Chapter Text
It was bright and early in Republic City. In the middle of the training room of the probending arena stood three teenagers, who were wearing matching red training gear and tossing a weighted ball around between them.
“What’s the big idea with making me train this early in the morning? The morning is evil,” Korra sighed, easily catching the ball. She turned to Bolin and tossed the ball to him.
“We’re the rookies, so we get the worst time slot in the gym,” Bolin explained nonchalantly to Korra. He turned towards his older brother before passing on the ball.
“And you’re the rookiest of us all. We’ve got to get you up to speed if we wanna survive in the tournament,” Mako sighed, clearly annoyed with Korra’s whining. “Deal with it.” He tossed the ball to Korra, who frowned at his words.
“You deal with it!” she snapped, before tossing the ball back at him.
It hit Mako hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him, and forcing him onto his back. Mako groaned as the ball rolled away from him. Korra smirked at the firebender before looking up as someone she that had never met before walked into the room with a paper bag in one hand. He stopped the ball with his foot before bending down to pick it up.
“Looks like you’re losing your touch, Mako,” the unknown teenage boy joked.
Korra raised an eyebrow at the new mystery arrival, but Bolin and Mako seemed excited at his presence.
“Yutu! You came!” Bolin yelled out, throwing his arms up in the air.
He ran over to engulf the boy—Yutu, Korra deduced—in a tight hug, lifting him up off the ground. Yutu didn’t seem perturbed by the action. Frankly, looked like he was used to it.
“Good to see you too, Bo,” he returned before Bolin finally set him back down. Yutu held up the paper bag that he brought along, extending it out towards Bolin. “I brought you guys some breakfast, since I missed your match last night.”
“Did I mention that I missed you?” Bolin praised, snagging the bag from Yutu’s outstretched hand. “You always bring the best food!”
“And you are?” Korra asked Yutu.
Korra crossed her arms over her chest and jutted her hip out to the side. Her eyes were narrowed slightly, a challenging expression on her face. She immediately recognized his Water Tribe heritage and made a mental note of it.
Yutu was tall, a little taller than Mako, with a much thicker frame. He had the traditional dark skin and hair that were common in the Water Tribes, though he wore his hair rather short. Most likely influenced by the more multicultural Republic City. His eyes were violet, which was a rare color among the Water Tribes, but not unheard of.
Yutu wore some kind of light blue uniform and a Water Tribe necklace. Korra glanced over his necklace, noting the traditional Northern Water Tribe symbol of the crescent moon carved into an off-white bone. Surrounding the symbol were three moons also carved out of bone, at the western, eastern, and southern points of the pendant. Smaller bones and shells made up the band of the necklace.
Korra tilted her head to the side slightly, recognizing something about the boy. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something familiar about Yutu. Or perhaps off would be the better term.
Either way, she didn’t trust him.
“I’m Yutu. The original Fire Ferret waterbender,” he explained politely, extending a hand towards Korra.
He smiled kindly at her, which didn’t alleviate the Avatar’s suspicions. Korra tentatively shook his hand, though she was still suspicious of him.
“Really? What about Hasook?”
“Hasook was a poor man’s Yutu,” Bolin replied in a slightly exaggerated tone. The earthbender wrapped an arm around Yutu, who smiled wider at Bolin’s words. “You should have seen this guy, Korra. He had all the moves back in the day!”
“We definitely wouldn’t have made it to this stage without him getting us through the lower leagues,” Mako added, finally standing up and dusting himself off.
“Really? So, you must be a great waterbender then?” Korra questioned, turning back to Yutu. She rested her fists on her hips, taking a rather defensive pose. “Why’d you quit then if you were so good?”
“Got my healer’s license a little over a year ago,” Yutu stated, gesturing to the uniform that he wore. “And no offense to these guys, but a healer’s paycheck is much better than an amateur probender’s. And a lot more stable.”
“It was a dark day for the Fire Ferrets,” Bolin continued in his dramatic tone, before perking up. “But now we’ve got Korra!”
“Yeah, I’m the new waterbender,” Korra confirmed, as if Yutu would challenge her for her spot.
“Congratulations! Between you and me, I always thought that Hasook talked himself up more than he ever performed,” Yutu replied with a nonchalant shrug. “Glad that you guys found someone who can carry their own weight.”
“You’re telling us. Hasook left us high and dry yesterday,” Mako scoffed, crossing his arm over his chest. “And Korra stepped into the open position.”
“Which we’re very happy about,” Bolin added to perk up his brother’s rather morose tone.
“And I’m assuming you’re Korra then?” Yutu asked Korra, who nodded in confirmation.
“Yeah, I’m Korra, the Avatar,” she stated confidently, bragging.
As soon as the word ‘Avatar’ was out of her mouth, Yutu instantly frowned. A range of emotions seemed to flash across his eyes before they were gone. Korra frowned right back at him, not liking Yutu’s immediate reaction to her declaration. Yutu tilted his head to the side slightly, narrowing his eyes, as if he didn’t believe her words.
“You’re the Avatar?”
“What? Surprised? Expected someone different? Don’t think I can handle it?” Korra rattled off, ready for a fight if needed.
“Not at all. Congratulations,” Yutu muttered out, his eyes slightly narrowed at her.
The awkwardness settling over the group of teenagers was interrupted by Butakha, who came by to meet Korra and to give Mako the winnings. Of course, in typical Butakha style, he then proceeded to take back all of the money for the Fire Ferret brothers’ expenses.
As Butakha walked off, Yutu glanced over at the brothers with concern.
“You wouldn’t happen to have a secret Avatar bank account overflowing with gold, would you?” Bolin sighed, turning to Korra. The Avatar pulled out her empty pockets, shaking her head.
“I got nothing. I’ve never really needed money.” She shrugged, a small smile coming over her face. “I’ve always had people taking care of me.” She frowned as Yutu scoffed loudly at her words, shooting the male waterbender a glare.
“Then I wouldn’t say you have nothing,” Mako stated as he cleaned up the training equipment.
“Sorry,” Korra apologized instantly, realizing how her words sounded. “I didn’t mean—”
“—No, it’s all right. It’s just . . .” Bolin sighed, lowering his head.
“Not everyone always has someone looking out for them in the way that you do,” Yutu supplied for Korra, earning another glare from the Avatar.
“Ever since we lost our parents, we’ve been on our own,” Bolin explained further, his voice quieter.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“So, anyway,” Mako cut in, trying to divert the conversation from dead parents, “how are we going to come up with the money?”
“You got extra cash Yutu?” Bolin inquired, turning to the waterbender.
“Not thirty thousand yuans. I’d put myself at just a breath above dirt poor and homeless,” Yutu sighed, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Oh, oh, I got it! I got it!” Bolin turned to the group, holding up his fire ferret. “I’ve been training Pabu to do circus tricks. Now people would pay good money to see that!”
“Come on, Bolin,” Mako sighed, irritated with his brother. “We need serious ideas.”
“I was serious.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure something out. I always do,” Mako grumbled out, throwing the bag over his shoulder.
“Try the electricity factories. They’re always hiring,” Yutu suggested, before turning to Bolin. “You figure out how to metalbend yet?”
“No,” Bolin replied, lowering his head further in shame.
“Well, maybe the road crews are hiring?” Yutu tried, raising his shoulders slightly. “It’s not much, but it would give you a start. I know that there was a bunch of work not too long ago cause some rogue vigilante tore up a bunch of streets when they were running from the cops.”
“Rogue vigilante?”
Korra huffed, rolling her eyes. Even though she still didn’t think that what she did was particularly wrong, she wasn’t about to fess up to being the ‘rogue vigilante’ that Yutu was talking about. She’d already gone through enough scolding for that one.
“I’ll figure something out,” Mako reiterated to his little brother. “It was good seeing you again, Yutu. Let us know if you find thirty thousand yuans lying around somewhere.”
“I’ll be sure to do that,” Yutu replied, nodding slowly. The two teenagers shared an old handshake before Mako walked off to put away the equipment.
“You want to hang, Yutu?” Bolin asked, somewhat perky. The waterbender glanced over at Korra before shaking his head.
“Sorry, Bo. I should get some sleep. I’ve almost been up for twenty-four hours.”
“No, no, that’s cool! Thanks for bringing breakfast!”
“Any time. See you ‘round, Bo.” Yutu turned to leave when he spotted Korra frowning at him. “Avatar,” he grunted out, before walking off with his hands tucked into his pockets.
“What’s his problem?” Korra scoffed, turning to Bolin. “He hates me! I didn’t even do anything to him!”
“Maybe he’s just tired. Because Yutu’s the nicest guy, he gets along with everyone.” Bolin winced when he noticed Korra’s frustrated expression. “Well, almost everyone, I guess. I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s super nice. He brings us food when he can!”
“Yeah, I can see that. I can also see why he seems to get along so well with your brother,” Korra muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Well, we all got really close on the streets together,” Bolin replied with a shrug.
“You guys grew up on the streets? All of you?” Korra asked curiously, turning back to Bolin.
“Yeah. That’s where we got the idea for starting a pro-bending team together.”
Korra nodded at Bolin’s words, glancing where Yutu had gone. Even though Bolin and even Mako—who apparently didn’t approve of many people—seemed to trust Yutu, she was still suspicious of the male waterbender.
She still didn’t trust him. Not one bit.
Yutu groaned as he heard the doorbell go off from his apartment door. Glancing at the time, he peeled himself off his bed, which was more like a cot than anything else, before heading to answer the door. Throwing it open, he raised an eyebrow when he spotted Mako and Korra standing in the hall.
“What’s up? What are you guys doing here?” Yutu asked, leaning on the doorframe.
“Have you seen Bolin? I can’t find him anywhere,” Mako explained, causing Yutu’s eyes to widen in concern.
“No, I haven’t. Not since I left the arena. Sorry, Mako.”
“That’s alright, we’ll keep looking,” Mako returned, about to head off, when Yutu stopped him.
“I have another shift later today, but if you haven’t found him by tomorrow, come get me. I’ll help you look for him.”
“Thanks, Yutu. We’ll keep you posted.”
Yutu, dressed in his casual Water Tribe-inspired modern blue shirt and pants, looked up from his lunch when he heard the doorbell ring. Opening the door, Yutu wore a grim look when he spotted Mako and Korra standing in his doorway again with no sign of Bolin anywhere.
“You didn’t find him then?”
“No, but we know where he’s going to be,” Mako replied, holding up some pieces of paper. Yutu gestured for them to come inside, before shutting the door behind him. “Bolin got caught up in some triad business yesterday.”
“Triads?” Yutu asked, frowning instantly. “He didn’t learn his lesson about them?”
“Apparently not,” Mako huffed, sitting down at the table. “The triads got raided yesterday by the Equalists. We saw them take Bolin away. And we know that they’re having some kind of rally tonight.”
Mako placed the fliers that they had collected on the table, arranging them in the way that he and Korra had done before to reveal the hidden location of the rally. Yutu glanced over the makeshift map, frowning slightly when he read the words on the Equalist flyer.
“I’m in, if that’s what you’re asking,” Yutu told Mako, glancing up at the firebender. Mako nodded back in thanks. “Besides, these Equalist guys, if they’re going after the Triads, they’re not messing around. We’ve got to get Bolin out of there.”
“No, they’re not. They had chi blockers and everything. It’s clearly a well-organized operation,” Korra grumbled, taking a seat at the table.
“Chi blockers?” Yutu repeated, glancing over at Mako, who nodded again. “Great.”
Mako, Korra, and Yutu walked through the dark streets of Republic City towards the location given on the fliers. They stuck to the shadows, watching as group after group of people walked up to and entered a seemingly abandoned building. An old factory, it seemed.
“This is the place.”
After ensuring that their appearances were hidden by thick coats and hats, the three teenagers approached the abandoned factory and moved to join the line of people waiting to get in. A doorman stood at the entrance to the factory with his arms crossed over his chest threateningly. As they got closer, Korra leaned into Mako, and grabbed his arm.
“What are you doing?” Mako hissed at her quietly, clearly annoyed with her act.
“We’ll attract less attention this way,” Korra replied back. Yutu rolled his eyes at Korra’s actions, shaking his head with annoyance.
They reached the doorman a few steps later, but he didn’t budge from his sentry position.
“This is a private event. No one gets in without an invitation.”
“Uh . . . invitation?” Korra asked, looking confused.
“You mean these?” Yutu questioned, pulling out a flier from his pocket. The doorman took it, before nodding and moving out of the way, gesturing for the three teenagers to head inside.
“The Revelation is upon us, my brothers and sister.”
“Thanks,” Yutu grunted out, before leading the way inside.
The three teenagers joined the gathering crowd, which seemed to be turned towards a large, but empty, stage and podium. Obviously, whatever this ‘revelation’ that the doorman was talking about had yet to happen. It reminded Yutu a bit of a circus act.
“I knew a lot of people hated benders, but I’ve never seen so many in one place,” Mako sighed, glancing around at the crowd. “Keep your eyes out for Bolin.”
The three teenagers stood off to the side as the show started.
“Please welcome your hero,” the announcer stated as a hatch opened in the middle of the stage, “your savior . . . Amon!”
A figure emerged from the trapdoor in the stage, flanked by a long line of Equalists. The crowd broke out into cheers as the three teenagers shared concerned looks. Amon walked up to the microphone on the stage, grabbing it with his hand.
"My quest for equality began many years ago. When I was a boy, my family and I lived on a small farm. We weren’t rich, and none of us were benders. This made us very easy targets for the firebender who extorted my father.”
Whoever this Amon guy was, he seemed to easily capture the attention of the entire room. Yutu glanced around at the nonbenders and Equalists who were gathered around, noting their rather blatant excitement and even hope at Amon’s words.
“One day, my father confronted this man, but when he did, that firebender took my family from me. Then, he took my face.” Amon paused for dramatic effect as the crowd gasped in astonishment at his story. “I’ve been forced to hide behind a mask ever since.” Amon stepped up more, standing at the edge of the stage.
“As you know, the Avatar has recently arrived in Republic City.”
Yutu glanced around as the crowd booed at Amon’s words. Korra hid her face in Mako’s scarf as Yutu and Mako shared a look.
“And if she were here, she would tell you that bending brings balance to the world.”
He paused for a moment before turning to square his shoulders to the crowd.
“But she is wrong. The only thing bending has brought to the world, is suffering.”
Amon gestured to the crowd, pointing his finger around.
“It has been the cause of every war in every era. But that is about to change.”
Yutu raised an eyebrow at Amon’s words, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I know you have been wondering, ‘What is the Revelation?’ You are about to get your answer. Since the beginning of time, the spirits have acted as guardians of our world, and they have spoken to me.”
The crowd seemed to lean in, waiting to hear the rest of Amon’s speech. Yutu wasn’t particularly impressed hearing someone claim that the spirits talk to them. Just yesterday, he had to hold down a patient for the police who committed armed robbery because ‘the spirits told him to do it.’ Needless to say, once he got the broken glass removed, he was still carted off to prison.
“They say that the Avatar has failed humanity. That is why the spirits have chosen me to usher in a new era of balance. They have granted me a power that with make equality a reality. The power to take a person’s bending away. Permanently.”
The audience gasped as the three teenagers shared horrified looks at Amon’s words.
“That’s impossible. There’s no way,” Korra stated in disbelief
“This guy’s insane!” Mako agreed, turning to Korra.
“Shh, wait. What’s happening?” Yutu cut them off, pointing up at the stage.
Equalist guards carted up various Triad members to the stage, all of whom were gagged and had their arms bound behind them.
“Now, for a demonstration,” Amon drawled, gesturing to the side where Equalist guards led a particularly well-known man to the stage. “Please welcome, Lightning Bolt Zolt. Leader of the Triple Threat Triad, and one of the most notorious criminals in Republic City.”
The crowd booed at Lightning Bolt Zolt, who waved them off.
“Ah, boo yourself!”
Equalist guards led up more benders to the stage, including Bolin, who looked like a scared puppy at the end of the line of Triad members.
“There’s Bolin,” Yutu pointed out, turning to Mako and Korra.
The Avatar started to walk to the stage, ready to storm the place and grab Bolin, but Mako pulled her back by her arm.
“Wait, we can’t fight them all. We need to be smart about this.”
“Then come up with a game plan, ‘Team Captain’,” Korra grunted out through gritted teeth.
“Zolt has amassed a fortune by extorting and abusing nonbenders. But his reign of terror is about to come to an end. Now, in the interest of fairness, I will give Zolt the chance to fight to keep his bending,” Amon stated, rather mockingly.
He gestured for the guards to release Lightning Bolt Zolt. The ropes were removed from Zolt’s arms, and he was pushed to the opposite side of the stage. Amon stood at the other, looking calm and collected with his arms folded behind his back as Zolt smirked at him.
“You’re gonna regret doing that, pal!” Zolt snapped, before jumping forward.
He shot a fire blast at Amon, who danced around it. Zolt threw more fire blasts, but Amon continued to dodge each and every one of them, not even looking like he was straining himself in the process. Zolt, realizing that Amon was getting closer, generated some lightning and directed the bolt at Amon, who surged forward.
Amon ducked under the lightning bolt and grabbed Zolt’s wrist, twisting it around. Amon spun Zolt around before grabbing the back of his neck with one hand. He raised his other hand before placing his thumb in the middle of Zolt’s forehead.
Yutu watched, absolutely horrified, as the powerful lightning bolt gradually faded into a large fire blast, before slowing and stopping all together. Amon released Zolt from his grasp, who fell to the ground. He stood by patiently as Zolt turned around, trying to throw fire blasts at Amon, but nothing came out of his hands.
“What . . . what did you do to me?”
“Your firebending is gone. Forever,” Amon announced, causing the crowd to gasp. “The era of bending is over. A new era of equality has begun!”
The crowd cheered loudly as the Equalist guards carted Zolt away and kicked Shady Shin out.
“We’ve got to move, now!”
“Any ideas, yet?” Korra asked Mako, who nodded.
“I think so. See those machines?” Mako told Korra and Yutu, pointing to their right. “They’re powered by water and steam. If you two create some cover, I can grab Bolin without anyone seeing. Then, we duck out of here.”
“Works for me.”
“Let’s go.”
Korra and Yutu ran through the crowd before slipping through one of the side exits. They stopped in front of the machines that Mako identified. Yutu glanced around for anyone, before waving his arms around slowly. He gathered a small bit of water from the air.
Yutu was about to bend the small bit of water onto the pipe wheel when he noticed Korra struggling to turn the little red wheel. He raised an eyebrow, unimpressed, as the Avatar, of all people, struggled with the knob. It turned more and released a slight air leak.
“That’s not enough,” Korra sighed, studying the steam. Yutu huffed in frustration, before storming over.
“We don’t have time for this. Keep an eye out,” Yutu ordered, pushing Korra aside lightly with one arm.
She made a noise of annoyance, but Yutu ignored her. Yutu stepped up to the water pipe and bended the water onto the wheel before freezing it. Turning around and doing a spin kick, Yutu broke the wheel off, causing lots of steam to pour out of the broken pipe.
“That works!” Korra agreed, her annoyed frown gone as the steam spilled into the room.
“Hey, you two!” a voice suddenly called from behind them.
They spun around in unison, noting the doorman from before walking towards them, hefting a wrench threateningly. Yutu shot Korra another glare.
“What happened to looking out?” he hissed harshly at Korra, who glared right back at him.
“I’ll handle this,” she snapped back just as harshly.
The doorman ran forward with a wrench. Korra and Yutu dove to the sides, avoiding his swing. Korra dodged his next one, sliding away from his swing, and causing the man to hit the pipes instead. As he stood up to swing at Korra again, Yutu jumped up and kicked him away, knocking him into more pipes, and causing more steam to pour out.
“Come on. Mako needs the cover,” Yutu grunted out, getting into a stance.
Together, they bended more of the steam out of the pipes. Turning and extending their arms at the same time, they sent a powerful blast of steam at the generator. An explosion went off, before steam poured into the large adjacent hall.
“Let’s go! Mako and Bolin should be able to meet us out back.”
Yutu and Korra sprinted through the now steam-filled halls. Korra kicked open one of the back doors before they ran out.
“There!” Yutu yelled out.
He pointed over to where Mako and Bolin were fighting, and losing, to the Lieutenant and his kali sticks. Bolin was already on the ground and Mako joined him soon afterwards.
“You benders need to understand, there’s no place in the world for you anymore,” the Lieutenant stated as he twirled his kali sticks threateningly.
Suddenly, a pillar of earth knocked him back against the building, courtesy of Korra. He hit the wall hard, before slumping down, and his kali sticks slipped out of his hands. Yutu ran to check on Mako and Bolin as Korra stood up from her earthbending stance.
“I wouldn’t count us out just yet.” Putting her fingers in her mouth, Korra whistled loudly into the night air. “Naga!”
The polar bear dog ran over, stopping beside Korra. Yutu handed Mako up to her, before dragging Bolin with him. The earthbender hung off the back of the polar bear dog, but Yutu kept a firm grip on the back of his shirt. Korra kicked Naga’s sides, urging her on.
Yutu glanced back to see the Equalists stopping in their pursuit of them. He stared up at Amon, who was standing on the balcony, his arms crossed behind his back. A shiver went down Yutu’s spine before he turned around, making sure to keep a tight hold on Bolin so that he didn’t fall off.
They ran back to the main part of the city before Naga finally slowed down. She trotted down the streets until they stopped in front of the arena. Yutu slid off first, before turning back to the saddle.
“You guys alright?” Yutu asked, helping Bolin and Mako down off Naga.
“Put me down for tired and scared,” Bolin sighed, leaning against Naga to catch his breath.
“What was that back there?” Mako wondered, looking up at Korra.
“I don’t know. That wasn’t anything I’ve ever seen before. Or thought was possible,” Korra admitted, looking away for a moment.
“Come on, let’s the two of you inside. I should check you over just to be sure,” Yutu stated, pulling Bolin off Naga by the back of his shirt.
“Thanks for your help, Korra. And be safe,” Mako told the Avatar, who nodded back firmly.
“See you guys later.” And with a kick of her heels into Naga’s side, she took off for the docks.