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𝐄verything was perfect. Cloud was sitting outside with some of the White Lotus members, listening to the radio as the announcer narrated the tournament, waiting for the final battle between the Fire Ferrets versus the Wolfbats. Then all of sudden, the radio began to broadcast static, at least for a few seconds, before changing to Amon's speech as he interrupted the program. Cloud became alarmed as well as the other benders around her.
"Good morning, citizens of Republic City. This is Amon. I hope you all enjoyed last night's pro-bending match, because it will be the last. It's time for this city to stop worshiping bending athletes as if they were heroes. I am calling on the council to shut down the bending arena and cancel the finals, or else there will be severe consequences."
The static returned and the radio was silent.
Not even a minute later, the moment she looked outside the pavilion, she caught sight of a metalbenders's airship floating above the temple's dock. Cloud quickly exited the headquarters, walked towards where the airship was parked, and found two police officers already marching towards her with urgency.
"What's going on?" Cloud asked.
"Chief Beifong asked for your assistance," The male officer said. "Now."
For some reason, Cloud felt a little proud that someone needed her. She kind of forgot that she was a former captain in the United Forces after being in the Air Temple Island for a month or so. But she wasn't going to lie, she missed being in battle, but not in this circumstance. Amon was a danger to all benders out there, and she was not going to let him━along with the others━take those from her fellow benders.
Not all of them deserve to be ripped apart from their bending abilities.
Police airships and vehicles surrounded the whole arena when she arrived. Some of the officers greeted her on the way in with a formal salute which she returned respectfully before she could fully enter the main arena. Cloud blinked at the amount of people in the stands, cheering and hollering for their respective teams. From the opposite side of the arena, she could see Tenzin with Lin Beifong on his side. She looked back at the two officers with her.
"I'm going to make a little visit somewhere, is that fine?" Cloud asked.
The male officer was a little intimidated and embarrassed that she had to ask him for that, but nonetheless, he nodded in response. "Yes, Captain."
"Thanks, officer." Cloud replaced her normal expression with a thankful grin, and sent him a salute before bouncing away from them, leaving the police officers in wonder. She was different from the other high-ranking officials they had encountered, and it was a breath of fresh air.
The former Captain barged inside the room of the Fire Ferrets, the first person greeting her was Pabu, who ran towards her with his short limbs and climbed onto her shoulder, snuggling close to her neck.
"What's up my little pro-benders!" Cloud beamed, holding out her arms for dramatic effect.
Bolin grinned in delight at the sight of the older girl before he tackled her into a short but big hug while Pabu transferred onto his shoulder. Cloud chuckled in delight and ruffled his hair, sauntering further inside the room to greet the other two benders after they stopped hugging. Korra looked glad to see her.
"Says the little one," Mako scoffed, pulling her into a playful headlock, but released her after to put on his helmet.
Cloud simply huffed at him. "I could probably kick your butt."
"Yeah, you could," Bolin snickered.
Korra walked towards her and slid an arm over her waist, pulling her into a side hug. "You're going to watch us, right?"
"I'll be cheering from the stands," Cloud reassured her, ruffling her dark hair as the girl tutted her lips at her. "Go on. Win for Uncle Tenzin."
The Southern Water Tribe member made a face at her but laughed after as she turned her back on the older girl. Together, the trio moved towards the other side to enter the ring. Cloud decided to go back to the stands with a small sigh of breath, hoping for the best and of course, for the Fire Ferrets to win.
Cloud was eating her salty popcorn, watching the match with a deep frown on her face as if she were the one fighting in the ring. She turned to the officer next to her to tell him about her opinion but found a fallen soldier and a familiar mask of an Equalist facing her. Cloud was forced to drop her popcorn, causing it to spill on the floor as she quickly dodged his punch and swept his leg with her outstretched ones, making him fall to the floor.
Cloud immediately put pressure on his gloved hand as she hardly pressed her foot on his arm. However, the masked man had other plans as he reached for her ankle with his other hand and roughly pulled her down. The airbender wasn't taking any chances of falling over the stairs and pulled some air to push her back upwards, safely landing on her two feet, a couple of steps away from the Equalist.
She glared at him through her lashes, her short brown hair all over the place, and the light blue tattoo on her forehead out for them to see. So were the ones that ran along her arms and onto her hands. Cloud began to move in a gentle manner, her hands twirling around as if she were delicately drawing something beautiful in the air. She looked graceful, light, and calming like a cloud in the sky. She truly lived up to her name.
At that exact moment, the Equalist suddenly felt scared, and he was right to be as Cloud released a strong and furious—unlike her movements—gust of wind toward him, knocking the air out of his lungs as he fell to the floor. Cloud calmly approached him, the side no one wanted to see at times like this, and looked down at the disoriented masked man. Her eyes narrowed.
"You made me drop my popcorn." That was the last thing he heard before he fell unconscious as the airbender kicked him in the head.
