Akashi didn't understand why Tarrlok, a councilman, wanted him kidnapped.
Akashi was a mere airbender. And Tarrlok was someone who wanted to reach the top of power and have the city under him.
Sure, it he was corrupt and involved in most of the triads' businesses, like his father — to the ones who watched the cartoon.
Akashi knew about that since he managed to get the lore thanks to his previous life memories.
But he never thought about him wanting to kidnap an airbender.
"He's definitely commissioned by someone," Akashi thought as he looked at Boba. "I'm just a way to earn money. He's just a way to earn experience points."
Currently, Akashi was in a district with separate apartment buildings with a building site nearby.
He chose the location carefully.
In a fight against a metalbender, he had to use their weaknesses against them.
Metalbenders were a scary unit, among the most powerful benders.
But they had limited bending power compared to earthbending, and they had to be very close to the metal to bend it.
Akashi looked at the armor. If Boba wanted to capture him, he would use the metal wires under the armor and send pieces flying.
In that case, he should use the location to his advantage until that man runs out of metal. And then, it would be a fair battle.
Anyway, he had anticipated that a skilled metalbender would be after him.
And since Akashi had an imbalanced build—very high agility, yet low stamina, wisdom, and strength—he had to depend on delivering strikes that count and not waste energy unnecessarily.
After all, what's the use of having a brain if you're not going to use it?
"Now, come over here," Boba yelled, pushing his hand in Akashi's direction. A metal strip flew from the armor.
As an officer for some time, Akashi knew this technique. Once the metal hit him, it would bend and cuff him.
Akashi spread his legs, doing a perfect split, dodging the strip.
Boba didn't stop and kept shooting the strips at him. Akashi dodged like an agile monkey, jumping in the air and flipping, using cars, chairs, and even passing people as shields.
"You damn monkey," Boba cursed as he ran after him. "If you keep dodging, I'll open your head with a rock."
"Yeah… but you have to counter my secret technique first."
"Yes. It's an ancient technique, invented from the time humans set foot on earth."
Boba suddenly got wary.
Akashi turned and ran. He used airbending to boost his speed, and having an additional level-up had helped him.
And he was very fast compared to a normal human.
Boba clicked his tongue and ran after him. As Akashi's speed increased, Boba had to bend the earth to glide on it.
Although he was destroying the road, he was soon to be a wanted man, and he needed Akashi as a bargaining chip to get money and leave Republic City.
He followed Akashi through the town, and that man was really something.
Akashi could climb a building using a combination of airbending and parkour techniques.
But Boba could notice something.
He was getting slower.
That meant he was getting tired.
He had spent most of his life filling his body with toxins for the job, and he hadn't been training for long. His physical condition was pathetic in comparison to a metalbender who had chased criminals for many years.
Akashi entered a construction site and slipped into one of the incomplete buildings, panting.
Boba smirked and hurried to chase after him.
He entered the building and followed Akashi's trail.
He bet the latter was hiding in one of the rooms.
He heard panting coming from one of them. Smirking, Boba entered and looked at Akashi.
"Here you are," Boba said, looking at the sweaty Akashi. "Must say, you made me chase you for a while."
"Yeah…" Akashi stood and sat on the edge of the window. "Didn't want to use poisonous gas outside."
He then waved his arms.
Boba turned his head to see some green-colored gas, almost frozen in the corner of the room.
It quickly surrounded him.
Although it was windy today, the wind couldn't blow the gas away.
"I must say, gases based on chlorine are cheap. Chlorine is very toxic," he said.
Boba wanted to curse, but he didn't dare open his mouth and pinched his own nose.
He knew that the moment he did, the gas would invade his lungs.
Around him, there was no oxygen.
'You bastard. You knew I'd follow you. And you placed a gas container here, luring me from the beginning. But I've been following him ever since he left the police station. Don't tell me he planned this days in advance and expected I'd follow him here.' Boba thought. Content originally comes from novel⦿fire.net
"Boba. If you don't breathe," Akashi grabbed a lighter, "I'll burn you with this. If you breathe, I'll take you to the hospital. If not, I'll take you to the cemetery. Your choice."
Akashi was lying a bit. The gas wasn't flammable at all. But the idiotic lieutenant didn't know that
The moment Boba uttered those words, Akashi thrust his fists forward, making the gas push itself into Boba's lungs.
Boba, overwhelmed with rage, stomped on the ground, causing the floor and the building's foundation to shake.
The unfinished building couldn't withstand the impact and began to crumble. Akashi tilted backward, leaping out the window. He gave himself a push with the air, causing him to fly and lessen the fall damage. Since he was at level 6 in airbending—something that usually required months of training at Air Temple Island—he managed to control his fall and landed on the ground.
Soon, notifications rang in his ear.
[Defeating metalbender on your own]
[You're entitled to the whole experience points]
[+3000 experience points]
[You leveled up to level 6]
[You leveled up to level 7]
[+4 Attribute Points]
"I have a shitty stamina," Akashi muttered.
Akashi wanted to feel happy for a second, but he stopped.
He didn't want to kill Boba. He had known him for many years and had been on good terms.
He even felt sad about what had happened.
But this was necessary.
If Akashi let Boba live, the latter wouldn't want to testify against Tarrlok. Worse, someone in prison might visit and question him about Akashi knowing about the councilman's involvement. So, he had made the decision to kill him with gas.
"Rest in peace, Lieutenant." Akashi stood in silence for a moment before turning and walking away.