Making A Comeback

{Tahno & Shazou dodge the counterattacks as Gabe & Tirea tumble. Tahno hopes to drown Gabe's attacks out with a hosing foul, while Shazou uses a flamethrower tactic on Tirea & Ming...does something I can't quite make out. While he's distracted Ven, still clinging to the ropes, aims a shot at his gut, but it doesn't manage to knock him back. Halfway through the round, can the Dragons scrape a win from the best, especially when the best are frankly getting a little help from the refs?}
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E"I should hope Tirea isn't capable of bloodbending, as it is illegal to learn, the only exceptions being if the person was tricked into learning it &/or mastered it suddenly in self-defense, as was the case with Katara."
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*They next find themselves at a squat brown building with a green roof called the Shirshu Tavern. There are a few people inside, most of them clustered around one of 3 large Pai Sho tables. The aesthetic is brighter than that of the Blue Spirit, but still fairly dimly lit, presumably so you don't notice all of the cigarette smoke hanging in the air.*

*Tirea ducks away and shoots a stream to counter the flamethrower, after which she fires another stream at Shazou's head, then kicks up and sends some arcs his way*

Noct let out a sigh, and looked at Euryale, "I was just using it as an example. I don't actually think she knows Blood Bending."

--

Gabe sends another two streams at Ming, hoping to overwhelm him after he was hit by Ven.

{Ming goes back a couple of Zones! Tirea tries to mount an offensive, but Tahno waves a hand & bats it away. Hidden in Shazou's attack were chunks of rocks, but Ven stops them.}

Ref<Foul! Earthbending a broken disc, Dragon Earthbender, back to Zone 2.>

"But I didn't BREAK the disc!"

*When he shows her another yellow flag, she makes some kind of frustrated grunting noise & heads back.*

{As soon as the bell is rung to resume, Ven is forced to dodge a fireball to the noggin. Shazou's next shot knocks her back to Zone 3, & Ming continues his flamethrower foul, trying to push Tirea into the side of the ring while Tahno uses a water whip to grab Gabe's arm.}

<How about you & I have a little dance?>

*Tahno pulls. By now his ice is starting to melt, so he re-freezes it around Gabe's injured leg, trying to twist it as he kicks an arc up towards her side.*
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R"Just when I think they can't play any dirtier!"

Astarte glanced at Noctis and then looked back at the game.

The three approached the bar tender and each ordered a pint of beer.

"He is going to seriously injure Gabe!" Mortal said.

Noct kind of hoped that he did, it would be another case she could make against him.

--

Gabe panicked and used a steady stream of fire to melt the ice around her leg so it wouldn't injure her knee. Hopped up on fear and adrenaline she didn't even care about the kick to the side, or being pulled around, though once she felt her leg free she shot a stream of flame at Tahno's neck, anger written across her face.

*Rage also fills Tirea's face, wishing she could kill the ref. She shoots her own streams to counter the flamethrower, all while moving away from the edge of the ring*

*This isn't good enough, & she is quickly knocked back a Zone. Gabe is also given the order to move back a Zone. Tahno stumbles back, his helmet thrown off & his neck covered in burns. If it makes them feel better, they can see Thiera & Aroma standing on their seats & shouting angrily at the referees while waving their Healer hats, & in the seats below them several people are holding up a banner of dancing dragon figures with the message "AT LEAST DRAGONS PLAY FAIR" hastily painted on it.*

{The match is getting uglier by the second, & if the Dragons attempt to respond in kind, they're shut down. It's just sad to watch, folks. Now the Wolfbats have officially been given the green light to advance into Dragon territory, but Gabe is hardly able to make the move.}
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E"That's it, I'm going to stop this."

*Euryale starts to stride out of the room, but Roatha grabs her arm.*

R"Wait! They're down to their last moves. You can't just take away their only hope of winning."
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<Sure. You often drink 'round this seedy Earth Kingdom tavern?>

*He pours the beers & slides them down the bar.*

*Tirea growls and continues her assault on Shazou, her rage adding power to each shot she sends his way*

Gabe frowns and gives her knee a quick rub to soothe it before launching a barrage at Tahno, sending 5 streams of fire, front loaded with force, and relatively weak trails meant to annoy and distract. She sends them one after another aiming for his chest, legs, and arms in random order. When she completes that she spins into a butterfly kick, sending a powerful blast of fire at Ming.

--

Mortal is torn, but her desire to see them fight it out wins, "Yea, Euryale... Just, at least let them try."

{The Dragons break out the teamwork for a final assault. Ven knocks Ming's discs out of the air as Tahno tries to bat away all of Gabe's shots. Oh! Out of nowhere, Gabe knocks Ming back to Zone 3! Shazou & Tirea slug it out &--UNBELIEVABLE! Night's Dancing Dragons just barely manage to secure the round & WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIPS! A lesson for the kids in the audience: Cheaters never prosper.}

*The Wolfbats who are still wearing their helmets throw them angrily to the ground. Tahno sticks his nose up at the Dragons, adjusts his hair, & turns away.*
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*Up in the owner box, Roatha is shooting fire blasts around somewhat irresponsibly. Euryale puts a finger at each corner of her mouth & whistles. While they're both acting like complete tools, they see fit to bring it full circle, & fist bump each other. Euryale throws an arm around Mortal & Noctis each, but then quickly jerks Roatha to attention & points to the lift, which is bringing a group of 6 Purists up to the unsuspecting Pro-Benders. Including the Purist Leader.*

Gabe jumps into the air, and pumps her fist above her head as she reaches the peak of the jump. When she lands she runs, stumbles a bit due to her knee, then continues to run until she scoops up Tirea into a hug, then continues until she reaches Ven and goes to hug her but finally falls to the ground out of exhaustion, and pain, though she is still smiling, "Guys, we did it!" From the floor she doesn't notice the lift full-o-bad-guys.

--

Noct gives a lil' fist pump, but Mortal erupts into riotous cheering. She was about to pull everyone into a big group hug when Euryale pointed out the Purists. She dashes towards the door to the owner's box, "Come on, we have to get them!"

"Be careful!" Noct said. She then looked at Roatha, and Astarte, "We should leave."

*Tirea screams and returns the hug, then runs after her to make it a group hug with Ven*

<I...I can't believe we...>

*Tirea stops cold when she sees the purists, and gets into a defensive stance*

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E"If you're going after the Purists, I'll escort them out of here, & meet up with--"

*That is when the door explodes open from a bomb.*

E"Mortal!"

*But she doesn't have time to make sure Mortal is alright, because she is busy making the guns of the Purists stick to the walls. Vanessa rushes in to take a swing at her, because apparently her scimitars are made of plastic.*
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Tahno<What's going on, Ref?>

Ref<I dunno!>

Tahno<Alright, then...you wanna go? You picked the wrong moment to mess with us!>

*Tahno swings a punch, which the Purist Leader effortlessly dodges by jerking her head aside. She then runs towards Tahno, who tries to fire another shot, but she grabs his arm & smashes his face against her arm guard, knocking him out cold. When Ming fires a disc at her, she catches it & tosses it like a Frisbee, beaning him & knocking him out as well. Shazou wisely tries to run away, but some of the other Purists throw bolas to restrain his wrists & ankles. Ven stomps several times & then thrusts out a palm, causing a torrent of dust to spiral towards the Purist Leader, much to her shock.*

<How--is it an Airbender?!>

*Tirea smirks and gets into a fighting stance. Then she pulls up a large amount of water to use as a shield before sending some of the water out as a water whip at the purist leader*

<YOU'RE RUINING THIS.>

Gabe looks up at what is going on, "Oh, son of a bitch..." She groans and shakily rises to her feet, shooting an arc of lightning at one of her goons.

--

Mortal, apparently caught in an explosion, is knocked aside, and woozily tries to get back up. She shakes her head to clear her vision, and fires a stream of flame at the goons, taking advantage of the opening Euryale made.

Noct deftly opens her flask, and bends two ice needles the size of crossbow bolts at Vanessa, one at her gut and the other at her knee.

Astarte had backed up as far across the room as she could go and was desperately looking for an escape route or something to use as a weapon.

"No, can't say I do," Hector said. "Haven't played a game of Pai Sho for... I don't know how long, either."

Dalia stood up in her seat and looked around the surrounding crowd for signs of Purists or Agni Kais.

Purist Leader<Should I really be concerned about which group of violent bullies I interrupted? Look at you, the way you abuse each other, it's no wonder you think you can treat non-benders the way you do.>

{Something appears to be happening on the field...masked fighters have emerged on the Arena to attack the Pro-Bending teams! Gabe sends one into the Drink with a bolt of lightning, while Tirea & Gabe attack the person I'm assuming is their leader, Ven with her native sandbending. She cartwheels away & tosses a couple of objects on the field which--they're smoke bombs, folks! And judging by the looks of those fumes, I'd say it's not just ash or steam.}

Purist Leader<So, here's the deal: Tonight, there will be no election. Instead, I will be taking every seat on the Council, making sure that my opposition is...dealt with. But first, I want to settle the score with Tenzin! Come down here, if you're man enough to face me! You have...6 shots.>

*She pulls out her fire arm & prepares it to fire, leveling it first at the unconscious Tahno's head.*

V"The powder in that cloud's not rock-based, I can't do anything with it!"
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*Vanessa staggers back, her knee wounded. But it's still only a timely blast from Roatha that presents Euryale from showing off her insides. Vanessa shakily rises to her feet as the other Purists retreat a short distance from the room. As Euryale backs up, she looks out of the window.*

E"Roatha, back up Mortal, protect the Waterbenders! Astarte, heal as needed!"

R"Why, what are you--"

*Euryale punches out the window & hangs out of it. Pushing off with her feet, she launches herself off of the metal wall, towards the arena, like a rocket. When Vanessa lunges for another attack, Roatha shoots a jolt through her, causing her to fall to the ground & convulse.*
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<If you'd like, we can reserve the next table that's open. We'd like to see more regulars around these parts.>
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*What she actually sees is a Red Monsoon running down her alley from one end, & a Purist from the other. Most of the exits have been blocked by ice walls. When a man tries to Bend some of the ice away as water, a shot is fired through the glass dome of the ceiling, & he drops.*

"Great, the exits are blocked," Noct said, bending the ice needle out of Vanessa, and launching it into one of the other goons.

"We need to get to the lower levels, where the player's locker rooms are. We can get out through there without being shot," Mortal said.

--

Gabe shoots a quick flurry of blasts at the Leader's hand, hoping to knock away the gun. She then happens to catch Euryale soaring like an eagle and finds a brief moment to be jealous of Mortal before she refocuses on the task at hand.

Astarte gathered water from whatever source she could.

Dalia threw a ball of fire at the oncoming Purist- large enough to require that he get out of the aisle- and turned to run towards the approaching Monsoon with a thick coiled whip of fire forming around her and blocking her out from above.
Where are the Agni Kais?

"Maybe, maybe," Hector said. "I do like the atmosphere. But before I get playing or anything, there's something I've been hoping someone would be able to help me with. Well, I have a question or two I mean."

*Euryale missed & now has to climb part-way up one of the support beams. Meanwhile, it turns out that the gun has a cord that keeps it tied to her wrist, so she just flicks it & grabs it again. Ven, Gabe, & Tirea are presumably backing to the edge of the ring, coughing on poison smoke, or both.*
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*He frowns nervously.*

<And what would those be?>
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*All she really does is hurt some bystanders. The Monsoon attempts to counter with a drill of multi-colored water conjured up from the drinks around him. At this point, everyone who isn't in the immediate vicinity of a gangster gets up & tries to run...somewhere.*

{It looks like there are also masked assailants in the stands. What is going ON out there?}
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*No one knows where that is. On the other hand, the guy Noctis attacks stumbles out of view, grunting. Vanessa rises, jamming the plastic blades in the ground to try to diffuse the currents that Roatha keeps blasting at her. In the process, her mask begins to fall away.*

Vanessa<Curious, are you? Good, I love seeing that look in you people.>

*She points to the jagged slash mark extending from one side of her forehead down to near the bottom of her cheek. The burn is severe enough that her cheek is sunken in slightly, there is another indentation on the bridge of her nose, & the area around her eye is red with most of the eyebrow being gone. She half-grins-half-snarls at him.*

Vanessa<THIS is what a Firebender did to me! And you know...I always look to return the score, as you Pro-Bending types put it....>

*Tirea covers her face with her sleeve, and backs away. If there are any purists in her line of sight, she tries to freeze them in place with water pulled from below the ring*
---
*Eve, who had been listening to the radio, paces up and down, a cup of now cold tea in her hand*

Noct does, as she has been there before, and was about to lead the way, but stops when some bitch starts monologing. She was about to put on a pair of brass knuckles that was attached to her flask, and beat her down, but Mortal took care of that for her.

Since, presumably, she had to bend down to stab her blades in the ground, Mortal rushed up, and sent a flying knee at her face.

--

Gabe is indeed backing away.

*Tirea can't see shit. Euryale finally gets up & holds out a hand to grab the gun that's flying towards her. Once she has it, she crushes it, & throws it into the water.*

E"Jump down into the water. I have to get the Wolfbats out of here."

<WHO DID THAT?!>

E"Oh, that's right, you can't see me! But I can see you with my Earthbending! And you're right, this will all end tonight--for you!"

<The cop from that night...hurry, get the fans! I want this smoke cloud blown away so I can take her out myself!>

{I hear footsteps at the door...one of those masked assailants is now in the room with me. He is leveling one of those strange devices at me, & I believe he is about to shoot me. I am currently wetting my pants!}
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*Vanessa pulls out one of her weapons to block.*

<You know, sometimes it's a hard contest, but I really do hate Ash Makers the most.>

*She jabs out with 2 fingers at Mortal's shoulder with her free hand.*

*Tirea does that an propels herself away from the ring*