Glass exploded in front of my feet and a green liquid spread around my shoes. A snapshot of the bottle's label came to mind before I did anything. Northern Water, a brand of strong drink I saw in some of the stores while I was searching for equalists. Tiny droplets soaked my pants with the liquor's strong scent made from fermented seaweed farmed using an ice greenhouse in the northern water tribe. For a moment, my world is frozen.

I turned my attention to Korra. Fire had already enveloped her fist, aimed for the person who threw the bottle. Her defense wasn't something I expected, but it was welcome. Next, I turned my attention to the one who threw the bottle. A water tribe man with a group of water tribe men with him. I couldn't say whether they were from the Northern or Southern tribes.

The insult to me, a being so far beyond their power that they couldn't comprehend it had to be addressed. I couldn't stand for anything else but their submission. Even as a part of me reasoned that this wasn't a big deal, I couldn't let it go.

Korra's fireball blasted the ground at their feet as a warning. Some of the men jumped back, but the one who threw the bottle stood his ground. The men wore blue-themed suits with popped callers, and the leader's hair was up in a warrior's knot.

"It figures, you're mixed blood; no wonder you with that fire nation bastard. This is sea snake territory, and we don't take kindly to fire nation scum getting close to our women." I opened my mouth and closed it.

"How dare you. I'm free to date whoever I feel like. I thought republic city was different than the rest of the world."

"Even if some people forgive scum like him, we won't. Come on, sweet cheeks, some loving with a real water nation man will knock the fire nation taint right out of you." The man said.

Korra stomped the ground and trapped their legs in stone. "You're the Avatar." The man said as I walked up and pushed him over.

"Hey Korra, turn around for just a second."

"What are you about to do?" 

"Just a compromise to killing him. I'm not going to hurt him."

"You pussy, even with the avatar on your side, you're a coward." The leader said.

I unzipped my pants, took out my dick, and pissed in his face. The man spluttered and tried to shield himself with his hands, but I had drunk two water bottles earlier. I made sure to get his hair good, soaked it into his warrior's knot, and moved on to his clothes.

"I'm going to kill you." The man repeatedly yelled in the background of Korra's laughter.

I walked over to a nearby phone booth. "What are you doing?" One of the men asked.

"Displays of public drunkenness will get you three days in jail. You have to sit in those piss-soaked clothes or go naked."

"We'll get you when we get out."

I shook my head. "If you annoy me again, I'm not going to piss on you or bother calling the police. Instead, I will break your arms and legs and leave you to the mercy of your rivals."

"The avatar won't be able to protect you forever."

I chuckled and took off my sunglasses. "You misunderstand the situation. She didn't protect me from you; she protected you from me."

While the man on his back covered in piss couldn't see my eyes, the rest of his gang could. That was more than enough for me. The implications of an unknown would make them hesitate to retaliate if they were smart. If they were dumb, then I would kill them. Even if I didn't want to go around killing people, sometimes it had to be done.

I called the police, and we left for the pro-bending match. "Did you really have to piss on him? That's a little weird."

"He would have had to die if I hadn't. Even if he didn't know who I was or what I could do, there are some things I can't tolerate." I said.

"I don't think any of them were benders, so why were they all? How dare you be with fire nation scum?" Korra asked. 

For a moment, I thought about how to answer that. Nationalism was a thing, and Republic City was very young. It barely had a national identity. From what I could tell, it was also limited to just a city and could only use trade to get its resources. Then again, I could be wrong; it could have surrounding territories that supplied it with food. I knew enough about the city to recognize some companies, gangs, and councilmen.

My voice was shakier than I wanted it to be when I spoke. "This is just my observation, and I don't want you to take it as a fact. Republic City isn't self-governed or self-sustaining, from what I can tell. This place has representatives from other nations governing it appointed with the power to dictate laws to this city. That is both a good and bad thing. It's good because they don't have to worry about reelection or buying votes from different groups in republic city. It's bad because if they are corrupt, we can't remove them legally; only the government that appointed them can. There is more to it, and it's not one person's fault. Violence is the only alternative when a society has no representation and no way to legally remove a corrupt leader. This city's identity is very young. It hasn't had a chance to fully develop and break free from the other nations because they influence this one." I sighed. "Are you with me so far?"

"It sounds like I have my work cut out for me if I want to bring peace to this city," Korra said.

"Yes and no, you are the Avatar, and people will listen to you just because you are the Avatar, no matter if what you say will fix the problem or not. There are many options to fix this issue; some are only temporary, while others may last longer. But all systems break down eventually. For instance, the equalists and their desire for equality for all. Their form of government is named communism, which is when a government seizes the means of production. It's a utopian system where theoretically, the people own everything, and all resources are divided equally. However, in practice, their system hates food, causes famine, and to lower the demand for food, they kill their citizens. True communism lasts a decade before it eats itself unless the government becomes tyrannical and enslaves its people." 

"Ok, I feel like you're just lecturing me like Tenzin, and you didn't have to convince me the equalists were evil. I didn't know they hated food. Who hates food?"

"No idea, but people like the equalists love setting price controls and killing farmers. Then when their people are starving, they kill them too because there are too many mouths to feed. So it doesn't surprise me at all they hate bending too. I'm sure a few of them are benders."

"Wait, you really think so?"

"They hate food but eat to survive. I'm sure they bend just to hurt other benders." 

The stadium came into view, and a billboard wherein big flashing letters showed the Harbor Town Hog Monkeys were playing the Capital City Catgators. We didn't have to wait in line long before we walked inside. The stadium wasn't quite packed to capacity, but plenty of people cheered as the teams practiced before the match.

"Yes, we made it; who do you think will win?" Korra asked, practically jumping up and down in her seat.

I smiled; maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all; if Korra was happy, I could enjoy the show and let it entertain her.

"That is an interesting question, young lady. Would you like to make a wager?" My head turned to the man who asked. He was a snide-looking fellow wearing a purple suit, several gold chains, and a pair of sunglasses.

"What are the odds?"

"Oh, a man of culture, I see good to know. My name is Slim, and I am taking bets. Both teams had good showings, but the hogmonkeys won 4 out of 5 games this season while the Catgators have only won 2 out of 5. So we are paying out 50% for anyone betting on the Catgators and 10% for anyone betting on the hogmonkeys." The man said. 

I shrugged and pulled out a few hundred Yuan for the Catgators. Korra took the money Tenzin gave her and put some on the Hogmonkeys. Slim broke off a voucher for Korra and me.

"I hope you're not going to go broke after betting so much money. Do you have a problem?" Korra asked.

"My uncle always said I would get into gambling eventually," I said.

"You don't seem too worried."

I shrugged. "I'll either win big or be broke for a while." 

"Tenzin wouldn't approve of me gambling his money away."

A short guy with a rather flat head sat down beside us. "Oh, hey, what's up? My name is Bolin. Is this your first time seeing a match?"

"Korra, and yeah, how can you tell."

"You look like you're about to see something incredible and intense," Bolin said. 

"Bolin, where did I hear that name before." Korra had a moment of enlightenment. "You're a pro-bender with the fire ferrets. I heard you play on the radio; you guys were great."

"Wow, I didn't think I would be recognized so quickly. Do you want to come backstage with me and check out our gym?" Bolin asked.

"I would love to let's go, Red," Korra said.

"Wait, is he your boyfriend?"

"So what, the invite is only open if I'm single?"

"Young man, don't you want to stay here and watch the match. They're always better when you have money on the line."

"I'm sure I'll hear the outcome no matter where I am in this place."

"Hey Red, was it? Who did you vote for?" Bolin asked.

"The Catgators, why do you have some insider information you're willing to share." I looked back at Slim. "It's not like it matters at this point. I already placed my bet and don't have much else on me." I said.

"Looks like I get to choose where we eat. So get ready for some old-fashioned water tribe cuisine."  Korra cheered.

"I'm looking forward to it," I said.