Xin Fu walked out of his home early the next morning following his acclimation to his new body and skills, he was going to head to the Jade Tea once again to maybe pick up on some useful news by eavesdropping but as he turned a corner he happened upon a scene that excited him, two earthbenders fighting in the middle of the street.
Two men faced off with a distance of six meters in between them, the ground was shattered in some places and raised in others. The pedestrians in this area were sparse although one could see a few loitering around, their attention grasped by the confrontation happening between the two distinct men.
Xin Fu almost laughed aloud at the dichotomy displayed in front of him; on the left is an average-looking, yet well-built shirtless man in a "horse stance". His body is turned sideways, his left side facing the enemy while on the right was a man so large he looked as if the cracks in the ground could be a result of him walking.
Coincidentally, he was also shirtless but he was not "ready" like the first man was. He was standing leisurely picking his nose with his smallest finger.
"The Boulder is upset "fattso" because The Boulder thinks you cheated at the game so The Boulder would like his money back or you will be feeling THE PAIN!"...
With a "harumph", the large man began to respond to the guy on the left...."Hippo doesn't care what pipsqueak thinks, pipsqueak is unlucky so hippo takes money....."
Before the last word came out of Hippo's mouth The Boulder lifted his back leg and quickly stomped causing a few rocks to raise up in front of him, he jumped and performed a spinning kick sending the rain of boulders flying towards the big man...
Contrary to the watcher's expectations, Hippo didn't dodge the rocks but let each of them bounce right off his Titan-like body before he brought his hands together, intertwining his fingers in front before slamming the ground with all his power causing a tsunami-like wave of earth to speed towards The Boulder.
The Boulder took a confident step forward and using his planted foot, he leaped into the air doing a front flip, and just as the tsunami wave was about to impact, the flip ended when The Boulder slammed his heel into the ground causing a cutting impact tearing the wave of earth in half down the middle.
Just as The Boulder raised his knee-high in the air preparing to attack once more, a group of heavy footsteps and shouts sounded, and taking a look, both The Boulder and Hippo's eyes shrank.
They both immediately ceased all hostility and with a brotherly air, they started running as fast as possible leaving only a trail of dust in their wake causing the city guards who were going to apprehend them to start coughing and give up the chase.
.........
A while later, panting hard as they just finished their half-hour escape of weiving between buildings and through alleys to ensure no one could track them, the two men are now catching their breath in an abandoned warehouse within the slums of the city.
Before they could even speak to one another, rock slabs one after another protruded up from the ground encasing both men. Hippo was about to use his strength to break out of the rock bindings but before he could a long, thin, needle-like rock pierced up from the ground extending quickly and only stopping a hair's width from the center of his eyebrows.
Both men froze and began to sweat profusely as they heard slow methodical footsteps approaching and from behind the two, a middle-aged man appeared dawning what their senses told them was a dangerous aura.
"Gentlemen.....welcome to Gaoling City. I happen to have a business opportunity available so why not work for me? Lucky enough, you guys already have your stage names hehe...." The man's voice was playfully firm as he posed the question with a small cunning smile on the edge of his lips...