As requested by SummerTheBeast219
3rd pov
It was well known by everyone in the Nations, that there were vigilantes. For the Air nation, they had the Lemur, a small boy in a silver blue suit, with leather to replicate wings and a few feathers along his back. No one knows who he is, but he stops crime in the most non violent way possible. For the Earth nation, they have the Blind Bandit, a short girl wearing all dark green, with brown gloves, boots - steel toed - and a short staff to beat the enemies up with. The Water nation had the lovely Painted lady, who worked with the Boomerang man. The Painted lady wore mostly blue, with some ice designs, and lots of weapons - mostly throwing weapons - in snowflake shapes. Boomerang man, obviously, uses a boomerang. He wears mostly pale blue and grey, and he has a nice little sheath - similar to Painted lady - to pull out some tear gas bombs.
The Fire nation had a vigilante, a somewhat tall male, who wore a black suit with a red dragon and a nice mask and everything, who was called Sunshine. It's not his actual name, but he refuses to answer the news stations and so they gave him their own name, which had caught on. Due to an accident, the vigilantes from the other Nations thought Sunshine was a villain, but before it could be rectified in any way, he had disappeared. It had since been 2 weeks, and the other vigilantes had separated their night, spending half their time in their own area, and then moving into the Fire nation to help them out.
Under the masks all the vigilantes wore, they knew each other. It was an accident when they found out, all having to leave at the same time and then spilling they had a friend gathering to get back to as a reason to leave early. Since, they'd gotten closer, and where often seen together hanging out between taking out criminals. The news had been speculating if they were going to adopt Sunshine before he disappeared.
"Where the fuck did Sunshine go? He had better be in a damn bad situation, cause I want to go back to getting my half a night of sleep. My parents are starting to get suspicious."
"Ours too. We feel bad lying to Dad."
"Gyatso is already onto me."
They had all gathered onto a single building, having taken out the villains in their sectors. All of them were exhausted, and they didn't think they could go on. Most of their parents didn't know they were vigilantes, so they have to lie in order to get by. Sometimes it's hard, but they all make due, even Aang, who sucks at lying.
"Ya know, I know I shouldn't be, since Sunshine has been a vigilante longer than us, and has more experience, if he deals with this Nation on a daily basis on his own, but I'm worried. It's been two weeks. If we leave for that long, we usually leave a note of something, so the police can pick up out slack."
"It's possible the police are corrupt in this Nation, so badly that they are helping the criminals rather than stopping them. And I don't think Sunshine is the type to leave a note."
"He is, actually. I meant to introduce you lot sooner, but I've known Sunshine longer than you all."
"But what about those times he-"
"For the last time, Boomerang, he was not chasing you. He was following a bad guy. You guys happened to be in the way. He was trying to go around you. The weapons all missed you, and he even protected you. He was injured when I saw him later that night!"
"...Where we wrong?"
Before they can go any further, a rustle comes from a few rooftops over and they all turn, weapon on hand. They are slightly surprised to see a glimpse of red and black, before it disappears around a corner. For a moment, they stand, too surprised to move. Then they all share a glance - or as much as they can - and give chase, Aang making sure that Toph is keeping up, while Katara and Sokka keep track of where Sunshine is.
He's surprisingly hard to track, the red in his suit blending in so well with the black of his suit he appears to blend into the shadows, and they barely manage to keep up with him. By the time they do, all of them are panting and breathing heavily, having never had to run and flip and move as fast as they had to find someone.
Sokka groans and sits down, still panting, watching the red and black clad figure standing on the edge of the building. Aang leans against a nearby shed, Toph next to him. Katara leans against her brother, but they all keep Sunshine in their sight. He disappears too often and is too fast for them to really keep up and talk to if he takes off again. They'd have to try to find him a different night, and it was probably pure luck they had found him tonight, so they didn't want to risk losing him.
Sunshine, for his part, is confused, and slightly annoyed. Typically, other vigilantes and even an occasional news reporter, gave up on chasing him. Never had anyone not only managed to catch up to him, but actually pin him down and trap him. It had been a while and he was not looking forward to this. He had a feeling they were going to ask him questions he doesn't want to answer, especially Blind Bandit.
Toph finally has enough and stomps over to where her friend is standing, before wacking him on the knees with her metal staff. He barely budges, but they can all see or tell he is wincing, though none of the others can blame him. Toph, for all she is blind, can be very accurate and incredibly strong when she wants to be.
"So, I'm gonna ask the big question -"
"Must you, BB?"
"where were you and what have I said about shortening my name?"
"Not to. The answer to the first is a big more... personal and I don't know if you want the answer to that question. I don't know if you want to know who I am behind the mask."
There's a silence, and they can all tell it makes Sunshine uncomfortable, but then Aang acts. He catches the others gazes, before lifting his hand and removing his mask gently, revealing his grey orbs. Sunshine seems surprised, but he doesn't say anything. Katara and Sokka are next, revealing their blue. Toph easily does her, revealing her light grey eyes.
They all face Sunshine, waiting for him to choose the next move. They're all comfortable with this, or as comfortable with it as they can be, and now it's his turn. They all watch his hand raise partly, hesitate and they remove the mask in a single movement, though he doesn't turn to face them immediately.
"Hi, my name's Aang. It's nice to meet you."
"...I'm Toph, the best damn vigilante in the Earth kingdom."
"I'm Sokka and this is my sister, Katara."
Sunshine still hesitates, but then he turns, a smooth turn and they all reel at the sight of his eyes. A bright gold that glows in the dark night. Eyes those color are only from people in the...
"Royal family..."
Sunshine flinches, before a small, awkward smile appears on his face and he rubs the back of his neck.
"My name's Zuko. Nice to meet you."
The others stare a but, because how can they not? Everyone knows Zuko, the Prince of the Fire nation and next in line for the throne. Or they would, if he hadn't been exiled from the Royal family for unknown reasons 3 years ago. He had moved in with his Uncle, the last anyone had heard anything about him. However, the burn across his face - taking up the entirety of the left side of his face - leaves little to the imagination.
"You still want to know what happened?"
They obviously made this awkward and uncomfortable, if the shifting and the grin on his face meant anything. The others sat down, and for a moment, he looks lost, before slowly sitting down, like it's something new. They give him their entire attention, wanting to know what happened.
"I assume you know the small time villain Inferno lord?"
The nods are not surprising. He's a small time villain, but he controls most of the underworld and is obviously up to no good.
"I ran into one of his crews a few weeks ago, purely accidental, and it threw a wrench in his plans. He was very displeased, and so he had me killed. I'm not honestly sure what did it, but I'm fairly certain it was a bullet, or a poison."
"How would he have given you poison?"
"Not hard when you live with the guy."
The following silence is awkward, as they all realize Inferno is the Fire lord himself, leader of the Fire nation. God, the corruption is spread deep in this Nation.
"So then, if you are sure you were killed, why are you sitting here telling us this right at this very moment?"
"I, admittedly remember only something called the Golden rays, and they gave me a vial, a liquid they called Dragon tears. I don't remember much after that, except waking up and realizing it had been 2 weeks since the last time anyone saw me. My uncle was beside himself, and the news reporters haven't found out yet, that I'm back, thankfully."
"Alright, so obviously, we need to kill the Fire lord somehow. He can't go around killing vigilantes, and we can't rely on the Golden rays to be there every time to rescue or save us from the evil grips of death. So, how do we do it?"
"Well, there will be an event going on about 2 days from now, and from what I can gather, it will be the last anything that Inferno will need in order to finish his plan. I'm not sure what that plan is, but I don't want to chance it. I'm going to stop him."
"I think you mean we."
"There's no reason for you to get involved in my problems. I've got-"
"Zuko, you really don't got this. We are going to take him down in a few days. What do we need to know."
He sighs, leaning more firmly against the wall behind him as he stands up, slipping his mask back on.
"I guess you can meet at my house. It's above my Uncle's tea shop, the Jasmine Dragon. See you tomorrow."
He gives a small, awkward wave - more a flick of his wrist, really - and turns to slide over the edge and flip away.
"Bye,Sunshine!"
"It's Sparky!" He calls as he slides over the low wall and immediately sets to getting home, since it's so early in the morning. The others replace their masks and head home, planning to head over to Zuko's place at like 8.
He wishes they'd informed him of that, as he answers the door the next day, shirtless, with the worst bed head and absolutely explodes red, the color traveling from his cheeks up to the tip of his ears and down his chest. As he groans, turning around and waving them in over his shoulder so he can get dressed, his Uncle enters the room and bursts out laughing at the sight of his Nephew fleeing upstairs, his chest and ears red.
"Uncle!"
He doesn't appear bothered by the scandalized voice his Nephew uses, in fact it seems to make him laugh harder, though the others notice it's all in good jest.
"Ah, it's been a while since I saw him turn that red."
Zuko comes back down, dressed in red robes with black pants, as the others dressed in their own nations garbs. They represented the four nations, and they sat down right in the living room, Uncle sitting on the couch and sipping tea.
"Don't bother with him, he already knows. He knew before I made the decision and has helped me on several raids. On top of that, he leads an organization called the Cancerians that have known about Ozai and have been rebelling against him for years. They'll be helping us tomorrow night."
It takes most of that day and the next to get the plan together, what with Zuko used to being alone and the others absorbing all the news, but the day of the raid, they easily break in with Zuko as a distraction, and from there, everything goes downhill... For Inferno. And Zuko continues to be awkward for almost a year and a half, before the others realize he was stunted emotionally and fix that. (He's still awkward.)