"See you at the End of the World."
- Vaatu, the Spirit of Darkness.

The current matriarch of the Beifong family, Suyin Beifong, descended down the steps in front of the power plant and made a stand at the front gates. Before her was arrayed a small army of dead men and women, shambling across the streets like a legion of the damned.

To her left and slightly behind her, the only back-up she could find for this dangerous mission.

They were dressed in the dull gray of a prison uniform, including name stensiled over the left breast. Platinum cuffs encircled their waist and was tightly clamped on their wrists. Truly, a prisoner of incredible power and great danger. But with the remainder of her guard back home securing Zaofu and her family busy within the power plant, this was all that was available for Suyin to call upon.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, she had decided.

The key to the prisoners cuffs (as well as their prison) hung around Suyin's neck. Though a few select others knew where the prisoner had been locked up, Suyin alone had the single platinum tri-pronged key that could set this individual free. Even an experienced metalbender wouldn't be able to reproduce the exact design of it. At least not without profound difficulty. Suyin slipped it from around her neck and held it up before her eyes, studying it a moment. In the background, the horde of ghouls continued to approach ever closer, knocking down the gates and stumbling towards the power plant. Suyin turned to her compatriot and began to insert the key. The middle-aged woman paused, however, with the key midway into the cuffs. She eyed the prisoner cautiously, making one less internal argument on whether or not this was truly a good idea.

Sensing her inner turmoil, the prisoner lifted her head. "I won't escape," she stated, her voice betraying no emotion. "Where would I even go? Everyone despises me."

True enough, Suyin agreed. With a twist of the key, the platinum cuffs came off.

"Then consider this a chance to start redeeming yourself," Suyin stated plainly.

Kuvira nodded and turned to face the enemy, even as Suyin handed her back her armored gauntlets. The younger metalbender snapped them into place on her arms with a thought, flexing her fingertips. The steel felt good against her body. Strong, rigid, and unyielding. As well as familiar, constant, and safe. Metal was a constant in Kuvira's life. Because it bent to her whims without question, she relied on it more than she ever had friends, family, or even her own fiancee. Fitting then, that as soon as she was done here, Suyin was taking her right back to her platinum prison in a remote part of the Earth Kingdom. In a way, Kuvira welcomed it. A retreat back into something familiar.

For now, however... a chance to earn some redemption.

As the walking corpses closed the distance on the two women, Suyin went on the defensive while Kuvira took the offense. Razor blades shot from her wrists as she broke her gauntlet down into pieces, sending sharp edge metal flying through the air, ripping through dead flesh with terrifying speed. Limbs and heads fell to the ground as she tore them apart with quick, brutal efficiency. They then quickly arced through the air like they were boomerangs, flying right back to her wrists to encase her arms again in strong, rigid metal. When one of the dead men got too close, the metal flew back to her arm, extending as a long, sharp blade, and she engaged them in close combat instead.

Behind her, Suyin threw up her arms and stomped the ground. With a shudder, the chain-link fences surrounding the power plant began to twist and writhe like angry metallic snakes. Breaking free of each other, they slid through the air and along the ground, coiling around the decaying bodies and rotted limbs. Suyin jerked her arms together, and the makeshift wires drew tight, pinning down any still mobile enemies. They continued to try and crawl forward to attack, nothing either metalbender could do would end their animation, but they were at the moment safe.

Giving both Baatars and the rest of Suyin's family a chance to do their work and give Republic City back its power and the edge it so desperately needed.

Korra stumbled to her feet, her head still aching, her legs wobbly. If she'd been anyone else she might've been dead by now. As it was, she was the Avatar, and that meant she could endure a lot more than your average bender. Unfortunately, so could Temuji. Even now he was coming back for another strike, hurling ice buzz saws her way one after another.

She countered with a wall of earth between them, letting the ice shatter against it. "Is all this really worth bringing your mother back?!" she shouted around it.

"You wouldn't dare ask me that if you'd lost yours," he retorted. "For her I'd do anything! To get her back I'd DO ANYTHING!"

He smashed through her barrier like it wasn't even there, rocks raining down as Temuji uppercut hard, narrowly missing Korra's face as hot flames erupted from his fist. She back-flipped onto her hands and then back to her feet, graceful as a dancer.

"This isn't what you want!" she protested. "You wanted to be a healer! She wanted you to be a healer! Would she have wanted all this?!"

He didn't even seem to be listening anymore. His red eyes stared out into open space as he replied. "Once you're out of the way, the barrier between realms will be broken. And I can finally bring back the dead. Properly. I can save my mother, like I should've saved her so long ago! I'll be able to save EVERYONE!"

And it was official, Korra decided.

He'd completely lost it.

In the Dragon Flats District, one of the poorer parts of the city, nonbending citizens were fleeing in droves, even as the police and United military worked to keep them safe while they evacuated. A small contingent of airbenders had joined in the defense, as Ikki and Meelo blew back opposition with powerful but controlled bursts of air. They may have been young, but they'd been trained in the art of airbending their entire lives. They moved like the wind and struck with the force of a gale.

Unfortunately, for all their prowess, they were still only children, and their eyes couldn't be everywhere. Pushing back a wave of undead attackers with her air strikes, Ikki failed to notice another trio of corpses come stumbling out of the nearby alleyway until they were right on top of her. She screamed as their rotted face leaned in close, jagged teeth bared to bite her.

Until a well thrown rock came speeding through the air and lodged itself between the dead man's teeth, preventing him from biting. Indeed, the ghoul looked almost comically confused for a moment before another large rock knocked its head clean off. Two more followed up and took out the dead men on either side of the first, knocking all three to the ground and saving Ikki.

"Ha, that'll teach 'em," said the boy as he stepped into Ikki's field of view.

A street urchin, to judge by his ratty clothes, not much older than her big sister, though he wasn't any taller than Ikki herself. He was deeply tanned from long hours in the sun and had hair in desperate need of a haircut. And he was sporting a grin as he offered her a hand up.

"Looked like you could use a hand," he said. "What's your name?"

"I-I-Ik-ki..." She tried to spit out a thank you as well, but the words somehow got stuck in her brain, unable to quite make the journey to her mouth. All that came out was a sort of strangled gasp.

"Nice ta meet ya. Most folks just call me Skoochy," he replied.

"Uhm, uh, er... uh... nice to meet you as well, Skoochy," she finally managed to spit out.

Their exchange didn't go unnoticed by Ikki's little brother, and he immediately put two and two together in his head, arriving at five with no extra difficulty. He was about to get truly sweet revenge for having ruined his chance to be with his one true love, Tuya. Meelo inhaled to start up his taunting when someone else's voice cut through the air.

"Come on kids, this way! Let's get out of here!"

It was a homeless man, or so it appeared. His hair and beard were ratty and wild and he looked like he hadn't bathed in a decade or so. None the less, he waved at them from a nearby alleyway, further away from the devastation and destruction of the battle.

"Who're you?" Meelo asked skeptically.

The eccentric hermit grinned like a loon, showcasing a few gaps in his teeth. "Name's Gommu, son. Proud vagrant of Republic City. Now come on, me and some of my fellows have been setting up a hidey-hole for just this kinda trouble. You and your little friends can join us."

"Well, he can come," Meelo said, pointing at Skoochy. "I guess he's alright. But do we have to bring her?" he added, pointing at Ikki. She grimaced.

"Hey!"

Gommu shook his head. "Sorry kid, no one gets left behind."

Sounds like something Uncle Bumi would've said. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Meelo replied, watching the others follow Gommu around the next alleyway. "But doesn't mean I have to like it!"

More ghoulish monsters came knocking at the green house on the outskirts of the city, expecting to find easy prey within the glass walls of the greenery. What they did not expect to find was resistance coming from the very plants themselves. Desert cacti buried thorns long as knives deep in their bodies, slowing their movements, as long vines and weeds wrapped around the limbs of dead men and women, pinning them at their sides and rendering them inert and helpless.

Through it all, the aging Grand Lotus Master who oversaw the greenhouse did not lose his calm, even disappointed expression.

"When this is all over, my brothers and sisters in the White Lotus will help ensure you are laid back to rest," Bao said, moving his arms and binding another corpse before it could reach him, tangling up its limbs in vines. "And I promise you, no one will ever abuse this kind of power again. We will not permit it."

Further down the road, another house was under siege, as was its occupants.

Song, precious as only a three year old girl could be, had no idea what was going on, and did the brightest thing a child of her age could do under these dire circumstance. She kept as quiet as she could, quieter than an elephant-mouse, and stayed inside her home. She hoped the monsters outside wouldn't notice her, and waited for her dad to get back. She kept watching the window, trying to keep out of sight behind the curtains while doing so.

Her mother had died in childbirth, but her papa had always cared for her, working as hard as he could to make ends meet so she would want for nothing. As a nonbender, it was harder for him than most to find honest work, but he always found it. And he never forgot to take a little time out of his schedule to play with or take care of her either. It left bags under his eyes and left his voice all raspy and quiet, but he did it proudly out of love for his baby girl.

A decaying face suddenly appeared in the window, and Song screamed. Dead men came crashing through the door as the little girl continued to scream.

"DAD!"

Suddenly there was movement as something slammed into the dead men, knocking them back and then out the open doorway with a well-placed double kick, sending both ghouls rolling along the pavement. Song followed, standing by the broken door frame as the strange man continued to kick and punch and knee and elbow anything dead that came near the doorway, knocking the dead men flat on their backs and to the ground.

Song knew him, she realized as she caught sight of his face. Even though he was wearing a strange dark outfit that almost completely covered his head, it left part of his face exposed. His eyes hidden behind a pair of transparent green goggles, but not his mouth and nose. And no child ever forgot this particular face.

"Dad!"

"Get back, Song! Go upstairs and barricade yourself in your room!" he shouted, not taking his eyes off the undead monstrosities as they climbed back to their feet. He gave his kali sticks a twirl, letting electricity crackle along the metal poles.

"I just have to take out some trash," he said with a sneer, his moustache bristling as he flung himself into the fray.

On the rooftop of Cabbage Corp, the three benders were engaged in a no holds barred battle of the bending arts. Each of the Ferret brothers was trying to provide an opening for their sibling to get in close and knockout their opponent, while Fumiko's strategy was primarily to block their attacks, then try to knock them clean off the roof. Just like a Pro Bending match, in a lot of ways. Only this time, if you were knocked over the edge, there was no water to soften your fall. Just an uncomfortably long drop to the streets far below.

Mako and Bolin let loose a furious flurry of attacks, but each were repelled or endured by Fumiko's sand barrier. Anything she couldn't block she dodged with a frightening display of agility, bending her body just as easily as her sand. They just couldn't break down her defense, she was too fast, too strong, and fighting all on the defensive. It was like trying to batter down the walls of Ba Sing Se with their bare hands. And somehow she was managing to do it all with only one hand, her other still behind her back, twitching fingers occasionally as she guided her army below.

"Oohohohooo!" she giggled as one blast came close to singing the top of her head. "Almost got me that time! My turn!"

She threw up one hand at Mako, subtly shifting her other underneath it. His footing became unstable, preventing him from dodging the sandy battering ram that slammed into his chest, knocking him back. He stumbled towards the rooftop's edge, pinwheeling his arms to try and regain his balance.

"Bro!" Bolin thrust out a foot.

The ledge extended just as Mako was about to fall, a beam of stone that supported Mako's weight and prevented him plunging down... down... down. The elder brother flashed his little sibling a thumbs up, grateful to not have to splattered all over the streets below.

Bolin nodded, but kept his focus on Fumiko, ducking under another sand tentacle and pulling a trio of roof fragments into his hand, superheating them together and swirling them around into a lava shuriken. He sent it speeding towards Fumiko, but she just batted it away before he brought it around for another pass. Much as Bolin wanted to make more, he couldn't risk breaking up the roof any further, the integrity was already dangerously unstable, so he stuck to the one shuriken and brought it back for another attack. The heat of the lava was making Fumiko's sand tentacle partially melt into molten glass, which dripped down onto the rooftop as their battle continued.

Heat... apply enough heat... anything melted, Bolin thought. He quickly conferred with his brother as he helped Mako climb to his feet. A plan was finally in the works.

"Hey Miko! Can you bend glass?" Mako asked with a dangerous smirk.

Puzzled by his odd question, Fumiko threw up a sand barrier as Mako thrust both fists forward and unleashed a long, unending torrent of hot fire from them, blasting her with a bending move that was as intense and wide as he could make it. Fumiko grimaced as his power intensified, feeling her barrier start to give, but held on. She could weather his attack, and in just a few minutes he'd be completely out of juice. Then he'd die, and Bolin would die, and everyone else would die, until it was just her and Temuji left!

No one was going to keep them apart!

Finally, Mako stumbled down onto one knee, almost completely exhausted. He had a little gas left in the tank, but just barely, as evidenced by his heavy breathing.

"Oooh... almost had me with that one, May-ko. Too bad... so sad... time to die... bye-bye-bye..." Fumiko cooed, raising up her hands and splaying her fingers, preparing to impale Mako through the head and heart simultaneously. She may have been crazy but she wasn't cruel, she'd make it quick. But to her surprise, the mound of sand shifted only a little in response to her mental commands, and Mako dodged the attack with almost childish ease. Like it was stuck. Frowning, she turned over the barrier, revealing what had become of it thanks to Makos attack. Her sand had been superheated into glass. It fragmented away to clatter on the rooftop, all the 'earth' within purified away to such a point that, like metal, it was no longer a substance she could bend.

In that moment, Mako and Bolin struck.

Years of being apart had not dulled their teamwork in the slightest. They moved perfectly in sync as Mako tensed his legs and felt Bolin kick downwards. A slab of the roof launched his brother into the air, and Mako came down on top of Fumiko with a burst of firebending, forcing her to use both hands and throw her remaining sand up to create a makeshift shield and block him. But this left her open as Bolin closed the distance and swung around with a roundhouse and a smooth rock that cuffed her upside the head. Fumiko stumbled, dazed, barely able to lift her head before two solid fists slammed into her face at the same time, knocking her out. She hit the roof like a sack of potatoes and skidded right to the edge, unconscious before she even touched the floor.

"Haha, yes!" cheered Bolin, throwing up a fist. "Fire Ferrets Foes Fall!"

Mako winced at just how painful his brother's alliterative cheer of victory was. "Bolin, you're my brother and I love you, but never... ever... say that again."

Younger brothers shoulders drooped as he lowered his head shamefully. "'kay."

All around Republic City, the dead had finally stopped moving.

With no one controlling their actions, even subconsciously, the animation just failed. They fell like puppets whose strings had suddenly been cut, collapsing in the streets harmlessly. At first stunned to discover the battle over (and they'd won, no less) eventually the people of Republic City and its valiant defenders let loose a cheer.

They had won.

Suddenly the city shuddered, and great plumes of hot fire erupted from Air Temple Island, along with a burst of lighting in the stormy skies overhead, reminding them that things were not over just yet. Off in the distance, the true battle continued to rage, so violent it seemed to shake the entire city down to its very foundation, if not the planet.

The Avatar was in the fight of her life, and there was virtually nothing any of them could do to help her.

Great bursts of flame flew from Air Temple Island as its combatants made the whole structure shake, great tides crashing against the shore as their battle continued on. Both combatants could sense it, however. Simultaneously, their gazes cast out across the bay at Republic City. Korra imagined she could even hear the people cheering over the howl of the winds and the pouring rain.

"You hear it too, don't you?" Korra asked, water dripping from her chin. "Miko's failed. But you can still end this."

He snarled, throwing a high kick and punctuating it with an earth spike. Korra nimbly leapt out of the way, shattering the rock with a palm strike to block it. However, she was caught mid-air and off-guard when Temuji swung his arms around and a gust of wind slammed into Korra, knocking her into a nearby building hard enough to leave a crack in the foundation.

"It doesn't matter," Temuji breathed heavily, beginning to feel the strain of his exertions. "If I kill you, I can still do this. I have to do this. If Miko's dead I can bring her back too. I can bring them all back. ALL OF THEM!"

Groaning, Korra climbed to her feet, holding her side, positive she'd come dangerously close to breaking a rib. Blood trickled down her jaw and she realized she'd bit her lip. Better than biting her tongue, at least. Temuji didn't look much better though. His body was caked in mud and his cheek was bruised, a dark stain against his otherwise pallid complexion. His clothes were also sloshed with rainwater, soaked against his frame. Temuji hunched over, breathing raggedly as he glared at Korra, the personification of all his frustrations and problems. And she in turn regarded him with equal wariness.

Lightning flashed in the skies overhead, and for a brief moment, the image of the pale Anti-Avatar was replaced by another feral force of nature, a dark spirit long since banished. The image of a ragged and worn warrior, dressed in Water Tribe clothes with a chain wrapped around her arm, hair in wild dissarray like a seal-lion's mane. Korra recognized her easily enough. This aspect of her had haunted her following her battle with Zaheer. All her fear and rage poured into a shape made solid. Dark Korra.

And now its image was imposed over Temuji.

Just like Kuvira, just so many of her enemies, Korra saw a reflection of herself in her foe. She had to try and reach Temuji again. She had to try and bring balance instead of just destroying him.

"Look around you, Temuji! Look at what you've done! All this destruction! Countless people are hurt or dying! Your own sister too! Is this what your mother would've wanted?! You're disgracing everything she ever taught you!"

His eyes opened wide in shock at her accusations, then narrowed to cold red slits.

"Is that you want?!" she pleaded with him.

His reply wasn't terribly articulate. It was really just raw rage given voice, as her pale opponent threw up two hands, one palm, one fist. The fist he used to propel a bolder, the palm he used to light it aflame, sending a hot ball of flaming rock at Korra. She barely had time to dodge aside before it smashed into the ground where she'd been standing.

That was a close one, she thought.

Temuji didn't give her a chance to recover, slamming another rock into her side hard enough to shatter it to pieces. He leapt into her field of view, hand striking like a viper as his iron hard fingers closed around her throat, reflexively making her grab his hand to try and pry it off. She may as well have been trying to bend a limb of platinum.

"I want MY MOTHER!" he shouted, slamming her down into the ground, hard enough to crack it. His gentle features were twisted with madness. "And I will tear this world apart to GET HER BACK!"

He tightened his grip, crushing Korra's throat beneath his hand. He shouldn't have been so strong, yet the anger, the madness, was fueling his frail body and making him impossibly powerful. His free hand raised up, fingers clenching into a tight fist as tiny pebbles, a line of fire, a thin stream of water, and a breath of wind started climbing and coiling around his arm, tapering at his fist in the form of a drill. Clearly, he intended his next blow to be his very last.

He was going to kill Korra.

Temuji wouldn't stop. He wouldn't ever stop. He was going to keep coming at her until Korra was dead and the world had burned to ashes in this mad quest to reunite his family.

He wasn't ever going to stop.

So someone had to stop him.

Authors Notes:
Please review if you enjoyed.

I know it's just a teensy tiny bit of a stretch to have everyone (almost) coming back in the finale to take part in the fight, but honestly what I love most about this show (and its predecessor) is that each and every character is unique, with personality and flavor. Also fighting styles.

Like Senna from the opening chapter, Tu and Skoochy are confirmed as Earthbenders in the official materials surrounding the Legend of Korra but never got a chance to demonstrate such on-screen. I decided to give them that chance.

Yes, that was a Lieutenant cameo, guest starring Lance Henrikson. I've always been sad we never saw him again after Amon's defeat.