Chapter 3: Make Money Not Peace.

**Thirty minutes later**

**Jason POV**

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN SORRY FOR THE DELAY THERE WAS A SMALL...."INTERRUPTION" WE HAD TO CLEAN UP THE RING AFTER THE LAST MATCH. AND JUST IN CASE ANY OF YOU ARE WORRIED DON'T WORRY THE ROCK IS STILL ALIVE AND IS CURRENTLY BEING TREATED BY HEALERS!. BUT LET US BEGIN THE FOURTEENTH FIGHT OF THE NIGHT" I could hear the voice of the referee from earlier through the walls and the muffled sounds of cheering but I was to focused on wiping bits of blood off my knuckles using the water running from the sink in front of me. I let out a small grunt of exertion as I twisted the wet rag in my hands squeezing a combination of water and red blood out of it that ran down the drain of the bloodstained sink.

"Christ I should invest in some actual gloves these bandages aren't doing shit for my knuckles. But then again the old man is always saying shit about how to properly make a fist or whatever." I thought to myself letting out a small scoff at the thought as I looked at myself in the mirror before quickly reaching for a small black sports bag placed on the floor next to my feet pulling out a black tank top which I put over my exposed torso and replaced my MMA shorts with a pair of dirty looking baggy gray colored jeans. I also pulled out a small pair of sandals from the bag and slid them onto my feet.

I was currently in the changing room of the warehouse which was mainly just a old worn out bathroom in the back that could only fit a few people at best. In all fairness this entire building has like a sixty to seventy percent chance of falling apart any day now because of rust and shit like that but honestly who gives a damn?.

I already have my money from today's match a decent 10'000 yuan which is honestly more then I've ever made from previous matches. But I guess because that rock dude or whatever his name was is some sort of local legend around here so people probably felt confident in betting a lot on him winning.

But I don't feel bad for the idiots who bet this type of money on him winning. This entire city is full of idiots who bet money on dumb shit like this. If some dude cant pay his rent this month or whatever because he lost money betting against me its there fault not mine.

I wonder what I should spend this money on when I get out of here. Maybe a new bike! That'd be cool. I mean a few parts of it are kind of stuck together with duct tape so I probably should've gotten it repaired or replaced a long time ago.

Actually....Dammit I already know what I need to spend it on but I hate the fact I have to spend it on THAT in the first place.

"Damn I forgot to bring a lighter. Today sucks" I thought to myself as I reached into my jean pocket pulling out a box of cigarettes which after shaking for a little I could feel a few cigarettes inside of the box shake a little which was good. What WASN'T good was the fact I forgot to bring a damn lighter.

For some reason I feel obligated to say "Don't smoke kids drugs are bad" which is weird.

As I let myself be swallowed by misery at the fact I forgot a lighter I heard the door of the changing room open and the sound of multiple pairs of footsteps and as I looked into the mirror in front of me to subtly look behind me I could see a small group of seemingly normal dudes walk into the room around six or seven of them who made it quite clear that they were staring at my back for some reason.

Yep these dudes are definitely not subtle I highly doubt these guys are some weird fight fans who wanted to see me just to "Talk". And my suspicions were basically confirmed as one of the larger dudes quickly closed the door behind them almost slamming it.

I wanted to roll my eyes but at that point I'd only look cringy by acting like some sort of dramatic protagonist whose like "Oh no I'm stuck in a room with a bunch of strangers let me noticeably shit my pants". I simply hummed to myself as I quickly put my rag into my bag after using it to wipe some bits of sweat that were still on my forehead after my last match.

A part of me was internally hoping that these guys were just a group of dudes who conveniently had to take a dump at the same time in there friend group.

"OI kid your names Jason right?. I would like to talk to you for a moment." One of the men eventually said after a moment of silence in a very forced friendly tone of voice. They were a dude with a bit of facial hair covering his face and chin he had kind of pale skin with short black hair and light brown eyes who wore a black hoodie and jeans.

Damn I guess I cant have nice things.

I let out a small sigh clearly trying to hide my annoyance simply because I didn't want to make the situation worse then it already was by being openly hostile as I calmly turned to face the dude no longer staring at them through the mirror.

"What's up man what do you need?." I casually said still trying to hide my annoyance but kind of failing miserably as my voice kept its oh so attractive tone of constant anger. The result of years of not giving a fuck and talking shit.

"Look kid you had a very good match and personally I respect that it was very entertaining. HOWEVER my boss had me and my friends here bet A LOT of HIS money on our other friend the Rock winning this match and we cant exactly go back to him after losing so much money you know?." The guy said clearly trying to act casual and even friendly probably trying to make me sympathize with his situation but I already knew where this was going.

"So its one of those situations again huh?" I thought to myself rolling my eyes.

"Yeah man that sucks I wouldn't want to lose that much money either but I cant really help you guys." I said no longer trying to hide the annoyance in my voice as I gave them a subtle hint that I wasn't interested in whatever the hell they were about to propose.

And I guess the dude seemed to understood what I meant by my words as I saw his face twitch and morph a little starting to seem annoyed a little but as he spoke I could see he was still trying to be "Civil".

"You see that's the thing.....You CAN help us if you just give us every CENT you've made tonight we will have no problems anymore. I understand this is kind of a shitty deal and honestly we should've approached you before the match and paid you an agreed upon amount for you to throw the match but I guess we overestimated that idiot the Rock or whatever his name is. But if you just give us that bag you got there we'll just take the money and everyone goes home happy." The man calmly said trying to seem friendly even with his less then subtle threat.

".....And If I refuse?" I said but I already knew what there response would be as I just let out an annoyed sigh and cracked my neck.

"....Look kid I'm sure your very tough but even you know you cant win in this situation.Your outnumbered seven to one and we've blocked the only entrance and even if your an earthbender this room doesn't have much earth for you work with. I'm sure you could make your money back after a few more matches your strong your talented you wouldn't want too end your career over some money now would you?" The man said no longer pretending to be friendly as he practically glared at me and as he said this he stuck out his open palm as a small ball of fire formed in his hands.

A firebender huh? Been a while since I've seen one in Ba Sing Se.

And as I looked at the other guys behind him I could see that two of them had there hands in there coat pockets which was a pretty clear sign they were armed with SOMETHING. I highly doubt it was a gun with the gun laws here in Ba Sing Se but I have the literal scars that prove that the people here aren't afraid to stab others to get what they want.

I just let out a small sigh before grabbing my box of cigarettes from my pocket taking one out of my small box before pocketing the box as I then offered the cigarette in the direction of the mans face.

"Hey man can I bum a light off of you real quick before we start?" I said sarcastically unable to stop the smirk that crawled on my face as I saw the opportunity for a joke arise.

That only seemed to piss off the dude thought as he spoke again now in an angry tone of voice no longer pretending to be civil. 

I guess hes not a fan of sarcasm.

"Do you think this is a joke kid or do I need to leave you looking like fire lord Zuko for you to get the message?. Give me the damn bag." The guy said in a angry but firm tone of voice as the small orb of fire in his palms seemed to only grow larger and more intense.

"Damn I cant have any fun today." I muttered to myself and without telling the dude anything else I just placed the cigarette I held in my hand over the ember in front of me lighting the tip of it before I held it in my mouth for a moment. I could feel myself relax a bit as I inhaled a breath of the smoke before taking the cigarette out of my mouth and blowing a puff of smoke directly into the confused looking firebenders face before dropping the cigarette to the floor and stomping it out with my sandal covered feet. What a waste of a good cigarette I thought to myself I calmly took my sandals off and looked away from the men looking at the mirror again.

"You guys might as well lock the door before we get started. I don't want any of you to run away like bitches." Was all I said letting the firebender and his cronies know that if he wanted to take my money he'd have to talk it from my cold dead arms.

A moment of silence filled the air before I heard the small click of the door to the changing room being locked. That was the only green light I needed to get things started.

For a moment the firebender just stared at Jason in silence before winding his fist back and swinging it forward throwing a small fireball at the back of Jason's head but in that same motion Jason rotated his body spinning around as he ducked underneath the flames which left a small hole in the wall behind Jason as Jason quickly dashed forward closing the distance between him and the shocked looking firebender. but it was to late as Jason was already winding up an uppercut but at the same time one of the floor tiles of the changing room underneath them rattled before going up as it moved in the same direction as Jason's fist slamming into the firebenders at the same exact time as when Jason's fist connected in a upwards motion.

**CRUNCH**

The now unconscious firebenders head snapped back after getting hit directly in the jaw by such a brutal attack and the six other men seemed caught off guard by how quickly there friend was knocked out but they quickly responded as there fight or flight instincts kicked in.

"H-HES AN EARTHBENDER STAB HIM BEFORE HE STARTS THROWING MORE FLOOR TILES!." One of the men shouted as he and another man both pulled out box cutters from there coats and quickly rushed at Jason attempting to pressure him.

The closer of the two men swung there knife forward slashing at Jason's neck who quickly side stepped to the left dodging the slice narrowly and at the same time he grabbed the man with his right hand covering half of his face and even his eye with his palm as he seemed to palm his face.

At that moment as the man felt Jason's grip covering his face the man thought to himself "This grip feels different"

The man had been grabbed before in the past and had even been lifted by larger adults. However despite the fact Jason was younger then him and they were around the same height and size he had never felt a grip this strong before in his life. With just a single hand Jason was putting actual pressure on his entire skull and for some reason there grip felt more....Solid more secure.

You wanna know the secret to this abnormal grip?.

Simple its called polydactyly.

Polydactyly is a condition where someone has an extra finger or toe and Jason has a rather severe case where he has an extra finger and toe on both hands and feet. Now this may not seem impressive but let me ask you something if you gave someone whose already abnormally strong with an abnormally strong grip strength and gave them an extra finger to work with what would happen?.

Well here's the result.

"AAAHHH!." The man let out a shocked shout as he was suddenly lifted off of his feet with a single hand and before his friend who was now frozen as they watched in shock as there friend was lifted up and swung at them like a actual human nunchuck knocking him into the wall making them both drop there box cutters. Jason was literally using his extra finger to properly grab his opponent by there BONE and then use there abnormal strength and grip to lift them up and swing them around beating the other men in the room with there friend taking advantage of the fact the changing room was small allowing him to hit them pretty easily.

In simplified terms your ass is grass if Jason grabs a hold of you.

**POW** **POW** **POW**

Jason swung the man three more times hitting multiple of the men at once pushing two of them back and knocking one off of his feet but as he tried to get back up and tackle Jason by there feet there face was quickly enveloped as Jason stomped his face into the mans face.

The man then felt a sharp pain completely cover there face as Jason's TOES grabbed onto there face forcing the mans head to slam into the ground as he basically stomped them down as Jason continued swinging the other man he already had in his hands at the other men in the room.

Even Jason's TOES were enough to grab a man and actually push them around.

"Y'all are fucking light if you wanted to get your money don't let me throw you like this!." *Jason said sarcastically now that six of the seven original men were knocked out after having a literal grown mans body slammed into their bodies over and over. But then Jason heard the sound of running water behind him as he quickly turned his head noticing that one last man had simply gone into the corner of the room while Jason was swinging there friend around avoiding getting knocked out. And as Jason saw them moving their arms in a circular motion he saw a rope of water floating in the air and pouring out of the bathroom sinks.

"A waterbend-SHIT!." Jason thought to himself as he leaped back barely dodging as the other man snapped there arms causing the floating stream of water to snap forward like a whip barely missing him. Jason attempted to step forward but had to once again step to the side weaving his body side to side as the waterbender repeatedly snapped there whip of water forward over and over again putting some distance between the two.

"Hes a waterbender but he doesn't seem to be all that skilled otherwise he'd have taken all the water from this buildings pipes and water system to attack me with. Or he would've at least used the water from the toilets to attack me.....Wait I should probably beat him before he gets that toilet idea." Jason thought to himself before the waterbender mid whip strike swung both of there outstretched palms to the left causing there whip of water to curve to the side mid snap catching Jason off guard as he leaned his head back attempting to dodge but wasn't able to dodge completely as the water slashed his cheek leaving a semi deep cut. As Jason felt blood run down the side of his face he could tell that it wasn't to serious but it still hurt like a bitch.

"Strike strike slash slash strike slash strike slash." Jason thought to himself barely able to dodge the incoming strikes as the stream of water snapped and slashed at him as though it was a floating blade and with each weave he felt another small cut form on his body with each movement of the water as it scraped against his body. However despite this Jason forcefully kept his composure and it finally paid off because as the waterbender rotated his palms again preparing yet another slash Jason grinned to himself.

"Your predictable!." Jason thought to himself already rotating his hips before the waterbender could prepare another attack throwing a seemingly normal kick that only hit the air seeming to miss the waterbender who was staring at Jason from a distance. 

At first the waterbender thought Jason had miscalculated the distance of the kick.

That was until he heard the door of the bathroom stall he was standing in front of begin to creak.

"Metalbendi-?!" The waterbender thought to himself before the metal door of the bathroom stall flew off its hinges and flew forward slamming into the waterbenders body completely swallowing his body as he and the door were smacked into the wall. The earlier kick was just a simple feint Jason used to throw the waterbender off as he used the motion of throwing a kick to metalbend the surrounding stall doors of the bathroom.

"Fuuuuck why cant I go a day without someone picking a fight with me. Am I that much of a asshole?" Jason thought to himself wincing a little as he examined his body. He was mainly undamaged somehow except for a handful of small cuts that covered his chest and shoulders from the earlier waterbender. The most damage he took actually was the larger cut he felt on his cheek but he could probably fix that with a bandage.

"If you guys don't want to lose money then don't bet against me....Assholes AND I'm taking your shit." Jason muttered to no one in particular since he was the only one still conscious left in the room as he tried catching his breath. He then begun looking into the pockets of each one of the men quickly taking there wallets out and emptying all the contents of the wallets by taking the Yuan and slipping it into his sports bag.

"Hey I KNEW this guy had a lighter." Jason exclaimed as he reached the firebenders pockets taking out a small lighter along with the guys wallet chuckling a little at the fact he had called it as he calmly reached into his own pocket pulling out another cigarette which he placed into his mouth before lighting the tip of it with the lighter which he would now "Borrow" for the rest of eternity.

Or until he lost it there is really no in between.

"Dammit this cut is still fucking bleeding if the old man sees this hes going to know where I got this money from. If I get my ass kicked its your guys fault." Jason muttered as he kicked one of the nearby men in the gut even while they were unconscious clutching at his now bloodied cheek as he finally walked out of the changing room after sliding his sandals back on his feet.

But hey if there is ONE plus side to all of this. Jason was now 10'000 yuan richer plus 500 yuan if he counts the money he "Borrowed" from those guys wallets.

In his eyes that balanced out the potential consequences of his actions.