The high, ornate, reinforced walls were more than enough proof positive. I took a moment to admire the massive barriers to the inside, running my hand along the structure. Wood wrapped in banded metal, covered in thin sheets of hard steel. They were expensive. They probably ran their way throughout the whole compound. And these walls were wet.

A vicious smirk swept across my face. No matter how light the rain, water was water. Wrapped around each of our heads were makeshift masks of cheap, damp weeds and cabbage held together with string. I shifted my mask to better observe the wall through thumb-poked eyeholes. “If we do this right,” I said to Hiroshi, “We’ll be in and out within five to ten minutes.”

“Mind if I ask how we’re doing this?” the earthbender asked, “I mean, these are high walls. And they’re not thin. I bet Genji couldn’t even break through them…” he rubbed his chin, “I bet you’ll have me go in underground and–” I threw my fist forward and punched the wall as hard as I could, unleashing unbelievable power. Black matter cratered the wall and, for a moment, did little else. “Or you could hit the wall a few times. I guess that works.”

He didn’t understand, but I didn’t expect him to. Hiroshi had never seen me bend solid fire before. But to those who had, well, they knew very well what happened. My sneer widened in anticipation beneath my artificial, cabbage face.

The last time I propelled solid fire against water, the explosion was deafening. Almost immediately after blasting my rock of scorching heat at the wet wall of the Beifong compound, I’d spun and covered my ears. To my infinite surprise, there was only silence for a brief moment. I stood, gently removing my hands from their positions and looked at the black matter embedded in the earthen wall.

“…Where’s the “kaboom”?” My voice arose with the utmost confusion, “There was supposed to be an earth-shattering ka–”

BOOM!​

“Oh god ow!” I cried out as I fell backwards. Enhanced senses granted to me from my chimera physiology backfired severely as my eardrums detonated from the sound of the blast and my body was forcibly knocked backwards from the, well, the force of the explosion. Rolling on the ground in pain, I couldn’t help but voice my complaints. “It’s not like the movies! It’s really not!”