A/N: The shocking conclusion of Avatar Knights. Hope you enjoyed it!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A van pulled up in a field below a bridge. Clouds extinguished the moon's light, as the back of the van opened, and two men dragged Wind Knight out.
"Time's up, freak."
"This really Wind Knight?" The other man asked.
"Yeah. Big whoop." The first man said, rolling his eyes.
"It's my first super-hero pop,"
"Big whoop."
"It IS a big whoop."
Wind Knight, still dressed as Ronin, groaned, as his vision blurred.
"It ain't exactly The Dragon of the West," the first man explained, pulling out his gun.
"True. But still. The rep points on this has gotta be HUGE."
The first man pointed his gun at Wind Knight's head, and replied, "You shouldn't care so much what other people think."
BLAM!
"Just leave him there?"
"The Fire Lord wants him in the costume, in the river. It sends a message."
"To who?"
"To the other guys in costumes," the first man explained, walking back to the van.
"What's the message?" the other asked, running after his comrade.
"Find another line of work."
Wind Knight lay motionless, face-down in the river.
Ozai Towers
"It's my fault, Ozai," Zuko muttered, "I should have known you would have pushed them too far. You can't HELP yourself."
"What happened?" Ozai asked, smiling. Qin was there as well, standing behind his boss.
"What HAPPENED? You turned your cards over!! You let them know you had a man on in the inside," Zuko replied.
"What did they do?"
"What did they DO?" Zuko asked incredulously.
Bandit punched Blue Spirit with a powerful uppercut to the chin, as the other heroes looked on in shock.
"You blew up Toph Beifong's law office right in FRONT of her. There are only six of us in the group. And it wasn't Wind Knight and it wasn't Avatar." Zuko looked down as his eyes weakened for a second. "How hard did you think it was going to be to figure out who sold them out??"
Bandit launched a kick at Blue Spirit, as Avatar grabbed her, holding her back.
"How exactly did she know it was you?" Ozai's voice asked, fading away as Zuko remembered…
"I have senses!! I can hear your heartbeat!! I can smell your sweat!! I am a human lie detector and YOU ARE LYING!!!" Bandit yelled, as Avatar struggled to hold her back.
"You're wrong, Bandit!" Sokka shouted, "I'm telling you, you're so wrong!!"
"Sokka, you don't know what you're-"
"I've known him for years," Sokka vouched.
"Dude, everyone just calm down and-" Avatar began, but Bandit threw him to the side, and lifted a boulder.
"Don't!" Sokka said, as he quickly jabbed at Toph's arm, hitting a pressure point.
"Agh!" Bandit dropped her boulder, and she turned to Sokka, who had clenched his fists. "Sokka, I'm telling you he turned on us and I can-"
"ARGH!" Bandit yelled in anger as bands of purple light wrapped around her body, lifting her into the air.
"Everyone needs to calm down, okay?!" Princess Yue said, holding Bandit in place, "I mean, come on…"
"Zuko, why does he think you could possibly…?" Sokka trailed off, as he looked at his friend kneeling on the floor.
"Zuko? I'M the one that brought you to this." Sokka said, as Yue released Bandit.
"I have a daughter." Blue Spirit muttered.
"Since when?" Sokka asked, shocked.
"I have a kid with a girl named Katara. Fire Lord found out. Had some goons visit her day care. They pinned a note on her for me to come see him."
"How would Fire Lord know you had a kid when I didn't?" Sokka asked, waving his arms.
"He has extensive files…on ALL of us. He's digging, out to get us as much as we were out to get him."
"And now he's gotten to us." Avatar muttered.
"Through YOU," Bandit exclaimed, pointing a finger at the Blue Spirit.
"Through me," Zuko explained, "So, yes, I went to him. But I WAS going to kill him. I was. I imagined it in my head. I- I was so sure I could do it. But…" Zuko lowered his head, "But I couldn't…my kid…jail…I couldn't go to jail again. I couldn't be someone's father and in jail. I couldn't risk the life of my child. He had me."
"You told him my name!" Bandit shouted, as Yue glared at Zuko.
"Yeah," the Blue Spirit said, defiance in his voice, "I picked the life of my daughter over yours."
"And you told him about our plan. And you told him about Wind Knight. And you had Wind Knight KILLED!" Bandit shouted, grabbing Zuko again.
"We don't know he's dead," Zuko replied quietly.
"Did you tell him MY name?" Avatar asked, raising an eyebrow under his mask.
"I don't KNOW your name," Blue Spirit answered.
"You DIDN'T tell him my name," Avatar asked again.
"I don't KNOW it," Zuko replied again, "But I'll tell you- he wants YOU worst of all."
Sokka turned his back on the group, and walked away.
"Sokka, my daughter!" Zuko yelled, as Sokka walked away.
"Sokka!" Zuko shouted, but his best friend didn't turn back.
"So kill me. Beat me up. I won't stop you." Zuko muttered, looking down, "I won't stop you."
"He didn't kill you?" Ozai asked, standing up, "I would have killed you."
"No. He- he gave me another chance."
"Yeah?" Ozai said, walking behind the chair Zuko sat in.
"He wanted me to come here…and distract you."
Shock crossed Ozai's face, quickly replaced by fury.
"Bandit said- She said you took something from her. You took her home. She- she said she was going to take away yours."
"What are you going to do?" Zuko remembered the Avatar's question.
"What?" Ozai asked.
"Is- is he going to blow up the building?" Qin asked, looking around nervously.
Ozai suddenly ran out the door, pushing past a few henchmen. His steps pounded down the hallway as Qin ran out the door and shouted to the surprised henchmen, "Follow him! BACK HIM UP!"
Ozai ran as fast as he could, across a large room and down another hallway. He ran into the room at the end of the hallway, and looked in shock at the sight waiting for him.
Bandit was at the end of the room, her hands around the neck of Ozai's wife.
Inside Wind Knight's mind
"We're dead?"
"We're not dead." A voice answered.
"If we were dead, we'd be dead," another voice said.
"We're in his head. We would not be here talking if we were dead." The second voice answered, reassuring.
"We were shot in the head," The first voice cried.
"I'm not saying we're in good shape. I'm saying we're not dead."
The first voice, the voice of a young boy, looked on in horror at the sight of the man in the river, and shouted, "Get up!!"
"Stop it," one of the voices said.
"Get up!!"
"Move!" Suddenly, Ronin appeared, pushing past the other voices, and grabbing Wind Knight.
"Oh my God!!" the young voice shouted, as Ronin picked up Wind Knight.
"GET UP!!" Ronin shouted.
"GAH!!" Wind Knight raised his head out of the water, and stood up. He started coughing and choking, and crawled onto a small hill. He coughed a bit more, but he realized he was going to be alright.
Ozai Towers
"I know all about your wife," Bandit said, hand still pressing against Ursa's neck, "Her mystery coma. I have a theory about it, too. Could it BE that she realized what a horror you are…and her brain just…shut down?!"
"Stop." Ozai pleaded.
"Or what? You RUIN me? You pushed me to this. YOU!! I could snap her neck. I could do it before you get halfway to me."
"I believe you." Ozai said quickly.
"Finally," Bandit smiled, "You're finally scared."
"So let's figure out what we're going to do here," Ozai muttered.
"I HAVE to kill you now," Bandit snarled, "You know who I am. I HAVE to kill you."
"You don't." Avatar exclaimed, jumping in through the open window.
"Kid, I told you to go home!!" Bandit shouted.
"I don't EVER do what you tell me to- why start now?" Avatar explained.
"Kid!!"
"I can't let you do this," Avatar replied, "Can't you see that? THIS is it!"
Avatar stood between Ozai and Toph, and continued, "I know this feeling. You've got nothing to lose. You THINK you have nothing to lose. But I'm telling you, everything you've done up until now, it doesn't matter. THIS is when you find out if you really are who you think you are."
"And, hey," Avatar exclaimed, pointing a finger at Ozai, "Let me tell you, you're mean and you ARE crazy, but you're not THIS guy."
"He's going to kill my friends and family!" Bandit shouted.
"And you're not him. And that is a sick, helpless woman." Avatar said, glancing at Ursa.
"A sick, helpless woman who married HIM, so how much of an ANGEL do you think she really is?!"
Shock crossed Ozai's face, as Aang clenched his hands into fists.
"A guy killed my Uncle Gyatso," Avatar said, "A guy killed him right in my own home. And I want after him. I went to kill him. And I COULD have. I had him. And- and no one would have ever known. Just me."
Bandit's jaw dropped a bit in surprise as Avatar continued, "But I didn't. I didn't do it. And for all the stupid stuff I've done and said…I know who I am, because at THAT moment, right then, I did the right thing."
"I'm a big fan of yours," Avatar said, walking over to Bandit, "You know that. And I HATE this man with every fiber of my being…and I am telling you…if you do this, it's over. You can't take it back."
Ozai and the henchmen in the doorway looked on, as the costumed girl kept her grip on Ursa's neck.
"It's the only thing he'll understand." Bandit said furiously.
"Please…" Ozai said quietly, "It was just business. Don't- don't make it personal."
"Boy, you really don't know when to not talk," Avatar muttered, shifting his gaze over to the Fire Lord.
"What do you want? Tell me what you want." Ozai asked.
"Give yourself up." Bandit said.
"He won't do that," Avatar argued.
"No, you're right. Without evidence, without witnesses to a crime, it would be an empty gesture." Bandit pointed a finger at Ozai, and went on, "You leave the country. Tonight. For good. Get in your chopper and take your blood money and you NEVER come back. Just like you did the last time your world came crashing down."
"Yeah." Avatar agreed.
"You leave. Take her and you leave." Bandit growled, "You leave."
"And you know what? If you DON'T, and if anything happens to Bandit," Avatar said, walking up to Ozai, "I sic Commander Jet on you. And you KNOW I can."
"You can?" Bandit asked.
"I ABSOLUTELY can." Avatar said, as Ozai glared at him, "And he knows it."
Gaoling Police Office- 7th Precinct
"Listen to me, Captain," a police officer said, as the captain rifled through some papers, "I say we go down there and-"
"And what? Arrest the Freedom Fighters?"
"Yes!"
"Oh my God!" A police officer shouted, as a costumed man stumbled through the door, blood dripping from his head.
"Whoa, Nelly!" The captain shouted, as all the officers in the room took out their guns, "He's unarmed! You jumpy #$#ers!!"
"My name is- is Avin Airaien," the costumed man said in a hoarse voice, "AND Kalden. AND…Wind Knight. The Fire Lord- Ozai beat me and- and had me shot."
"The Fire Lord??" The police captain asked.
"Ozai. Ozai tried to kill me tonight." Wind Knight replied.
A limo on the way to the airport
"I just don't understand," Qin exclaimed, "You're surrendering? You're leaving town? Then who's going to-"
"I'm getting my Ursa out of this country, like I should have done a year ago!" Ozai shouted, "And while I'm gone, you'll have Beifong KILLED! In her sleep, on the courthouse steps…I don't care!! I want that "Princess" Yue's hands broken."
"And I want you to BLOW UP that high school Avatar goes to and I want you to blow it up while class is in session," Ozai finished.
"I-I-I know you're mad…" Qin said, "But a school full of children?"
"While class is in session," Ozai growled.
"You hire the best guys out there," Ozai went on, getting out of the limo and walking towards the plane, "I want the pros. I want this done with precision."
"I- I understand," Qin answered.
"They came into my home!! They touched my wife!!" Ozai shouted, as his luggage was carried onto the plane.
"I understand," Qin said.
"Damnit! What's that?" Ozai asked, as sirens wailed in the distance, getting louder and louder.
A swarm of police cars drove into the airport, and a platoon of police officers jumped out from the squad cars.
"Ozai?" The police captain asked.
"Yes?" The Fire Lord answered.
"You're under arrest!"
"For what?" Qin asked, as the other officers moved around, arresting Ozai's henchmen.
"Attempted murder!"
"That is-"
"Who did I murder??" Ozai asked.
"Avin Airaien, a.k.a. Kalden," the captain explained.
"I don't know who that is!!" Ozai shouted.
"WIND KNIGHT!" The captain replied, handcuffing the Fire Lord.
"What? You have- I don't know who that is." Ozai said, as realization hit him.
"Well, he knows who you are! You're under arrest!"
"Wait, he's still alive?!?!" Ozai shouted.
Hours later
"Following a police lineup where Ozai was properly identified by Avin Airaien as the man who severely beat him and ordered his execution-"
Princess Yue floated in the air, as a blue light emanated from her. She moved her hands around impatiently, and the light faded. Meditation was so boring sometimes…
"The 'Fire Lord' of Gaoling was arrested on numerous counts, including attempted murder, battery, assault, extortion, and racketeering. Never in the history of this city has a costumed hero come forward like this, and given up HIS secret identity in the cause of justice."
Zuko read from a storybook, as his daughter giggled and pointed at the picture on the page. Katara smiled as Zuko kept reading. I think we will be able to make this work after all, she thought…
"As of right now, Ozai is in jail. Bail has been denied, as Ozai was arrested trying to charter a private plane out of the country."
Sokka grabbed his bag, and slung it over his shoulder. He got off the train, and watched it roll out of the station.
"This isn't the first time serious allegations have been made against Ozai and his rumored crime cartel that has allegedly held a stranglehold on the city."
As rain poured down heavily, Bandit put her head in her hands, crouched over a large tombstone.
"Of course this is all just speculation and hearsay, but what we DO know is that Ozai has been arrested and charged, and IS in jail. We are still trying to find out exactly WHO this Wind Knight is and we WILL report to you the mysterious events that led up to this landmark arrest."
Avatar glided through the streets, as the rain kept pouring down, beating at him. The wind eventually forced him to land, and change into his regular clothes.
"But for now we know that a hero has stepped forward…"
Aang looked at the store display, advertising Avatar action figures, posters, mugs, skateboards.
"And a criminal has been brought to justice."
Aang didn't bother to put the hood of his jacket up. He let the rain pour down his face, put his head down, and kept walking.
