The Dragon Flats was packed.
The car could only crawl forward inch by inch, as people were spilling onto the streets. Paper lanterns shaped like spirits floated above their doors and windows, and drums echoed from somewhere down the main road. Kids in painted masks ran between stalls, chasing each other merrily.
Vendors shouted over one another. Steam rose from food carts. The smell of noodles and oil hung in the air. Someone was selling little metal trinkets that clinked when the wind hit them.
"This place?" Asami asked, leaning toward the window. "Didn't know you had a connection here."
"I don't," Jinyong said. "I just come here sometimes. To see what it's like."
"What it's like?" she asked.
"What would it's like if I didn't have my father's money," he said. "I'm a non-bender, after all."
"Oh." She looked at him. "You mean you don't think you'd be successful without it? Jin, you're the smartest guy I know. And that includes my dad."
He smiled a little. "Didn't say I wouldn't. Just means I'd have to work harder." He nodded toward the crowd. "Your dad was from here, right? A shoemaker or something?"
"Yeah. He told me about it all the time," she scoffed. "But I guess most immigrants who come here start the same way. Trying to make it."
He hummed, eyes scanning the street. Then he slowed the car and parked beside a flickering sign that read 'Platinum Pool Hall'.
"You're taking me to a tavern?" Asami asked, raising a brow.
"What, you don't like it? Or are you hungry? There's a dumpling place down the street," he said.
She laughed. "No, I'm just… surprised."
Jinyong killed the engine and stepped out. "Come on. They've got good frosty drinks."
Asami shook her head, smiling as she followed him into the building.
When Jinyong pushed the door open, the noise dropped a little.
Heads turned. Not in a friendly way.
He could feel the eyes on him as he stepped inside. Most of them were green-eyed, heavy-set types. Earthbenders. Terra Triad. He knew the look. The air smelled like smoke and cheap beer. Tables were half full, people laughing in that way that wasn't really laughter, at least until he showed up.
Asami leaned closer. "Did you… do something to this place?"
"No," Jinyong said. "They're triads. I just beat up a couple of their guys once in a while."
Her brows went up. "You really are a troublemaker."
He ignored the stares and walked straight to the bar.
"Hey, boss," he said, leaning on the counter.
The bartender looked up from a half-wiped glass. His voice was flat. "What do you want?"
"Why so hostile?" Jinyong asked, smiling a little.
"You may have money, but I can't keep hiring people to fix what you break," the man said, then looked past him to Asami. "And you bring a lady here? Really?"
"What? Is that not allowed?" Jinyong said. "A bottle of wine."
The bartender blinked. "Wine? Kid, you're—"
"I'm eighteen already," Jinyong said before he could finish. He gestured to Asami. "She is too."
The man sighed and pulled a bottle from the shelf. He set down two glasses with a small thud. "Don't cause trouble."
He left them alone after that.
Asami watched him go, then turned to Jinyong with a small grin. "Is this the 'charm' you were talking about?"
"Maybe." He poured for both of them.
She glanced around. The triads were still looking, some whispering. "I thought you hated triads," she said. "Or are you just here to rub it in?"
Jinyong smirked. "I tolerate them."
Her brow went up. "Tolerate?"
He nodded toward the room. "They're not saints. But compared to the rest? They're almost nice."
Asami gave him a look. "Nice? These guys?"
He shrugged. "The cops don't come here anymore. Streets don't get fixed. City council pretends this borough doesn't exist. The triads step in. They patch things up. Keep people fed. Keep the lights on. They take a cut, sure, but they actually show up."
She looked out the window. Lanterns glowed orange against the street. Kids ran past in paper masks. Music drifted in from the parade outside.
"So criminals with a schedule," she said.
He chuckled. "Something like that."
She sipped her drink, watching him. "You really come here often then? These people seem to know you."
"Sometimes," he said. "Like I said, just to see what it's like. In another life, maybe I would've gone to be one of them, or at least working for them until I get a better opportunity."
"You really think about this a lot, huh?" Asami said, swirling her glass.
Jinyong shrugged. "Keeps me grounded."
Before she could reply, the noise in the bar shifted. A group was heading their way — one woman in front, a few thugs behind her. The leader had sharp eyes, short-cropped hair dyed red, and that smug walk that said she owned the place.
Jinyong turned toward her, smiling like he'd been expecting it.
"Well, well, well," the woman said, folding her arms. "If it isn't the rich heir. You show your face here again? I wonder, if we take you hostage, what would your father pay us for ransom?"
Jinyong didn't even flinch. He took a slow sip of his wine. "Want to try it? I'm curious too." His eyes flicked up to hers. "Steely Ning. How's your sugar daddy doing? Fine? I saw him at the gala today. Didn't get the chance to talk. Mr. San Ho was busy charming the council."
Her jaw tightened. "Just get out of here when you're done. You're annoying."
Jinyong raised his glass with a grin. "Will do." He turned slightly. "Wei Ta," he said, nodding to the man beside her.
Wei just nodded back, quiet as always, and followed Ning out with the others.
Asami blinked, lowering her glass. "San Ho? As in the San Ho Consortium? One of our fathers' competitors?"
"Yeah," Jinyong said. "He's funding her. Helps with… certain illegal deliveries for his factories."
Asami frowned. "So that's how he got rich so fast." Then a small smile tugged at her lips. "Good catch. Might make a good blackmail later."
Jinyong laughed. "Very naughty of you, Asami."
She smirked, sipping her drink. "I learn from the best."
Before he could answer, the mood in the bar shifted again. Ning and her crew were making noise near the door. Chairs scraped. Someone shouted from outside. Then a few of the triad members rushed out, their steps heavy and fast.
Jinyong's brow furrowed. "That's not normal."
He set his glass down, eyes narrowing as the sound of shouts echoed faintly from somewhere in the distance.
Jinyong stepped outside, following the thugs. He stood on the streets as the people outside watched the triads left, curious.
The bartender came after him, wiping his hands. "I overheard them. It's the equalists." he said. "Hit one of their vaults. Took cash, metal, whatever they could grab."
Asami's head snapped up. Her expression shifted. Not anger, something heavier, she definitely wanted to move. To stop them. The equalists.
Jinyong noticed. "They're triads," he said flatly. "Even the nice ones are still scum. Not our problem."
She didn't answer. Her eyes were still on the road, jaw tight. The guilt sat there, plain as day.
He sighed. "Don't start blaming yourself for what they do," he said. "You're not the one running their factories."
"I know," she muttered. "Still… it's my family's name."
"People don't know that." He watched her for a second, then looked away. "Although," he said lightly, "if the equalists brought some new or improved toy, maybe we can 'borrow' it. For research."
That finally pulled a small, tired laugh out of her. "Yeah?"
Jinyong smiled, faint. "Not the kind of night I expected, but we'll make due."
—
In the night, motorcycles have circled a conspicuous building like wolves. Equalists, already masked, worked in a quiet rhythm. Crates of gold, jewelry, cash, all piled up, lifted, and moved into a waiting truck. They moved too slow for thieves. Too calm for a robbery.
From the far end of the street, the Triads finally showed up. Earth cracked under their boots, metal shimmered on their arms. They came in groups, green coats, steel gauntlets, fists ready.
Shouts broke the air.
Then the fight started.
Chunks of rock shot forward, smashing against motorcycles and crates. The Equalists scattered, ducking behind cover. One threw a smoke bomb. It burst into a cloud of black, swallowing half the street.
Benders coughed, eyes burning. Another smoke bomb hit. Then a third. Soon the entire block was fog and chaos.
An earthbender tried to raise a wall, but a whip of blue electricity charged rope lashed from the smoke, hitting him square in the chest. He fell, spasming, twitching on the ground.
Chi-blockers dove in. Fast, silent. They struck elbows, necks, and knees. Every hit was clean. The benders couldn't react in time.
Someone screamed. Someone else yelled for backup.
Metalbenders tried to use the metal around them, pulling out shards of railing from the walls, but the Equalists had bolas ready: weighted cables, sparking with voltage. They wrapped around the benders' wrists, shocking them before they could pull.
The street lights flickered through the smoke.
It rolled across the road like a living thing. Lanterns crashed. Flames caught on festival banners. People screamed and ran, knocking over stalls and food carts. The music from the parade cut off mid-beat.
An earthbender punched through the smoke, sending a slab of stone flying. It hit one Equalist square in the chest, throwing him into the wall. But then two more moved in, striking the bender's shoulder and neck, dropping him instantly.
Every hit was followed by a hiss, a spark, or the thud of someone hitting pavement.
The triads were losing ground fast.
Meanwhile, up above in the distance, Jinyong and Asami stood on a roof. He looked through his rifle scope, while she watched with binoculars.
Asami's jaw tightened. She recognized the tech. Her father's work. Her father's design. Now in the hands of these terrorists.
"Their loading's slow," Jinyong said, eyes still on the scope. "Too slow."
"Why do they even need the money?" Asami muttered. "They have… my father's backing. Yours too, separately."
"They don't," Jinyong replied quietly. "The money's just for show. The real target's the Terra Triad. Most of them are earthbenders. And the triads are the symbol of bender oppression. Them moving against triads are nice and all, but do they really have to hit one of the most beneficial ones to the non-bender population?"
Asami paused for a moment, only observing.
"...We have to stop them."
He adjusted his rifle. "You really want me to help them?"
Asami clenched her fist. "I want every one of my father's weapons off their hands. However it takes. Even if they are fighting a triad, I just want the equalists to fail."
"If I shoot," Jinyong said, "the police will notice. I'm the only one who uses this kind of weapon. They'll know it's me if they saw the bullet. But then again… it's the Dragon Flats. The police never come here."
She turned on her police radio interceptor, static filling the air. Nothing. No callouts. No chatter. Nothing about the brawl in the borough.
Her expression darkened. "They're not even coming…"
Jinyong gave a small laugh, no humor in it. "Guess I was right. They never do here."
He looked through his scope again. "Would you look at that? New toys. Electrified kai-sticks. Different smoke bombs. Nice upgrades." he sighed. "Well, here goes…"
Before that however, he glanced at Asami, grabbing her binoculars. "Don't look. You don't want to see this."
Asami frowned. "Jin, what—"
He looked serious. She went quiet.
Jinyong took a slow breath, then pulled the trigger.
A sharp boom cracked through the air. Then another. And another.
Down below, confusion spread fast. Equalists started dropping one by one, holes in their heads before they knew what hit them.
The benders stopped fighting. They just stared.
In seconds, it was over.
The triads were supposed to lose. But they stood, alive. The Equalists didn't.
Jinyong exhaled, sliding the sniper back into its case. "Go back to the car," he said. "I'll tell them to get rid of the bodies. And I'll take the tech from them too, so don't worry about it."
Asami frowned. "I'll go too."
"Asami…"
"Stop. I'm not a child." She stood up as well. "If I am to stop my dad from all the things he did, I gotta face this too. Don't take my burdens away from me, I don't want to be coddled when it comes to things like this."
Jinyong sighed. "Fine. Let's go."