Chapter 6

"We need your help."

The words were pleading, but the eyes and tone were authoritative. He wasn't being posed a request. It was an order.

He gave a sigh and dropped the spoon.

"And why would I help you?"

Their faces turned dangerous. On his right, Malik began to rise. His muscles contracting beneath his shirt. The leader looked at Ronin like he'd dared to stand against his lifelong quest. The last one looked at him serenely with bloodshot eyes.

"When I arrived, you left me on my own to die. And now that you see something you need in me, you think I'll just come over like some obedient dog?"

The spoon in the leader's hand began to steam.

"Be very careful with what you say next."

"Or else what?"

All eyes turned to rest on the figure behind Ronin. A tall lad with dark hair and fierce eyes.

"The f**k is this guy?" the leader said.

"I'll be your worst nightmare."

"Yeah, what he said." spoke another with playful eyes and bright blonde hair.

Ronin couldn't help but smile. Roth and Ben.

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Loud cheers erupted from the spectators seat,eager for the next spill of blood. Their masks hiding their identities from prying eyes while they revelled in the illegal entertainment of the coliseum. So engrossed were they that they didn't notice the lone figure that passed right in front of them, looking apparently normal.

'Too noisy. Too many people... Too much happiness...'

The very atmosphere irritated him so much so that it felt like tiny needles were being pushed beneath his skin. However he'd found the place where the target now was. Find, capture and deliver. It was a shame he couldn't kill but the mission was that high.

"Tsk!"

Assasins were meant to kill, not find and deliver little children and old men. But he was getting his monies worth so he stifled his resentment.

There was a blast of trumpets accompanied by a loud bang. With that, the gates in the arena burst open as ostrich horses pulled chariots into the stage.

Behind them, two women rode in each chariot, ten in all. They rode with vigour, excitement and fear. Their long, unkept hair flew behind them in waves. Their revealed arms and legs covered with bruises. Their shorts and torn crop tops showing too much of their physique, which made the assassin recoil in disgust and several masked men lean forward in their seats.

They assembled at a far point in the oval. The assassin's eyes looking keenly for the menace of the Terra. None stood out yet, maybe she wasn't even here in the first place, but he had to be sure. Sneaking into their cells was highly unlikely since they were constantly patrolled by guards armed with lethal weapons.

Not that he couldn't do it but he didn't find satisfaction in the job to go all out for it.

The women below glared at their opponents. Some already in position and bending their elements primed to strike. Others with hands tight on the reins ready to bolt forward with so much as a touch.

The handkerchief at the podium was raised and silence fell upon the arena. The assassin leaned forward expectantly...at the very least the thrill of blood excited him. It fluttered to the ground almost lazily. Immediately the handkerchief made contact with the ground...

"Yah!"

"Hah!"

Reins were whipped, ostrich horses bolted forward, elements began to fly and the cheer of the crowd soon followed.

Fire and earth clashed. A gale began to blow around one group, tossing dust into the eyes of the horses and their drivers, effectively blinding them. A boulder crashed into the unfortunate chariot, sending riders and steads flying.

Further chaos ensued. Out of the ten, seven remained at the rounding of the first corner.

None of the fighters stood out to be the menace of the Terra and the assassin had seen enough to know that his target was not here. He turned to leave.

A shout came from the audience.

He glanced back to find a severed arm sailing through the air... The victim rolling on the floor. Blood gushing out of the wound. The cut... clean. The victim's partner looked in shock at the monster before her.

Torrents of water sailed above the head of a girl. Undulating, twisting and turning in a hypnotic manner on all her sides surrounding the whole chariot like a helix. The girl's partner beheld the sight in fear and awe. All around, the riders turned their attention to her. Gauging her, assesing her and determining that she was a threat.

The girl was right in the middle of them. Three in front and three behind her. The fighters forgot their battles with each other and rounded upon her, like how two rival colonies would team up against an even bigger threat. Her partner's grip on the reins hardened.

Up on the stands, silence had befallen the spectators, all looking expectantly, excitedly, fearfully at the situation below.

A column of fire shot out towards the new threat but was immediately blocked by a slab of ice. The ice shattered into pieces and scattered in the air. The girl spread a hand and waved it down. Ice shards accelerated towards them from all sides and impaled them and their horses. Blood sprayed out from small holes and they fell out of their chariot as their horses collapsed.

Six left in the running.

The audience was in a frenzy. Their shouts penetrating high. The assassin 's heart beat faster.

2 chariots behind the new threat raced ahead and crossed each other in a bid to confuse their opponent. The earth beneath them began to rumble.

CRACK!!

A boulder shot out of the ground and zoomed towards their foe.

It was immediately blasted to smithereens by a stream of water, completely destroying it. The partner of the water bending monster let out a yell. In front of them, a huge wall blocked their advance.

The assassin's lips curled. The earlier attack had been a diversion for the main attack. However...

'Against overwhelming power...'

Like a whip, water lashed out at the wall, solidifying into ice at the last second and demolished it. Sending little pebbles flying rapidly away.

'... the weak, no matter how many, shall fall.'

The two attackers stared dumbfounded. Not believing their eyes. But their enemy wasn't done. A torrent crashed into their chariots, breaking their wheels and sending them flying into the dust.

4 left standing.

Turning her gaze off the two she'd defeated, she readied herself for the 3 in front. They'd seen how she effortlessly took down her opponents and were on guard against her. The chariot on the far right consisted of the partner of the one who'd had her arm cut off. She stared daggers at the menace before her, clutching a metal staff.

Facing the monster behind them, they knew it was all or nothing. One of the charioteers in the middle gave a shout. The chariot on the left blasted and blasted columns of air while the one manned chariot turned round and raced towards the foe, staff in hand.

A shield of water blocked the attacks of the wind but the threat's attention wasn't on the air benders. Fearlessly, staff in hand and the reins in another, the one-manned chariot's rider charged at the enemy. Spikes of ice formed from the water and zoomed towards her.

Letting go of the reins, she swung her staff, destroying several. But many grazed her head and arms leaving bloody lines on her body. Nevertheless she pushed forward. A guttural roar escaping her mouth.

"For Claudia!"

The staff made a shrill sound as it crashed against a wall of ice. But she wasn't done. Abandoning her chariot, she jumped aboard her enemy's and began hammering away against her foes impenetrable defense. Her foe looked at her oddly through the transparent ice as she pummeled against the cold shield.

Annoyed, she began to bend the water to get the woman out of her sight. Just then, the assailant was blown away by a strong gust of wind. She rolled once, twice, thrice into the dirt and came to a halt.

The water bender looked around to discern what had just transpired. Her eyes came to rest on her partner in the chariot with her. Her open palm outstretched in front of her, facing where their attacker once stood.

"I can't let you do all the work." she finished with a shy smile.

She stared back blankly.

CRACKLE!!!

A sound like a whip cracked against a horse's backside, snapped their heads forward.

Tendrils of blue light surrounded the chariot right in front of them. Hands shaped like guns, moved slowly but surely, strengthening and manipulating the incoming attack - a woman grinned sinisterly at the duo as forked light surrounded her.

"Let's see you block this!"

The lightning shot forward at break neck speed. But it wasn't aimed at her opponents but at their metallic chariot.

'I see.' the assassin looked on.

'A direct attack could've been evaded or blocked, but an attack aimed at their own vehicle would ensure success.'

The lightning struck the chariot, immediately electrifying the ostrich horses and the chariot itself. It toppled over itself and lay in a smoldering heap on the side of the track.

Beneath the wreckage, a smoldering hand could be seen - the rest of the body, buried.

"And that's the end of that." The fire bender finished smirking.

"Great work, Ava." her partner congratulated her.

The spectators went wild. Cheering, screaming, cursing...

The assassin felt a smile begin to form on his lips.

'A magnificent battle, but a fruitless endeavour on my part. She' s not here. '

A pike flew through the smoke and grazed the fire bender's cheek.

"Huh?" she placed her hands over her cheek and it came away cold and bloody.

"She's not dead!"

The arena began to tremble violently. The gutters that conveyed water around began to burst. A surge of water assembled behind the smoke of the wreckage. The temperature dropped several degrees and there was nothing but a sound of water upon water.

A body came through the smoke, and speeding forward upon the aqua...

"Tsk! Why won't you die!" Ava shot bolt after bolt of flame at the menace, the air benders in the other chariot replied same but they all missed.

The eyes of their foe which had been always cold and distant now looked livid. A splash of blood was streaked across her face making her even more sinister.

The first victims were the airbenders. Drawing alongside them, she spun in a circle releasing thin strands of water. They hardened into ice as thin as cheese wire. The cold wires cut through their flesh effortlessly and severed their bones from each other. Their horses were no exception. Their bodies crumbled to literal pieces - a spray of blood dowsing their killer.

She turned to face Ava and her partner. A crimson monster with unbridled bloodlust.

Ava's blood run cold, her knees began to knock against each other as the girl advanced upon them.

There was no escape. No hope.

A line of crimson flew up from the arena and landed on the face of the assassin.

'Surely! This is...' he licked the blood off his face mask.

Nothing moved in the arena. All was silent. The lonely figure below, dyed red, was the center of attention as she stood over a bloody corpse.

"... the menace of the Terra!"

The audience exploded in cheers. Then one voice began...

"Scourge! Scourge!"

Then the entire spectating community joined the chant.

"SCOURGE! SCOURGE! SCOURGE!"

The commentator, who'd been silent all this time, began...

"Let's hear it for the Red Scourge!"