Triple Treat Triad COMPLETED!

Chapter One: Kai

Kai spun around, hearing a noise. She laughed, chiding herself. No one was after her, no one was waiting to ambush her. She was safe. Well, as safe as you could be in Republic City working for the Triple Threat Triad. Kai was currently standing in an alleyway just between 19th and 6th, waiting for Shady Shin Jr (or Shady). He was a Water Bender just like his father, and twice as conniving. Dumpsters lined the alley, some trash bags had not made it into the dumpsters and were spewed all over the sidewalk. Rats and alley cats were scurrying about, hissing over the best trash. The smell was revolting: rotten fruits, mixed with gas and spoiled fish. Why did Shady choose this meetup out of all places? There were plenty of other alleys in Republic City that were twice as clean.

A cat hissed at Kai since she was now bothering the residents of the alley. Kai sent an air blast blowing the cat against the wall, knocking it out. Kai shifted uneasily, glancing up at the sky. Republic city police airships were flying overhead, how long until one of them got suspicious of her? From their eyes a teenager in a black coat standing in a filthy alley. If she just walked through the alley it would seem like she was just taking a shortcut. But standing there? That was just suspicious.

"Hope I didn't keep you waiting," said a smooth voice from behind her. Kai jumped. Her heart thumped heavily in her chest.

"No, not at all," Kai said, glancing at him, his dirty blonde hair lathered in hair gel. He had a black leather jacket, and grey jeans held up with suspenders.

"Did you get the money you owed me?" Shady asked. He had that same creepy grin as his father. As if he was a cat who cornered a mouse and was waiting to kill it.

"Sure," Kai pulled out a paper bag; it was tearing at the bottom, no doubt ripping as it was holding the weight of all the yuans. "Here, 600 yuans." Shady licked his lips greedily, eyeing the bag. "If you don't believe me you can count it yourself." Shady snatched the bag from her hand, greedily looking at all the cash.

"Now if you don't mind, I'm leaving this trash dump."

"Wait!" Shady grabbed Kai's arm. "I believe you owe me 50 more yuans unless you would like me to dial the police," Shady spoke, dangling a poster in front of Kai's face. Kai stepped backward; posters like the one in Shady's hand were stapled up all over Republic city. Each depicted a picture of an eight-year-old Air Nomad with a scar over her eye. The sketch was terrible. It looked as if someone drew a picture of an Air Nomad and let a three-year-old scribble all over it.

"Fine." Kai searched around in her purse and pulled out 50 more yuans. Kai hated dealing with the Triple Threats, but blackmailing was a nasty business. Kai either gave 600 yuans a week to Shady or would go turn her over to the Republic city police.

"If you don't mind me asking," purred Shady, "how on earth did you get this money?" Kai's smile was forced.

"My business doesn't concern you, as long as you get 600 yuans you will stay out of my way."

"Sugar, I think you're wrong," Shady slurred, there were two thumps behind Kai. She stiffened ready for a fight. Kai didn't need to turn around to guess that Shady had brought back up. "Everything is my business."

"Look, Shady. I wouldn't mess with me. I get you money, you're happy. So please let me go." Kai hated being cornered, it made her feel claustrophobic and trapped.

"Sugar, I didn't mean to scare you with my friends, but it's just a question," Shady whispered, making it ten times as scary.

"Shady if it is just a question, then you got my answer. My business doesn't concern you," Kai hissed, hoping Shady would call off his goons.

"You keep saying that hon, but the reward for finding you is getting steeper by the day. I don't know if your donations to keep my mouth shut are going to be enough. Unless..."

"Unless what?" challenged Kai.

"Unless you can tell me how you are getting this money of yours."

"And if I don't tell you?"

"One of my colleagues already typed in the police's number. All it takes is one button and our secret will be exposed to the police." Shady smiled silkily, Kai sighed. She recognized defeat when it happened.

"Fine, have you ever heard of the Runaway?" Kai spitted out; if she had to tell she might as well do it quickly.

"Sounds familiar but my memory needs a little bit of a refresher," Shady implored Kai; Kai groaned inwardly.

"Well, when Avatar Aang was heading to defeat the Fire Lord, Toph and Soka decided to play this hoax. Where they cheated the game using Toph's bending. Allowing them to cheat the game and win."

"So you are saying you're an Earth Bender?" crooned Shady.

"No, you just have to be a bender to play the scam." Kai faltered. If Shady was going to get her secret she wasn't going to tell him everything.

"Astounding," Shady said, clapping his hands. "It's such a pity that my colleague already called the police."

"What!" Kai shouted. Kai turned ready to flee but found herself face to face with Shady's goons.

"Oh, yes. And now that we have your secret, it will be even more evidence for the police to arrest you." The goons grabbed Kai's arms preventing her from fleeing and fighting back. Shady pulled out an anti-bending shot, it had a sickly blue liquid inside. The shots did not have a long turn effect, but if you got injected with the liquid you would lose your bending for up to two weeks. They were created by Republic Cities scientists to replace chi blocking and energy bending. Fortunately, the shots were hard to come by after President Raiko made them illegal. They thrived well on the black market and gave anyone with an anti-bending shot an advantage.

"But we have a deal!" Kai was stunned, after all these years of hiding and bidding to the Triple Threat Triads doing. She was being turned over to the police, and without her bending. Shady stepped forward, taking the protective casing off the shot. Kai thrashed about, but the goons held strong. Shady injected the shot into Kai's shoulder. Kai curled inward, as the poison spread throughout her body. It felt ice cold making Kai shiver. But at the same time, she was sweating from the burning heat.

"The price of your reward was louder than your pleas of silence." Shady turned and slipped down the alley disappearing to the chaos of the street. Kai knew that she still had to fight even without her bending, Kai shot her leg back hitting one of the goons in the shin. Upon instinct the other goon swung its fist and hit Kai squarely in the eye, Kai screamed, it was the same eye with her scar on it. Tiny pinpricks of pain mixed with the pain that the poison had created. It was pure agony! Every breath was ragged and sharp. Kai willed unconscious to come as she lost feeling to her body. A Republic City Police airship started to descend, the goons fled. Dropping Kai, she landed on a pile of trash with an oof. She felt feverish, waves of nausea flew over her. She retched, as unconsciousness finally came.

That's it for now, probably will send out the next chapter in a few days, depends on how many readers I get! Let me know what you think and grammar corrections are always helpful!

Bye for now!