Triads, Try-Outs, & Tours

"Yea, lets go," Mortal said.

--

Gabe let out a long sigh, and smiled again, "Kind of a stressful game. Well, pre-game, anyway. Glad it all worked out."

*Euryale smiles sheepishly as everyone files into the dressing room.*

R"Congrats!"

*He flings his fingers, sending tiny sparks into the air, like fireworks. They crackle & disappear after a few seconds.*

Gabe chuckled at the fireworks display, and said, "Thanks."

Mortal gave Euryale a hug, "You were great out there!"

Astarte stood next to Roatha and smiled, but obviously felt a little out of place.

*Euryale hugs her back.*

E"Thanks. But I'm a little ache-y."

*She turns her head to Gabe.*

E"And you have to do this 3 more times? Then repeat for the next season?"

*Tirea nods, now looking very tired. She takes off her helmet and puts it away, yawning*

<Yep. We'll have to find a permanent replacement if Syn doesn't come back....>

"Yea, you were great out there, but I don't think I could convince you to quit the force," Gabe said with a chuckle.

"I would hope not," Mortal continued, "Life would be a lot more dull without Euryale there."

"I'm sure we'll find someone," Gabe said, "Maybe I can put an add out on the radio. Hold a quick try-out. I could try to get a sponsor while I'm at it..." Gabe put away her helmet, and pads away before sitting down on a bench. "Thanks for coming, by the way. It is always fun to play when friends are in the stands."

R"No problem. You weren't bad yourself, by the way. I especially liked that part where you flew into the air on a fire rocket."

E"You guys are making me blush."

R"Hey, enjoy it while it lasts. I don't imagine Beifong is the type to lavish you with heaps of praise."

*Roatha folds his hands behind his head as Euryale disengages from Mortal & pulls her helmet off.*

E"Be that as it may, Mortal doesn't need to worry about losing me. The game wasn't bad, but I prefer crime-fighting. I get to Metalbend, and when I take someone down, they don't get to hit back."

*She turns to Gabe.*

E"But if you need help getting your new teammate up to snuff, I'd be glad to offer them some earthbending pointers. Though I can't tomorrow, obviously. We've got that important bust."

[Maybe I'll get my parents to show up next time.]

*Tirea also puts her pads away, then puts on a coat*

<Good luck on whatever you're doing tomorrow.>

"Thanks, Roatha," Gabe said with a smile. At 'Mortal doesn't have to worry about losing me' she let out a little, "D'aww." She then nodded towards Euryale, "Yea, that would be great. I can't imagine there is a pristine Earthbender just waiting to be found out there, so whoever we get might need a little work. It'd be great if you could help with that."

"Speaking of that important bust, we should get to bed," Mortal said, "We're going to need to be well rested for tomorrow."

As if punctuating that point, Astarte suppressed a dainty yawn.

*Euryale scratches her head at the d'aww, but concedes the point, & finishes getting dressed.*
-------------------------------------------------
*The next day, the dynamic duo presumably wakes up fairly late, before heading in to their late shift, & reporting to the Chief.*

Beifong<Wasn't sure if you were going to come in today. I thought maybe celebrity status might have gone to your head.>

"What?"

Beifong<The Pro-Bending match.>

"Oh, yeah...I mean, no...I was just helping out for that night...."

*Euryale scratches the back of her head.*

Beifong<Well, get your coat. We have to head to the perimeter.>
===================================
*Monu has also come in for his shift at Astarte's cafe, for training.*
===================================
*Eduj & Hector wake up half-frozen in a chunk of ice, staring up into the setting sun to a colony of buzzardwasps circling overhead. Looking around, they can see the mountains of the shoreline in the distance.*
===================================
*Putting the ads up cost most of their share of the payment from last night, & the payoff is a little underwhelming. Gabe & Tirea are waiting at a table in the Jasmine Dragon, which has volunteered their space & a limited time offer of free food & drink to conduct interviews. Probably because they are one of the few to respond to the ad. Also in the restaurant is a man with slicked-back black hair in a red business suit, carrying a briefcase.*
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*Noctis had heard a radio ad last night, to the effect that the Dancing Dragons needed a sponsor. Other than that, she has nothing else to do, though Senthose had informed her via a "client" that she needed an alibi for the night.*
===================================
*Nearly all of the Purists who made the move to the Northern Base are assembled in said base.*

Leader<We'll need to surround Zolt's estate without drawing attention to ourselves. That comes later. Once Zolt or Senthose is dead, Ivan will fire an assassination shot at the other. Meanwhile, I will send off a signal flare, so that Vanessa can attack from the other side. Once we begin, everyone who isn't a Purist or hiding in their basements is a target. Aamon will, of course, stay behind, because he is a bloody weakling, as well as a coward.>

*Aamon's voice echoes from the basement.*

Aamon<Damn right!>

*Monu's enters the cafe and smiles*

<Good evening!>
---
*Tirea drums her figures on the table, looking both bored and stressed*

"Yes ma'am," Mortal said, before smiling a bit at the fact that Beifong knew Euryale was in the game.

--

Noct quickly puts two and two together, and decides that responding to the ad would be a good way to have a lot of people know where she was that night. With that in mind, she leaves instructions for her secretary to hold her calls, and makes her way over to the Jasmine Dragon.

--

Gabe is presumably waiting for an Earthbender to show up so she can put them to the test. To pass the time Gabe made a little dragon out of chopsticks. When she was done she smiled, held it up, and showed it to Tirea. She put her finger behind the dragon's head, and made it look like it was breathing fire with a tiny get of flame.

*Tirea smiles and laughs, brightening a bit*

<That's great!>

Astarte sat on her stool behind the counter, waiting for orders as usual. Her father, Sidon, had waited to greet Monu at the door after ringing him and telling him that his application was accepted and that he could come in to work.
"Hello, there," Sidon extended a hand. "Today should be a light day. I thought you should come in as soon as possible and I could show you the ropes."

Hector awoke before Eduj and swore profusely. Once composed, he began shaping the chunk of ice into a raft, using the water around them to add on to it. He also took the time to melt whatever ice was still attached to himself and Eduj.
"God damn that woman, I'll kill her," He muttered to himself as he finished construction. Eduj woke up at this point and looked around, wincing at a pain in his shoulder as he sat up.

Dalia had taken up the newspaper once her father was done with it and looked over the ads section, hoping to find somebody calling for employees.

*The manager of this particular Jasmine Dragon, a brown-haired lady in the typical uniform, but darker green & with gold lacing in the shape of a lotus flower around the collar, sits down at the table, folding her hands & smiling.*

<I assume it's okay if I take the interview first since, after all, we are in my tea house?>
=====================================
*Euryale grabs a dark green/brown coat, throwing it over hear armor, & follows Beifong out. They then drive to the restaurant that everyone knows, but no one can prove, is Triple Threat headquarters. Around the parking area are several armored trucks & police cars in a ring. Metalbending police officers are stationed in between. Each "station" has a lookout with a flashlight. There are even a pair of airships circling overhead, shining lights in the alley ways. When they park, & get out of their respective cars, Euryale walks briskly behind Beifong.*

"Chief, if I may be so bold as to ask, are we...sure about all of these officers?"

<Yes. I've taken all of the suspects off of the case.>
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<Ma'am, that's a pretty long walk. Should I call a car for you?>
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*Hector may continue.*
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*Dalia finds that the power plant, the train station, & Sato Industries are all looking for Firebenders.*

*Monu shakes his hand*

<Sounds good sir!>
---
*Eve decides she still has some time, and heads to a telescope shop*

[I might as well order what i need now, so I don't forget later.]
---
Tirea:<Of course!>

*Tirea smiles politely*

Gabe smiled a bit wider when Tirea smiled, then put down her little toy and looked over at the manager. Still in a good mood, Gabe jovially said, "Yes, that would be great." Gabe folded her hands and asked, "What is your name?"

--

"Good to know," Mortal said, beside Euryale.

--

Noct thought about it for a second, then returned to her office, "Yes, please do. Thank you for reminding me. I'm sure I would have regretted walking before getting halfway there."

<Of course you're welcome, ma'am,.>

*She makes a quick phone call.*

<It's waiting outside, ma'am.>
================================
*Beifong sighs, pointing at a stack of Yuans in a police car.*

Beifong<What is that?>

*A cop black hair in a ponytail & a medal that identifies her as a Firebender approaches Beifong, saluting.*

???<When you turned Tarrlok and Keter away yesterday, barring them from assisting with the operation, they returned this morning, each insisting on making an "unrelated donation to the force.">
==================================
<I apologize, I assumed you knew. My name is Jane. Of course, it won't be my name on the sponsor, but that of the Fire Nation Royal Family. Before Mr. Iroh Sr. died, he set up a generous trust Pro-Bending Sponsorship Fund that, today, is worth 120 thousand Yuans per season. But, unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for the other teams, it has been unclaimed since the Boar-Q-Pines violated their contract 3 years ago.>
==================================
*Before the shop owner can even say, "Hello," a man dressed in a blue jumpsuit with a red scarf over his mouth & red gloves runs in behind Eve, shoving her to the ground. He waves his hand, causing a stream of water to emerge from a red waterskin at his side, freezing the door lock shut. He then waves with his other hand, causing it to turn into an ice spike & stab the shop owner, who falls down behind the counter with a yelp. The man then jumps over Eve, dashing off towards the bathroom.*

*Eve remains on the ground for a few seconds, too shocked to move. After regaining her ability to movement, she stumbles over to the counter to see if the shopkeeper is still alive*
---
*Tirea mouth hangs open in amazement*

<The..Fire Nation Royal Family?>

"None of this 'sir' business, dear boy," Sidon grinned as he began walking towards the kitchen, gesturing for him to follow. "Just call me Sidon. Now, your job will mostly involve washing dishes and setting tables- simple enough- but on a busy day I would like you to help Astarte with serving and clearing tables."
Monu would notice Astarte look up at mention of her name, looking disinterested.

"We'll get patched up once we get back," Hector said to Eduj as he took a position standing at the head of the raft and extended his arms out sideways. "I know where we will go. They might not like to see us, but oh well."
Eduj said nothing and Hector began waving his arms in cartwheel motions, propelling the raft. His injured shoulder impaired his speed.

Dalia decided to call Sato Industries and make inquiries.

"Excellent," Gabe said, "I'm Gabriel, and this is Tirea. Now that introductions are out of the way, what would be your terms of sponsorship?" Gabe silently thanked herself for not asking her how good of an earthbender she was.

--

Mortal chuckled a bit, "Unrelated, sure."

--

"Thank you again," Noct said, putting a hand on her shoulder as she walked by, and giving a small smile. Noct then got into the car, and gave instructions for where to go.

*One of the police scanners buzz.*

{Assault in progress, possible robbery, on 52nd Street. Assailant suspected to be Red Monsoon.}

*Beifong nods at a nearby pair of police officers, who get in their car & head off.*

Beifong<That's well outside of the Triad's usual "territory," but nowhere near Zolt. What is Senthose up to?>
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<You would need to change your uniforms from red and blue to the Jasmine Dragon's colors. And, of course, we'd need to have our name attached to the team. Perhaps you could be the "Jasmine Dragons"?>
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*Noctis arrives on the scene about this time.*
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*He appears to be, but is having difficulty breathing, due to there being an ice spike in his chest. Meanwhile, the bathroom door is blown down by a torrent of water, where the assailant has exploded a sink.*
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<Sato Industries, how may I direct your call?>

"A diversion, perhaps?" Mortal suggested.

--

Gabe looked from Tirea, back to the manager of the store, "That doesn't sound too bad." Gabe took note of the fact that one of the council candidates just walked in, and raised her eyebrows. "Well, your terms sound agreeable enough, but I'm sure you'll understand if we wait a bit before making any final calls."

Noct, for her part, simply sat down at a table close to Gabe and Tirea, and looked out the window, waiting for the two not to be preoccupied.