Author's Note: HORRAY! We're finally at the end of Book 1. Thanks to everyone who's held in so long. Its been a pleasure to get to rewrite Legend of Korra and make it better than it was, and I thank everyone who thinks I've accomplished what I set out to do. Enjoy the finale!
Chapter 20: Endgame
"The end is upon us! As Avatar Korra reunites with her friends, Shaobing and the Kyoshi Commandos lead a small but brave resistance against the equalist's tyranny. Things are looking touch-and-go as Avatar Korra decides to take Amon on in a battle of ideals. Can she defeat the masked revolutionary? Or will he and his followers be too much?"
A large gray van drove through the cleared out streets of Republic City, its drivers equalist police and its occupants captured benders. Their fate was to be the same as all other benders who had been arrested by the equalist police: they would be delivered to the courthouse and put on trial and then, those that were found guilty would be taken to Air Temple Island, where Amon would strip them of their bending.
In fact, in the courthouse at that very moment another group of arrested benders were being put on trial, with the former equalist protestor being the one to preside over each trial, clad in over-sized black robes and with a gavel in hand.
"Mr. and Mrs. Feng, you have been charged with possessing and abusing firebending, using it to bully and extort money from your neighbors. How do you plead?"
"Not guilty." Mrs. Feng said before adding: "These charges are preposterous! And where's our lawyer? Why don't we have a lawyer?"
The equalist protestor turned judge banged his gavel. "Silence! Accused benders are not entitled to a lawyer. You must defend yourselves." the judge made a cruel smirk. "Think of it this way: if you are actually innocent, you shouldn't have anything to worry about, yes?"
"You little Dai Lee weasel-viper…"
"I'd stop right there if I were you..." the protestor turned judge said. "…unless you want to be held in contempt."
Mr. Feng reluctantly bit his tongue as the first of the witnesses was called up. He was one of the Feng's next-door-neighbors and a non-bender. As the Fengs looked on in horror he spun a tale of how he'd been bullied and robbed almost every day by his next-door neighbors and that until the equalists had taken over he'd been too afraid to try and stand up to them.
"Objection!" Mrs. Feng finally said. "Your honor, the witness is lying…"
"Overruled!" the judge said with a bang of his gavel.
And so, the witness continued his utterly fabricated tale, only to then be followed by another. The jury didn't need long to deliberate after both stories were finished.
"We find the defendants Mr. and Mrs. Feng, guilty of all charges."
"Do the defendants have anything to say before we send them to Air Temple Island?" the judge asked.
"Yes we do." Mrs. Feng said angrily. "This trial, all of them, are farces! Where our are lawyers? Our rights? Nowhere! All these trials are are a way for you people to take out your anger on the benders who have wronged you…"
The judge banged his gavel to silence her. "That's enough of that. Guards! Get this bender scum out of here!"
But as the equalist police standing guard moved in to take the Fengs away, the double-doors leading into the courthouse were blasted in by a large column of earth. As the doors smashed to the floor in pieces, the whole of the courtroom burst into chaos and confusion, until out of the dust came the members of the resistance. Shaobing, hook swords drawn, walked in front of the rest of the group and stared down the entire courtroom.
"This court is out of session. Permanently." Then, turning to both the Fengs and the other benders waiting to be put on trial after them he shouted: "FIGHT!"
Not needing to be told again, the arrested benders jumped into action, sending fireballs flying as the Kyoshi Commandos tossed bags filled with earth into the fray for earthbenders to use. Between them and the resistance members also leaping into the fray, the surprised equalist forces were quickly overwhelmed as the judge trembled in his seat.
"Order!" he shouted desperately, banging his gavel again and again. Then when that did nothing, he shrieked: "You benders can't get away with this! Amon will stop you! You're all going to get it!"
Turning around, Shaobing made his way to where the judge was and beheaded his gavel with a swing of his hook swords before aiming one menacingly at him.
"First off, I'm not a bender. Second, the only bullies and oppressors I see here are you and these thugs working for you." Then, Shaobing backhanded the trembling judge, knocking him out. He turned to face the rounded up equalists and told them all: "Your revolution is over. The Avatar has returned."
-X-
The sun shone brightly in the sky as the members of Team Avatar got ready to head off to their respective targets. All of them were fully prepared for their coming struggles, and none had any fear of what was to come.
For their planned infiltration of Amon's headquarters, Korra and Bolin had disguised themselves with uniforms taken from defeated chi-blockers. Before they left, Mako gave his brother a farewell hug.
"Love you, little bro. Take care of yourself."
Bolin smiled. "Its me, remember? I'll be fine."
Mako returned his brother's smile before turning to Korra and saying: "Be careful out there. And if you don't think you can do it, if you don't think you can take Amon down…try and come back to us. We all need you Korra, regardless of whether or not we win."
Korra nodded. "I'll beat him. I know how to take him down now…but I could use you guys at my side when the time comes."
"We'll do our best to back you up, Avatar Korra" General Iroh assured her before adding: "Assuming of course we succeed in our mission first. If we should fail, I trust you to finish this fight no matter what."
Korra nodded and smiled. "Don't go all gloom and doom on us, General" Korra said playfully. "Can't have you lose that fire of yours."
"Of course not. I am merely taking into account all possible scenarios…"
"Of course. But if you're going into the mountains, then you should bring Naga with you." Korra pet Naga as she said this, and the Polar Bear-Dog raised her head to look at her. Korra nuzzled Naga and she grunted.
"Take good care of Mako, Asami, and the General for me." Korra whispered.
Naga barked in acknowledgement before allowing Mako, Asami, and General Iroh to get atop her back. The Polar Bear-Dog then took off with the three of them in tow. As they disappeared from view, Korra and Bolin put on the chi-blocker masks and set off to find Amon.
-X-
Mako, Asami, and General Iroh's ride through the mountains outside of Republic City eventually came to a close when they saw a small mess of buildings complete with a large dark gray flat of land for the equalist planes to land on.
"I think we found our secret airfield." General Iroh observed before turning to Mako. "Its unfortunate we did not bring your brother, Bolin. We could have used his earthbending to tear up the runways…"
"We can still keep them from taking off." Mako said.
"I hope so. Otherwise we came all this way for nothing."
As he said this, General Iroh got off of Naga, and Mako and Asami followed suit, the former turning back to Naga. "All right girl, you wait here until we get back. Okay?"
Naga tried to follow Mako anyway, but he held out a hand. "Uh uh. Stay."
Naga obeyed and stayed put. Mako then followed Asami and General Iroh down the hill towards the airfield. Surrounding it were a series of wooden fencepoles…without a fence.
"Why would there be fence posts, but no fence?" Asami asked.
"I don't like this…" General Iroh observed. "Hold for a moment. I want to try something…"
Walking forward, General Iroh took in a deep breath, calmed himself, and extended a hand to the space between the fence posts. In an instant electricity appeared and consumed General Iroh's arm in bolts of blue lightning. Grimacing in pain, General Iroh barred his teeth and then, extending his other arm, sent the lightning through his one arm and out the other, causing the lightning to ricochet and strike at the nearby fence poles, causing them to explode in showers of splinters. When it was done, General Iroh let out a deep breath and a gasp of pain as he was briefly winded. But then he turned to Mako and Asami: "Come! I brought down the fence but its still emitting electricity! We have to jump over it!"
As he said this, General Iroh ran and leaped over the collapsed electric fence, with Mako and Asami following suit. Once all three were over it, they retreated behind the cover of some large nearby rocks.
"That was amazing what you did back there!" Asami exclaimed to Iroh once all three were safely behind cover.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Mako asked.
"The technique of redirecting lightning has been in my family for a few generations now. It was invented by my great granduncle, the original Iroh."
"Man, I am glad you're with us." Mako said relieved.
General Iroh nodded. "Yes, but we must hurry and be cautious. No doubt the equalists will be on high alert now that they know they've been breached. We need to find a safe route inside the airfield…"
-X-
With their chi-blocker disguises, Korra and Bolin had no trouble infiltrating Air Temple Island. They didn't need to wait long before they saw an Equalist airship hovering above a tower. Being brought up to it by a line was Amon himself.
"There's Amon." Bolin whispered. Korra nodded.
"We need to follow him to the rally."
"What? I thought we were going to ambush him or something…"
Korra shook her head. "No. Like I said, its his ideas that are his most dangerous weapon. I need to fix that, or we'll never stop the equalists…"
"What are you two doing here?" a deep and gravelly voice Korra recognized as being Amon's son cut through the air. The Equalist Lieutenant walked up to the two with an expression that told Korra and Bolin that they needed to give an answer fast.
"Uhh...we were just transferred, sir." Bolin said lamely.
"Well, you're getting transferred again." The Lieutenant said bluntly. "Amon wants extra security at the arena today for the big rally."
"We'll be there, sir" Korra said with a salute. The Lieutenant nodded wordlessly and walked away. Korra turned back to Bolin: "Get ready, Bo. When Amon shows up, it'll be the moment of truth. We're only going to get one shot at what comes next..."
-X-
Mako narrowly dodged a bola hurled at his head as he, Asami, and General Iroh continued their running fight into the Airbase.
"What was it you said about finding a safe way in?" Mako demanded.
"Clearly it was not possible in this scenario." General Iroh confessed. "Unsurprising, really. As I said earlier, they were going to be on high alert after I destroyed their electric fence…"
"In here!" Asami shouted, cutting off the exchange between the two male firebenders. Following Asami, they managed to reach a back-door that they forced their way through before the exiting equalists could close it in time. As Asami and Iroh dealt with those Equalists, Mako slammed the door shut and locked it, putting some nearby boxes up against it for good measure.
"Okay, we're in now." Mako said. "Where do we go next?"
"Nowhere." An all-too-familiar voice said. Turning around, the three saw Hiroshi Sato himself backed up by a small group of chi-blockers. He turned to face Asami directly: "Asami, I know I have hurt you, and I am sorry. But I believe that one day you will come to your senses, and we can be a family again."
Asami shook her head. "Are you insane? I can't join you. I'm not going to be a part of this! I refuse! And mom would hate you for what you've done!"
Hiroshi nodded in acknowledgment. "Oh, most certainly. And therein lies the true tragedy. Your mother was too good for this world, Asami. I see that now. Amon has opened my eyes to the truth. And if you cannot accept that, then I have no choice but to view you as just another enemy. But I don't want to do that. Asami, please, come to your senses…see the truth as I have."
"I can see the truth just fine..." Asami said darkly. "...and the truth is that you and Amon need to be stopped."
Hiroshi shook his head sadly. "So be it. You've made your choice, Asami, I can see that. But I've made mine too." He turned to his chi-blockers. "Take them to the holding cells."
The second this order left Hiroshi's mouth, General Iroh shot out a bolt of lightning at the pipe line hanging above the equalist's heads. It exploded and sent fire and shards of hot metal flying everywhere, injuring most of the chi-blockers, killing one, and forcing the others and Hiroshi back. Mako followed this up with a torrent of fire that forced them to back away even more.
"I know why you're here!" Hiroshi roared. "And you're too late! I intercepted your message to Commander Bumi and I know exactly where they're hiding. I've already ordered my airplanes to annihilate the fleet!"
"You'll kill hundreds of people!" Asami said horrified.
Hiroshi shrugged. "Thousands, actually, but that's war. Those men are soldiers, they knew the risks. And they're benders most of them. I won't be shedding a tear."
General Iroh turned to Mako and Asami: "You two take down Sato. I'm going to stop those planes!"
Asami and Mako nodded and the trio split up after fighting their way through several more chi-blockers. Eventually, they came to the main part of the airfield. Seeing a mechatank in the corner of her eye, Asami quickly electrocuted the equalist attempting to enter it before clambering in herself. One look at the controls told her what she needed to know to get it up and running.
How convenient... Asami thought. ...Its just like a Future Industries forklift…
-X-
Korra and Bolin arrived at the Republic City arena ahead of Amon and his entourage. Mecha-Tanks guarded the front doors alongside dozens of chi-blockers and equalist police. With their chi-blocker disguises still on, Korra and Bolin made it past this army of guards without a problem, and stood in the referee's box waiting for Amon to appear. Indeed, it wasn't long before Amon rose to the stage to the roar of the watching crowd.
"Thank you all for joining me here today." Amon said. "I understand that this has been a tumultuous time for many of you, as the old status quo has been overthrown and replaced with a new, better one. But I assure you all that the long-term benefits of our revolution will vastly outweigh any short-term consequences. Soon, Republic City will at last enjoy equality, and then we will spread our gospel to the rest of the world…"
It was here that Korra made her move: "That's a lie, Amon!" she shouted. Korra tore off her chi-blocker mask as Amon and everyone else in the arena turned to face her. As Bolin took off his mask as well, Korra continued: "Or should I call you Noatok?"
Amon smiled as Korra revealed herself. "So, you came back to fall with the rest of the benders in your city."
"No. I came back to stop you!"
Amon chuckled lightly at this as his son turned to him. "Do you want her taken out?" he whispered.
Amon shook his head. "No." Amon said before turning to the crowd and raising a hand to calm them down. "Everyone calm yourselves. We have nothing to fear from the Avatar anymore. Let's hear what she has to say."
"This ends here, Amon" Korra said darkly. "Just you and me. No equalists, no mecha-tanks, no bending. Just my words against yours."
"Then I truly have nothing to fear." Amon replied simply.
"I wouldn't be too sure." Korra said before turning to face the crowd: "Everyone, please listen to me. I know you've all felt oppressed before, I know you've all suffered and been treated unfairly by people who think they're better than you. But you have to believe me when I say that this isn't the way to change things. Can't you see what Amon and his equalists have done? What they've really done? They haven't brought equality to Republic City! All they've done is create the opposite of the way things used to be. Now non-benders are the oppressors and benders are the persecuted, I've seen it! Benders have been attacked and beaten in the streets…"
"For resisting arrest." Amon interceded, cutting Korra off. "For resisting arrest, and for causing additional strife and violence in our city."
Korra turned to him and glared darkly. "Resisting arrest? What were their crimes? Being benders? You can't seriously believe that all benders are automatically criminals!"
"Of course I can." Amon said coldly. "I have seen it and experienced it, as has everyone else in this room. Surely you cannot continue to defend the bending community, when all they ever do is abuse their power?" Amon turned back to face the crowd: "Need I remind you all of how Councilman Tarrlok created a taskforce designed specifically to control and arrest people on the slightest suspicion that they were affiliated with me? To bully and oppress as all benders do?"
As Amon said this, there were many hushed whispers and nods of agreement. Knowing she was losing ground and credibility fast, Korra interceded: "What Tarrlok did was wrong, I admit it. I should have never been a part of his task-force, but that still doesn't mean all benders are evil. Councilman Tenzin always opposed Tarrlok's actions, and he's a bender!"
"Yes, and where is councilman Tenzin now?" Amon asked condescendingly. "He has fled this city and left it to burn and suffer."
"He only fled because you would take his bending away if he stayed!" Korra retorted. "And his children's bending too!"
"So that was reason enough for him to abandon his people? His bending is more important to him?" Amon shook his head and made a "tsk tsk" noise. "Do you see the selfishness on display here? The utter disregard benders have for their fellow human beings? It sickens me."
"You mean like how you and your equalists have been making unprovoked attacks on people just for being born with certain gifts? People who you otherwise wouldn't look at for a second, you have your thugs beat up in the street before you take away their bending."
"I have taken no lives in my revolution." Amon pointed out. "I have merely de-powered these benders, not killed them."
Korra shook her head. "And you think that makes you right? You're killing a part of these people. You're taking away their gifts. I don't see how that's any different from taking away an artist's ability to paint, or robbing a singer of their voice. What's the difference? You can't take away a person's gifts!"
"They abuse their gifts!" Amon replied angrily. "The use their gifts to intimidate! To rob! To kill! These are not 'gifts'! They are curses!"
"Not all of them." Korra turned back to the crowd. "Don't you all remember pro-bending? That was a sport that benders and nonbenders watched and enjoyed together. How is that an abuse of power? What about the metalbending police, who have always looked after you all and protected you from all kinds of criminals, benders and non-benders?"
"It has been my experience that all of the chief gangs in Republic City are predominantly benders." Amon said. "How do you explain that?"
"So we're using thugs and criminals to represent everyone? Not every bender is a criminal."
"Need I remind you, Avatar, of the Hundred Year War? The countless atrocities committed by the Fire Nation? To say nothing for the actions taken by the Earth Kingdom in response…"
"You said yourself that the Fire Nation started that war because they thought they were better than us, not because of their firebending. They thought their culture was better, and the war lasted as long as it did because of their technology, not their firebending. And the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe were defending themselves, benders and non-benders" Korra turned back to face the crowd, now dead silent as they listened intently to the debate between Korra and Amon.
"Please. I'm not saying benders don't abuse their power, I'm not saying that there isn't inequality, but this isn't the way. The equalists are just as bad as the people they hate. And what equality is there, really? Like I said, when you take those people's bending away, you take away their gifts. I guarantee that for every person who can shoot fire out of their hands or create a small avalanche, there's a non-bender who can do something those people can't. But once you take those people's bending away, they lose their gifts. How is that equal? There's a better way than this idea that we have to be at each others throats. We should learn to get along. Benders and non-benders co-existing peacefully, not one group grinding the other into the ground."
"A lovely sentiment." Amon said, "…but also hopelessly naïve on your part, Avatar. It is not possible for the two sides to get along. If it was, I would not have to do what I do…"
"That's not true!" Bolin said, finally interceding. "One of my best friends is a non-bender! Not only that, but she lost her mother to firebenders! And guess what? We're still friends! And my brother, a firebender, is in love with her. And she loves him! What do you mean its not possible? Of course it is! Me and my friends are proof of it!"
"A single exception does not convince me." Amon replied coldly before he turned back to Korra: "You and your friend have put up a valiant effort, but you've still failed spectacularly to convince me that you are right and that I am wrong."
"I wasn't trying to convince you." Korra replied harshly before pointing a finger at the crowd still watching the debate. "I'm trying to convince them."
-X-
Wasting no time, General Iroh took down one of the equalist pilots with his firebending before jumping into the plane's cockpit. After a few moments of awkwardly trying to figure out how the controls worked, Iroh was finally able to get the plane up and running, sending it flying into the air and after the five other equalist planes that had already taken off and were flying towards Republic City.
Taking aim at one of the planes from inside his cockpit, General Iroh briefly cleansed himself of emotions before unleashing a bolt of lightning from his fingertips. The bolt whizzed through the air and struck one of the planes in the side, setting it aflame and completely blasting off one of the airplane's wings. The vehicle spiraled out of control before crashing into two of the other planes, killing all three pilots.
One of the two remaining equalist planes shot out a wire from the rear end of his vehicle. The wire got caught in the propeller of Iroh's plane, causing it to slow down before stopping altogether. Without its propeller, the plane began to lose altitude fast, forcing Iroh to abandon his vehicle. Using his firebending to propel himself forward, Iroh rocketed towards the nearer of the two planes and hurled the pilot out of the cockpit. Unfortunately, as Iroh was doing this, the other plane dropped a bomb down on the tail of Iroh's hijacked plane, destroying it and causing Iroh to lose control of his vehicle.
As his plane threatened to plummet, Iroh could see the other plane about to drop more bombs to finish him off. Wasting no time, Iroh shot out another bolt of lightning at the bombs before they could land on his plane. Detonating prematurely, the bombs consumed the last equalist plane in a massive fireball that incinerated the pilot and sent loose pieces of wood and metal flying in all directions. Iroh shielded himself from the shower of splinters and hot metal and then turned to see that his plane was on a collision course with the statue of Avatar Aang.
Leaping off at the last second, Iroh grabbed hold of the equalist flag attached to the plane. The flag was torn apart from the force of Iroh pulling down on it, but it managed to stay intact enough that Iroh was safe as the plane collided with the statue of Aang's face, destroying the plane but leaving the face surprisingly undamaged.
Iroh looked up at the statue and smiled. "Thanks for looking out for me, Aang."
-X-
Back at the airfield, Mako had grabbed some oil drums and set them up against the runways. Then, as Asami covered him with her stolen mechatank's weapons, Mako ruptured the oil drums and lit them on fire. Soon all of the runways were consumed in flames. As Mako was doing this, a few other mecha-tanks attempted to attack him from behind, but as they fired out some wires, the familiar white furred form of Naga burst through and grabbed the wires in her teeth, saving Mako.
Whipping around to confront her, Mako made a relived smile. "Thanks, Naga."
The sound of a whip cracking rang through the air. Turning around, Mako saw Ge-Duan flanked by chi-blockers.
"You're dead, firebender trash. And this time you're girlfriend isn't here to save you."
"Good thing I don't need saving." Mako retorted, entering a firebending stance as he did. Ge-Duan turned to the chi-blockers: "Deal with the beast. I'll handle the firebender."
The Chi-Blockers nodded, and ran at Naga as Ge-Duan cracked his whip again and again to keep Mako at bay, who retaliated with fireballs. After a brief exchange, Ge-Duan managed to strike the side of one of Mako's arms with his whip, leaving an ugly gash. Snarling in pain and anger, Mako steeled his way past the pain and retaliated with more fireballs, fighting with renewed determination. Finally, the ferocity of Mako's assault began to force Ge-Duan back more and more, until one well-aimed fireball incinerated his whip. Another one to the chest knocked him flat on his back.
Smiling triumphantly, Mako turned to Naga, who had managed to take down the chi-blockers, but was now struggling to stand up due to being chi-blocked in her legs. Seeing Ge-Duan stagger to his feet, Naga charged the equalist with the last of her strength. The impact of her massive body colliding with Ge-Duan sent him flying into the air before he landed a good few feet away from where Naga and Mako were standing. Mako turned to Naga and petted her.
"Nice job, girl. You rest now. I've got to go help Asami."
Meanwhile in the airfield's hangar, Asami was using her mecha-tank to destroy all of the planes that had not yet taken off. As she smashed them to splinters with the metal claws of her mecha-tank, another one appeared.
"So this is what it has come to?" Hiroshi's voice called out from the cockpit of his own mecha-tank. "A father forced to defeat his own daughter."
"That's not going to happen!" Asami shot back. "I'm not going to lose to you!"
"Then prove it." Hiroshi replied coldly before attacking Asami's mecha-tank with the full force of his own. The two massive metal behemoths smashed into one another with an echoing clang as metal scraped against metal. What followed was a fierce fight between father and daughter as the claws of their mecha-tanks scraped against each-other, Asami managing to leave deep gashes in Hiroshi's mecha-tank, only for Hiroshi to reply in kind. Finally, he managed to force Asami's mecha-tank back a great deal before then destroying the windshield and sending loose shards of glass flying into Asami's face, forcing her to bring up an arm to shield herself.
"You have no one to blame but yourself for what is about to come, Asami." Hiroshi said sadly. "I take no pleasure in this. But I can see now that there is no chance of you seeing the light…"
But before Hiroshi could deliver the coup de grae, a bolt of lightning tore through the hangar and struck Hiroshi's mecha-tank. One of the arms was almost completely severed by the force of the blast, and electricity went through the entirety of the mecha-tank, causing sparks to fly in every direction.
"Get away from her." Mako said darkly.
Hiroshi's mecha-tank turned to face Mako. Without a word he fired out one of the mecha-tank's clawed hands at him, who dodged out of the way. Before the arm could retract, Mako fired out a jet of fire at the cable connected to it, burning through it enough that Hiroshi was forced to finish tearing the cable off, as it was now too damaged to retract. Between that and his other arm hanging loosely by half-destroyed cables following being hit by Mako's lightning, Hiroshi's mecha-tank had been effectively defanged.
Then, Asami's mecha-tank, having gotten back up fully, smashed into Hiroshi's as hard as she could make it while he was distracted. The mecha-tank was unable to handle the impact and collapsed in a cacophony of clanging steel. For a moment, the ruined mecha-tank lied still. But then, out of the mostly destroyed windshield came Hiroshi Sato, his glasses missing and cuts on his face. Clambering out of the mecha-tank, he was helpless before Mako, who shot out some small blasts of fire near his feet to discourage him from attempting to run.
Turning to Asami, Hiroshi smiled weakly and said: "I'm proud of you, my daughter. You have shown great conviction. Strength. Courage. All noble qualities." Hiroshi sighed. "I should have tried to convert you to the equalists so much sooner…"
Asami said nothing, merely closing her eyes as tears streaked down the sides of her face.
-X-
Korra's whole body was shaking with anticipation and sweat trickled down her forehead as inwardly her heart raced and her mind was buzzing with activity as she waited desperately for the crowd's reaction. For the longest time, nothing happened. But then, slowly, a few people in the crowd began to back away from the rest, moving away farther and father until they were right at the doors. Then others followed suit. While most of the people in the crowd stayed put, a fair percentage began to make their way to the doors. And as they did, they tore off their equalist logos and discarded them, a gesture that even a few chi-blockers did, also taking off their masks and throwing them to the floor as they walked over to the group of people at the doors.
"What's going on? What are they doing?" Amon asked.
"They're listening to reason." Korra replied bluntly. "I think you just lost quite a few followers, Amon."
"So be it." Amon growled. "I still have more than enough to take you down!"
"No, you don't." a familiar male voice said. Looking up, all saw standing in the rafters Shaobing, his hook swords drawn. Then out of the shadows of the rafters, the other members of the resistance appeared.
"Apologies for arriving late, but we had to sneak in through the back. The good news though, is that we brought reinforcements from Air Temple Island."
And then, rappling down from metal cables were the few remaining metalbending police officers, led by Chief Saikhan. Following them down were all of the other benders Amon had not yet de-bended, and then Shaobing, the Kyoshi Commandos, and the other members of the resistance. They all dropped down in front of the crowd, with those who had listened to Korra's words standing beside them. Behind them, the doors opened and dozens of chi-blockers and equalist police rushed in to intercept them.
"Take them down!" Shaobing shouted.
"Drive these benders and traitors back!" Amon roared.
The entire arena erupted into total bedlam. Fireballs, electricity, rubble, water, ice, bolas, fists, and everything else that could be used as a weapon went flying as Amon's equalist forces and the members of the crowd still loyal to him, violently clashed with the small army of benders, the resistance, metalbender police, and the members of the crowd who had been swayed by Korra's words. Amidst the chaos, Korra went at Amon himself, shooting out a volley of fireballs that Amon expertly weaved out of the way of. Next thing Korra knew Amon was coming at her with the force of a frenzied Komodo Rhino, and hitting about as hard as one. His strikes were fast and merciless. Blood flew out of Korra's mouth and nose as Amon punched her repeatedly, blackening one of her eyes and knocking her around the arena. Not one to go down easily, Korra retaliated with fire, earth, and waterbending that managed to keep Amon on his toes.
As their fight continued, Amon growled at Korra: "You think this will stop me, Avatar? Do you think that this battle's outcome will mean anything? My followers will continue even if I fall!"
Korra shook her head. "No. You've lost support, Amon. And if I have anything to say about it, you're going to lose more. And those of us who want peace instead of your revolution will keep fighting for it. You're going to lose."
Amon came at Korra again, with her using every trick, every move she knew just to keep him from tearing her apart with another series of punishing blows. All around them the tumult of a small-scale war raged around them and the two had to periodically dodge the attacks of other people as well as each-other. Amon kicked Korra back, but she slid as she landed, managing to get back on her feet in mere moments, shooting out a torrent of fire at Amon as he came at her. Amon narrowly dodged out of the way of the attack before spinning about and delivering several more brutal blows to Korra. Korra rolled with the attacks as best as she could before getting an opening and using earthbending to force Amon back a ways, before hurling several medium-sized boulders at him.
Amon dodged these and ran at Korra once more, but this time Korra was ready for him, and shot out a powerful blast of fire that Amon didn't dodge in time. What happened next caught Korra by surprise.
As the fires consumed his arm, Amon shook them off, revealing what lied beneath the black sleeve. It was an arm made not of flesh and blood but of steel, wires, and gears cobbled together like a mockery of bones, with a crude-looking hand that was now balled into a fist.
"You see before you my secret to resisting bloodbending, and how far I have gone in my crusade. I have given up all but one of my limbs for the sake of my revolution, Avatar. And I will not let you defeat me now."
Amon ran at Korra again, who was still reeling from seeing Amon's mechanical arm. Before she could move out of the way in time Amon had grabbed Korra and beat her mercilessly, bringing the young Avatar to her knees. Grabbing her violently by the hair, Amon pulled on it hard to force Korra's head up. He then put his other hand on her forehead.
"KOH!" Amon roared over the clamor. "I know you can hear me! I have held up our end of the bargain! Come, claim your prize!"
The air began to bend and ripple, as a swirling dark mass appeared in the center of the arena. Then the entire arena became consumed in darkness, and the bedlam of the battle slowly died away until soon it was just Amon and Korra standing in a plain, featureless black void that was deathly silent. Out of the shadows came a massive brown centipede-like body, with the white feminine face of Koh beaming with pride as he saw Amon holding Korra in place.
"Excellent. You have done well, Amon. Much better than Yakone."
Slithering towards both Amon and Korra, Koh extended one of its many arms and caressed Korra's face. "So this is the current Avatar. She's a pretty one. Her face will make for a fine start to my second collection. Of course, after her past lives previous behavior towards me, I'm not certain I want to end it so quickly. No, I think I want the Avatar to suffer. Only when she's begging for death will I steal her pretty face and leave her body to its fate."
"Just take her and return me to the battle at hand so I may lead my equalists to victory!" Amon growled.
"Oh, very well" Koh said with a sigh. "Personally, I think you should stay for the show, but I'll send you back anyway."
As Koh was saying this, Korra suddenly felt her body be consumed with a sensation unlike any other she had ever experienced before. In an instant, her mind and body were no longer her own and hundreds of different foreign feelings and identities surged into her body, taking it over. Korra's eyes glowed blue and pupilless, and the power of the Avatar State consumed her. Before Koh or Amon could do a thing to stop her, Korra sent Amon flying back with a massive gust of wind before rising in the air to confront Koh.
"You cannot harm us in this form, Koh." the collective voices of the Avatar declared.
Snarling, Koh struck out at her, but Korra conjured up powerful blasts of fire that scorched Koh's skin and forced him back to the ground.
"You have escaped our justice twice before." the collective voices of the Avatar State declared. "You shall not do so again."
Then, summoning a raging inferno that was a rainbow of colors, the Avatar-State possessed Korra consumed the Face-Stealer in fire, the large centipede body writhing in agony as the fires consumed it. Koh screamed as he was burned alive, but before he could be finished, Korra was tackled by Amon, who wrestled her to the ground and attempted to de-bend her. Korra blasted him off with another gust of wind, sending him tumbling. But Amon distracted Korra long enough for Koh to lash out at her and drive two of his pincer-like arms through Korra's body.
Korra gasped in pain as blood trickled out of her mouth and began to run down the sides of her jaw. The collective voices of all the past Avatars screamed in agony as the cycle threatened to be extinguished forever. With the last of their strength, the Avatars through Korra used firebending to incinerate the arms that had stabbed Korra, before she then struck out at Koh again with the full might of all of the Avatar's collective power.
Koh shrieked in pain and agony, and in an instant the world of darkness was shattered, and the bedlam of the fight in the arena returned in full. The glow left Korra's eyes along with the power of the Avatar State, and she collapsed to the ground bleeding and unconscious. Seeing her in a vulnerable position, Amon staggered over to her and prepared to finish her off…
…only for a bolt of lightning to hit him square in the chest and send him flying backwards. The source of the bolt was General Iroh, who had entered the fight along with Mako, Asami, and Naga, all four wasting no time tearing into the remaining equalists and their supporters. Through the mess of it, Shaobing managed to get to Korra.
"She's been stabbed! She needs a healer, now!"
At this, a few waterbenders from the White Lotus rushed to Korra and Shaobing's position, and Shaobing set Korra's body down.
"Make a defensive perimeter!" General Iroh roared. "Protect the Avatar at all costs!"
The good general rushed forward along with Mako, Asami, Naga, Bolin, and a few others, all of whom set themselves up in a circle around Korra, as the White Lotus waterbenders used their healing to stop the bleeding and try and repair Korra's injury. As the young Avatar lied at death's door, her friends fought tooth and nail against an encroaching mess of chi-blockers, equalist police, and others. Despite the enemy's superior numbers, Korra's friends held out, determined not to let the equalists get to her and finish her off. And as the White Lotus waterbenders continued to heal her, Korra's mind was locked in its own struggle, with the Face Stealer attempting to finish what he had started.
Now, Korra had been told about the Face-Stealer by Katara, so she knew what he was and what he was capable of. But she also knew that if she remained emotionless, he could do nothing to take her face, and in his injured state he could not attempt to physically harm her again. She just needed to remember this and show no fear long enough for the White Lotus waterbenders to bring her back from the brink of death.
"You're going to lose this war…" Koh hissed. "Do you hear me, Avatar? You and your friends are all going to die!"
"I'm not afraid of you." Korra replied emotionlessly.
Koh roared in anger and slithered around Korra, his coils threatening to crush her, but Korra showed no fear. He was too weak. Korra could see it in how he struggled just to move. His body was still badly burned from the fires Korra had used on him when in the Avatar State.
"I swear I will steal your face" Koh growled. "But I shall do more than that. I shall tear your mind to pieces. Slowly, in every way I know how, I will torture you. Only when I have you utterly ruined and literally begging for death, will I finally take your face! Do you hear me? YOU'LL BEG!"
"And yet, I am unmoved." Korra replied emotionlessly.
Koh roared in anger, but in that moment, Korra felt her life returning to her, and her consciousness left the void between the Living World and the Spirit World, and returned fully to the land of the living.
Korra opened her eyes and gasped in pain, her injuries now stabilized. Seeing this, her friends all rushed her and hugged her tightly as all around them the fighting at last began to die down, as the equalists began to beat their opposition back more and more.
Then, the Avatar State took Korra once more, and she rose up from her friends and flew at the remaining equalists.
In a dazzling display involving all of the elements, the Avatar-State possessed Korra single-handedly decimated the remaining equalist forces, sending chi-blockers and equalist police flying in every direction. The mecha-tanks from outside burst in to try and stop her, but were obliterated by the sheer power Korra's Avatar State form possessed. She then surged towards Amon. When he saw her hovering over him, still alive, Amon backed away nervously.
"Impossible…"
The Avatar-State possessed Korra went at Amon in a fury, and there was nothing Amon could do to stop it. Torrents of flame destroyed most of his clothes and exposed his robotic legs, pillars of earth along with powerful blasts of water knocked him about like a rag-doll and cracked his mask. Korra froze Amon's mechanical arm with ice before smashing it to pieces. Amon screamed in pain as he sank to his metal knees. Korra blasted him back with airbending and then landed. Using metalbending she mercilessly ripped Amon's robotic legs off, causing him to cry out in pain all the more. Korra would have finished him off then and there had the Equalist Lieutenant not rushed to his father's aid and electrocuted Korra from behind. With this brief but vital distraction, Amon crawled away with his remaining limb, managing to disappear in the chaos.
With Amon's disappearance and the loss of their mecha-tanks, the remaining equalists were taken down in short order, with only the Lieutenant and a handful of others managing to escape. The battle was over.
-X-
In the aftermath of the equalist's defeat and retreat from Republic City, the resistance and remaining metalbending police found themselves stuck in an uphill battle to take back the city. Amon still had many supporters, and his defeat had turned him into a martyr among them.
But for every supporter of Amon that remained and was now invigorated, there was someone else who had had enough of the equalists, and helped the metalbending police in trying to retake Republic City. One of the first buildings reclaimed was the police headquarters, where a telegram was sent to Tenzin urging him to come back now that the equalists had been driven out. Tenzin and his family reunited with Team Avatar on the docks of Air Temple Island. No sooner did they reunite did Tenzin and Korra hug each other tightly.
"Well done, Korra" Tenzin said proudly. "You saved Republic City."
Korra shook her head. "Not yet I haven't. There's still a lot to do. Half the city's a wreck, not to mention Amon got a lot of people on his side…we need to win back so many people's trust…"
Tenzin nodded. "Yes, that's true. But I believe that the worst is behind us. You did a brave thing standing up to Amon the way you did Korra, and I believe that its been rewarded. People are starting to turn their backs on Amon's ideas now that they've seen what they've led to. We can start building bridges now."
"Yeah. Its too bad Amon got away…." Korra grumbled.
The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a fleet of URN ships, to which General Iroh beamed with pride. "There they are. A bit late, but its still quite good to see them."
Tenzin's kids had also taken notice of the ships, and in particular who was leading them.
"Yay!" Ikki squealed. "Uncle Bumi's here!"
"Uncle Bumi" let out a great big energetic "whoop" of happiness as he clapped his hands and smiled wildly.
"Oh great..." Tenzin said with a sigh. "...now I have to entertain my brother."
Smiling and shaking his head, General Iroh turned to Korra and gave her a sharp salute: "You fought valiantly, Avatar Korra. It was an honor to fight beside you, and my only regret is that I did not get to see more of you in action."
Korra smiled. "Thanks. You know you're not too bad yourself" she said slyly.
"…indeed…" General Iroh replied awkwardly before turning to Bolin and Mako: "You two gentlemen also fought with honor and distinction. I'd be proud to fight alongside you anywhere." Then, finally, he turned to Asami and took her hand in his own. "And it was definitely a great honor to fight alongside someone as brave and beautiful as you, Miss Sato" General Iroh said before kissing her hand, which left her embarrassed and caused Bolin to snicker before Mako slapped him on the back of the head. "Now if you will all excuse me, I must debrief Commander Bumi, as well as have my daily tea time. Hopefully, Commander Bumi has tea some on his ship…"
-X-
It was hours later when Amon's body was found by his few remaining supporters. The Lieutenant looked at his father's desecrated form with sadness but also fury at the Avatar who had done this to him. He turned to one of the remaining chi-blockers. "He's still alive. Get him to the boat."
"Yes sir." the chi-blocker said, he and another one lifting up Amon's body and carrying him off to a waiting boat that several of the few remaining equalists were fleeing Republic City in. As they were all loaded up, the boat sailed away, with the Lieutenant looking out at Republic City in sadness.
"We've failed, father…"
"No…" Amon said weakly. "We will return one day, my son. But for now we must rest and regather our strength. There will be another time. When it comes, we shall take back Republic City, and not even the Avatar will be able to stop us…" then, saying more softly: "You have made me proud, my son."
"Where will we go in the meantime, father?" the Lieutenant asked. "The URN will be looking for us now."
"I know one or two places we can still go…tell the men to take the boat south. I think its time we pay your sister a visit."
Author's Note: Hang in there folks, its not over yet! I've got an epilogue in store for you all! And just as a reminder, this is not the end of my writing for Legend of Korra! I plan on doing Books 2 and 3 as well, and the epilogue will be the set-up. So again, enjoy!