63Author's Notes: Wrote this while I had no net for a few days so, sorry if Bolin's dialogue doesn't match the one in the episode, I didn't have a transcript ready! Hope you guys like, there is also a little something something at the end of the chapter! This one is especially long, I think, because I didn't find a proper place to end the chapter in the earlier parts.
Replies to reviews at the footer of the story from now on!
Without further ado, I give you guys, Chapter 5 of Taming the Wolfbat.
Taming the Wolfbat
Chapter 5: Trouble Magnets
It was already around the afternoon, thank Aang, when the Wolfbats were scheduled for a practice. The time slot they had was great; mornings were evil after all, not to mention they could grab some lunch before practicing and a snack afterwards, if the others were up to it. Because of this though, she had to ask Tenzin to let her off early and move her air bender training in the early morning.
Ikki and Jinora cheered her on as they set the air bender's gates a-spinning with a strong gust of wind. The girl frowned at the thing though, wondering if she should turn it to ashes this time, seeing how easily they had repaired it the first time she torched it. But she calmed herself down, knowing that wouldn't go so swell with Tenzin… "Be the leaf, Korra, be the leaf," she sighed to herself with an annoyed look on her face and sped forward, pushing her way through the gates.
That didn't go too well though. Spun and tossed, she crashed into one wooden gate only to be flung at another, again and again and again. It only ended when she managed to be kicked out of the spinning maze of doom on her face. "Worst. Morning. Ever." She said through gritted teeth as she pushed herself off the ground, grumbling.
She was in no hurry to stand with how her body ached but that all changed as she shot to her feet when she heard what the two air bending daughters were saying especially when the words 'cute' and 'boyfriend' popped up. "If by 'boyfriend' you mean a friend who is a boy, then yes," a familiar voice replied casually, earning giggles from the two.
Korra's eyes widened. "Ming! What're you doing here?" she asked, walking over to the three with a worried look. More worried about the two blabbing than Ming's appearance anyway… "We're not supposed to meet until later yet, aren't we?" she continued, with a warning glance, seeing as she had told Tahno and Ming the other day that no one at the Air Temple knew she was on the Wolfbats. Tahno was confused as to why the Avatar, of all people, wouldn't be allowed to probend and so was Ming but they promised they'll keep it a secret anyway. It was obvious, when she asked of that, that the Wolfbat Team Captain was miffed about not being able to brag that the master of all elements was on their team.
Ming cast her a understanding smile and shrugged; "Yeah, but we're not going to be meeting at the usual place." By meeting, he of course meant practicing. The two preteens had another idea of what it meant though…
"Oh, are you going on a date Korra? Why didn't you tell us? We could have helped you get a nice outfit if you said so! You should take a shower or you're going to be stinky during your date and your boyfriend might not like you anymore!" Ikki said, just beside herself with a huge grin on her face and her mouth going a mile a minute.
Jinora sighed in exasperation at her little sister's antics and made sure to speak when she was done. "Well then, we wouldn't want to keep you two from your date. We'll keep this a secret from dad to… the best of our abilities?" she smiled wryly, glancing at Ikki, wondering how long before she babbles about this. Ah, well, it was Korra's fault for not hiding his boyfriend better.
Korra felt something though – a twitch in her eye. She wondered if it was possible for it to be permanently there, hoping it wouldn't, but it was a possibility considering the people she was constantly dealing with. "I'll buy you two something if you keep quiet about this, okay?" she sighed but smiled at the two she thought of as younger siblings. She didn't think she could stay mad at them or Meelo forever anyway; darn children and their adorableness.
She waved to the two, Ming saying his goodbyes to the children as well as they headed to another part of the island. Korra figured she'd be able to bring Naga along today, so that she can meet her teammates as well, and it would certainly be better to travel on her than on her foot if they were doing their practices somewhere else.
"Nice kids," the earth bender commented with a smile in his eyes.
"Mhm; you seem like you know a lot about children, Mingy. Do you have younger brothers and sisters?" the girl hummed in agreement, putting her hand over her eyes, trying to see where her best friend went.
"Aside from Tahno, Shaozu and Sho? No, not really. I grew up an only child," he replied with a shrug. He was completely calm and at ease, even mentioning the former Wolfbat firebender when the mere name of him made Korra scowl. She still hasn't gotten over what happened at the arena and at Narook's of course, considering the jerk bender didn't even try to apologize. He had merely stomped away in a huff when Tahno offered her to be a replacement on the team.
"Oh, I see; well, if it's anything, I'm an only child too! But I grew up with my best friend so that makes up for it. I want you and Tahno to meet her of course," she shrugged as well, still looking around yet not finding her in sight. Ah, she should hear her if she called.
The raised brow on the man's face showed he was curious but he was patient, wondering exactly what kind of best friend the Avatar would have… probably some fire bending girl, considering that the former Avatar Aang was sort of best friends with Fire Lord Zuko and seeing the girl's proficiency with the element. That made sense.
Of course, he was wrong, when the girl whistled and a large Polarbear dog bounded around the corner and pounced on him. "Well, this makes sense too, I guess," he mumbled, not realizing he had said it out loud, only noticing it when he saw the amused look on Korra's face.
"Mingy meet Naga, Naga meet Mingy," Korra chuckled, helping the earth bender to his feet once she managed to push the behemoth off of him.
An hour later, they were somewhere in the heart of Republic City. The training grounds Tahno had reserved for them was somewhere nearby her; apparently, the captain didn't like practicing at the arena's gym viewing it as adequate as well as not liking the possibility of other teams walking in on their practices. So, a private place was rented for the Wolfbats and their sponsors, the White Falls, were more than happy to oblige.
The girl looked up at the statue of Fire Lord Zuko while Ming was off somewhere in one of the stores, buying the three (he, she and Naga) of them lunch. She was, admittedly, staring off with her head in the clouds as the great Polarbear dog decided she wanted to nap. She was only brought out of her reverie when a booming voice cut through the usual buzz of the busy city.
"Come one, come all and see Pabu the fantastic Fire Ferret as he crosses the ladder of peril, upside down!" the guy, perhaps a year or two older than himself, gasped in a rather dramatic yet silly way. He had a weird outfit as well as a weird expression on his face – although what really caught Korra's eye was the outrageous fake moustache he was sporting that the girl couldn't help but stifle a laugh.
The Fire Ferret, Pabu, paid no heed to his owner, busy with grooming its paws until the guy started whispering to the little critter. This only proved to amuse the girl even more as she worked her way from where she stood, towards the foot of the Fire Lord's statue. A round of applause was, at least, well deserved when the ferret went on its front paws, crossed the so called ladder of peril and landed with a somersault with a loud 'Ta da!' from the guy. Some passerby tossed a coin into the cup as the guy went into a spiel of gratitude. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen! You are too kind, seriously too kind! You can come back here and put money right in this – okay, that's fine, that's fine. One yuan down, twenty nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine to go…" The last part was said with a sigh.
"Sooo, what do you need thirty thousand yuans for?" Korra pondered out loud, leaning forward with curiosity as she looked down at Pabu, the little thing returning the gaze with one of its own. "Name's Korra, by the way," she added with a smile at the mustachioed guy.
Pabu's owner looked up from the collection cup and did a fancy sweep of the hand and a bow, only managing to make himself a bit more ridiculous. "I am Bolin; and well, Miss Korra, the yuans are required to fund the Fantastic Fire Ferrets! So for just twenty nine, ninety nine, ninety nine, you get ringside seats to watch us in action as we kick ass and win the tournament! And maybe a date with me," he spoke with a wink.
Korra, of course, couldn't help but laugh at the guy's antics but shrugged apologetically, turning out her pockets while she did so. "Sorry dude, I don't really have any money. I could if I would and I don't think Tahno or even Ming would lend me thirty grand if I asked them," she sighed, noticing the look that swept across Bolin's face when she spoke of her teammates.
"You're with the Wolfbats?" he whispered, incredulously, almost fearfully. His eyes glanced from side to side, nervous that the members of said team might show up to take him down. It would be easy, to make him disappear, and that would certainly cripple the Fire Ferrets with only his brother and the replacement water bender girl left after Hasook had left them.
There was a roll of the eyes. "Hey, don't worry! Just because we're against each other in the ring doesn't mean we have to be out of it, right?" she said reassuringly to the guy with a friendly smile on her face. She knelt down, reaching out a hand for Pabu to stroke his head. The little ferret didn't do much except to lean into the touch.
Bolin laughed nervously but started to look chipper anyway as he nodded; "I guess you're right." He only agreed when no Wolfbat had attacked him. Still, he was a bit nervous and cautious, considering the team's… reputation. This girl seemed nice enough; could it be that she was tricked into joining the team? "But yeah, if I don't get that money, we won't be able to play in the championship. I guess your team has it covered though, huh? You're the fire bender replacement, right? I heard about that; but I was just figuring with your water tribe getup that you are a water tribe gal."
"Oh, a common mistake, that's all; not everyone has to be color coded you know? I'm a fire bender," Korra laughed nervously, crossing her arms and glancing off to the side; it wouldn't do good to out that she was the Avatar right now. Some of the Order of the White Lotus guards had been giving her curious glances ever since she got home from that match and she wondered if her name was announced over the radio. It was a blessing that Tenzin didn't watch or even listen to the sport. "But, eh, White Falls probably has it covered. I didn't know about needing to give some yuans until you told me. I hope you guys get the money though; I heard you and your brother are really good, it'd be cool if we face each other on the field!" she continued with a radiant grin.
The Fire Ferret earth bender couldn't help but grin back, seeing the look on the girl's face, as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly and nodded. "If it means seeing you on the field, than I'm sure I'll get the money!" he laughed good naturedly until panic flashed across his features again.
This made Korra look back to see Ming holding out a bulky plastic bag. The older earth bender had an unpleasant expression on his face, not exactly hostile but not exactly friendly either, when he saw who his teammate was talking with. "Got us some dumplings Korra… Hello Bolin," he mumbled, greeting the other guy with an aloof tone. Korra figured they just knew each other because they were both pro benders after all.
Bolin, nervously, gave him a lopsided and half hearted smile and nodded. "Hi Ming," he muttered back then looked at the Wolfbat's fire bender awkwardly when the girl retrieved two dumplings from the bag and handed one to him. He mumbled his thanks, looking at the snack suspiciously but didn't think too long on it – these were his favorite!
"Scho, Minghee, thirshee shoundand chuans?" Korra said with a mouth full, trying to cut the awkward air, perhaps serving to do the opposite and increased the tension between the two earth benders. This also merited a wilting gaze from the guy, telling her to chew her food properly first, Ming only refusing to verbally do so as he had his mouth full as well. She merely shrugged, grabbing another dumpling from the bag and continued eating.
Ming rolled his eyes and swallowed, looking at the scene before him with narrowed eyes and sighed. "Let me guess, you're trying to scrounge up some money for the entry fee right?" he muttered dryly, earning a meek nod from the younger man. There was a groan as he placed a hand in his pocket and took out some paper bills, unceremoniously dropping them into the paper cup with a huff. The money he had given would at least be around a thousand yuans but, from the look on the guy's face, it was as if he had just dropped some change. "You don't tell anyone – anyone – about this, especially not Tahno or your brother. Get a job or find a sponsor, don't get in trouble kid," he mumbled, his eye wandering over to the side when he grabbed Korra by the arm. There was a red car on the opposite block and he knew who owned it and didn't exactly want to be seen by them. "Come on Korra, we'll be late for training. We don't want Tahno whining…"
The girl wanted to protest, seeing as it was too early and curious to the guy's actions but only managed to choke with her mouth full as her teammate dragged her by the collar off to one side of the monument. They didn't go too far though as Ming merely stood them off to the shadow's of the statue, close enough that they could still eavesdrop on Bolin.
"What the heck, Ming?" Korra started to hiss, growing red in the face when the guy just shot her a warning glance and placed a finger up to his mouth in a shushing gesture.
The girl only did as she was told when there was the roar of an engine as a Satomobile parked in front of Bolin and a seedy looking guy stepped out, greeting the young earth bender with a crooked smile. She couldn't help wonder what was going on and why Ming pulled her away like that and why on earth the guy was eavesdropping on the two. She had managed to see when the guy, Shady Shin as Bolin had called him, dropped a thick wad of cash into the collection cup. When she looked back at her teammate, the expression on his face and the hardness in his eyes scared her.
Before she could say anything else, there was the sound of tires speeding off and Bolin was gone, taken away by the man in the red Satomobile… What's more, Pabu was left behind, wondering where his owner was taken off to. "What the heck happened?" Korra wondered, a confused expression on her face as she walked over to the little critter and held out a hand to him. Pabu sniffed, staring, before climbing up her arm and on to her shoulder; this was the nice lady who had given Bolin a dumpling. She glanced at Ming worriedly, seeing the dark look on his features. "Did you manage to catch anything of what they were saying?"
There was a grumble as the guy nodded; "That kid… I warned him, he didn't listen." He ran a hand through his hair with exasperation. "He's with the Triple Threat Triads and business with those guys only means trouble."
"Triple Threat Triads? I beat up some of those yahoos when I got into town… Why would Bolin get tangled up with them?" she muttered, her brows knitting together as she thought of the Fire Ferret earth bender. He had seemed like a nice guy, funny and nice even; why get mixed up with mafia and thugs? Did they really need money that badly?
Ming sighed, looking older than he was right now with what had happened. "Working for them means trouble, yeah, but it also means big money if you know what you're doing. This is… worrying though, to see a Triad just hiring and picking people off the streets in broad day light. There's probably a turf war of some sort and they're all getting ready for it," he explained through gritted teeth. He looked as if he was about to chase after the Triad car but shook his head and smiled lamely at Korra; "Ah, this is none of our business anyway. I tried to warn him; we shouldn't get in trouble for his mistakes."
Korra wilted, annoyed, but then grew furious when she realized something. "Hey! I'm the Avatar and part of my job description happens to mean helping people! And Bolin's a friend, even if we only met for a little while. So I'm going to save the guy whether you're coming with me or not," she told him off, arms crossing and a particularly fiery look in her eyes.
The Wolfbat earth bender looked as if he was going to smack himself too. He didn't want to get tangled up because this girl might get hurt – of course, he forgot that said girl was the Avatar, considering his and Tahno's promise to her that they wouldn't tattle on her as being such. And if she wanted to help and was going off, he rather she didn't do it alone.
"I know where to look."
OMAKE TIME! Is it an Omake? What is a Omake? Extra-chapter thingy? Whatever!
"Aside from Tahno, Shaozu and Sho? No, not really. I grew up an only child," he replied with a shrug.
That he did.
Ming was the son of earth benders and proud officers under Chief Bei Fong's police force. Because of his parent's occupation as well as his father's lineage, he was a well off child – privileged even, compared to other children of his generation. He wasn't spoiled though, quite the opposite of that, as his father was a strict man who adhered to certain rules and principles. His father wanted make sure that his son was prepared to follow in his footsteps or become even better than him if he could; Ming was sent to the finest school in Republic City and was tutored under the best teachers that their connections and money could get them.
The young earth bender never opposed any of his father's choices and wishes for him. In his eyes, his father and mother were the best, heroes of this city and he wanted to be just like them. He wanted to make them proud. Ming was often praised as a hardworking and studious student, both in school and in earth bending. His parents were proud of him and of the young man he was becoming; there was always that gleam in his father's eyes that said so. He was the perfect son any parent could ever ask for. He was going to be the perfect big brother as well, perhaps, for her mother was pregnant with his little sister.
Of course, human and perfection never went hand in hand. Everything started to crumble when Ming's mother died during an investigation on Yakon. They couldn't prove it was him though, as they couldn't prove other numerous crimes on the slippery bastard. It had all happened so fast, without warning – and ever since that day, that gleam in his father's eyes was gone, only a dull void was what remained. Not only had they lost a wife and a mother, they had only lost a daughter and a sister, the woman having been five months pregnant at her death.
His father started to ask more of him, afraid that his son might meet just a bad a fate as his mother if he didn't work harder. Ming tried to meet his demands but he felt as hollow as his father was, maybe even more, with the thought that his mother would never smile at him again and – worst off, his father was no longer and never will be proud of him ever again.
He started to slack off, stayed away from home, hanged out with the wrong crowd and got in trouble with the law more than once. The earth bender hadn't crumbled to dust yet but he was desperate, confused and lost. Matters only grew worst when he was recruited for the Triple Threat Triads; he didn't need the money, he just wanted to feel alive, something that bending brought him and his father did not want him to join the police force… this was the next best thing, sort of.
It worked well enough at first, he was usually placed on small jobs. Nothing much, considering they knew who his father was. They wouldn't trust him with big jobs, figuring he might be some sort of police bug but their minds were changed eventually. Later on, he was assigned to a high profile job, guarding one of the bosses while he met with someone who owed them a big sum of money. Taking it was the worst mistake he would ever take in his life; that night was the night he killed his own father. He didn't intentionally kill his old man, Ming would never do that. It was an accident – yet he would never forgive himself.
They were swarmed by the police at the meeting place, his father among them. When they had seen each other, the disappointment and anguish on his father's face was obvious and so was the shame on his; his father didn't know of his involvement with the mafia group until now. Ming was tasked to block the way no matter what while the big bosses escaped; his father was persistent… there was a cave in at a tunnel and he never made it out.
He was desperate, lost and confused again when he thought he finally found out the answers to his questions. Then, desperation turned to anger; anger at himself and at the Triple Threat Triads. They were all scum and so was he. He left the group but didn't leave a good impression after picking a fight with the others and he was constantly targeted by Triad members if they ever saw him.
That is, until Tahno showed up.
The water bender had found him in the middle of a fight, an unfair one at that, against three Triad members. He just watched as Ming brought them down with his skills, no holds barred, no mercy, no nothing. There was no match of course, one against three, and he was beaten down to the ground. He only managed to survive when the water bender scared them away.
Tahno admired his spirit and Ming, was in a way, indebted to him. So when he invited him to Narook's, he certainly couldn't say no. Some of the principles his father had taught him back then was still there, rooted inside him somewhere.
The offer Tahno made at Narook's was quite odd though. There was a fire bender brat along with them and the boy spoke of making a pro bending team, the best the world would ever see. It was a strange ambition for him but, nonetheless, being in a pro bending team was certainly a safer job than being in the mafia. So why not?
Theenumeration: I blush. Seriously. It's not everyday you're told that your fanfic is a bit better than the original!
furrycheese521: Keeping it up right now!
Kigaroo: I like making the canon background characters interesting. :P
xAngelicxDevil: Not a bad idea!
Any reviewers interested in being cameo characters (cough Equalist in the next chapter cough)? If you are, just review with a name (that fits the LoK universe), gender and tell me which of the Wolfbats in this AU fic you like the best! I'll be picking out a few I like!
More notes: Ming is cool. But he's a big brother figure, an aniki! Still Tahnorra. But Tahno's kind of a jerk, I won't magically change that right away… these things take time. Time, I tell ya!
Yey for character development! I figured the omake thing at the end will help you guys understand a bit of why Ming reacted and spoke the way he did in this chapter and, possibly, in future chapters. This is my head canon Ming! In the future, I will be posting up head canon Shaozu and Tahno too! It's unfair that only Korra and (spoiler) Tarlok and his bro get a flashback into their childhood. Head canons and childhood flashbacks of non-Wolfbat characters too when there's a want/need for it as well.
And earth benders, in general, rock (pun not intended)! Toph, Lin, Bolin, Ming, all of them! Although I'm more of a water element myself. Also, as to why Bolin and Ming know each other, considering Bolin canonically had some history with the mafia and Ming head-canonically used to work for the Triads, there's probably at least one point where they met briefly. I need to stop letting my friends read the chapters before I publish them though. The same girl who joked about Shaozu x Korra suggested Ming x Bolin after reading this one…
But yeah, as mentioned in Korra and Bolin's exchange: not everyone has to be color coded. That's my only miff against Avatar (both Aang's and Korra's series), oh, aside from Makorra being canon (and maybe Kataang, a bit…)… Why does everyone have to be color coded? Is it like a law or something? If was a bender, I would choose another color and be like "Hah! You thought I was a –insert element here- bender because of my clothes!".
Fun fact: My head canon dictates that the Wolfbat's sponsor, the White Falls, is a makeup and selfcare company (not sure if selfcare is what its called, sorry, ESL). That explains where Tahno gets all his guyliner, shampoo, conditioner and skin care products from.