With one last haul, suddenly it became too easy as the dirt and pebbles under the man suddenly came with them, allowing the man to slide across the ground as if on wheels.

BONG The back of Weiyuan’s head hit the side of the dumpster as all resistance suddenly disappeared. Fortunately his own body cushioned the impact for the battered officer. With one last heave, he pulled himself out from under the man and propped him up against the dumpster.

He rubbed his head sorely and then scanned the ground around him, finally spotting the man’s fallen gun. He picked it up and just stared at it for a moment… before depositing it on the officer’s lap, paying he’d either be too out of it, or too grateful to use it against him, but he’d need it if more strange, rabid people showed up.

That or he’d just pass out and none of this would matter.

Either way, Weiyuan knew he’d already been pushing his luck by staying in the street. All around him, in the neighboring streets, he could hear the commotion of countless other people dealing with the same shit he was. He was also vaguely cognizant of the fact that the officer had called for back-up. Yeah, it was definitely time to go, but not without Chae-Won.

He eyed the officer warily as he backed away, putting the dumpster between him and the man once more. Once safe, relatively speaking, he quickly looked around and saw the soup kitchen, door ajar and windows shattered. Was… that where he’d come from? Ugh, Chae-Won had never actually told him where she was going to take the other him today!