Chapter 10: A City in Need

The three rushed into the city, the scent of scorched buildings permeated the air, shattered earth scattered along the paths, as Kang and Claire kept their eyes forward.

But Khana sorrowfully looked around at the destruction, "What's happening here?" she asked, confusion and sadness echoing through her voice.

"Amon's been driving Benders and Non-benders of the city against one another for two years. At first, it was just small scale scuffles, now they've escalated to full-blown Riots!" Kang angrily replied.

The three arrived outside City hall, seeing the people of the city clash, non-Benders utilising chi-blocking, whilst benders burnt, squashed, pushed, pulled and froze their enemies and amidst the chaos the three could see Lin, the Governors and Ty Lee - a woman Kang and Claire had yet to meet, but Khana knew very well - fighting against both sides of the conflict, several benders tried to strike Lin, she blasted them all away as she formed a barrier of rock around her, slamming her fists against it and launching segments of the earth at her attackers.

Hou deflected the pieces which flew towards him, his fellow Governors and Ty Lee, "Watch it, Lin. You almost took Gao's head off!"

"Now's not the time, Hou!" Lin shouted back as Hou shrugged and continued fighting off the rioters.

Claire nervously looked to Kang and Khana, "Should we help?" she asked.

But without hesitation, Kang stormed towards the chaos, "I'M ON MY WAY, LIN!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, leaping in and bringing down a crescent of red furious fire upon the rioters.

Claire turned to Khana, only to see she too had dashed in behind him, "I'M COMING, MASTER TY LEE!" She called out, knocking several rioters away with a shock-wave of earth then Chi-blocking any stragglers.

Lin looked over towards Kang as he fought off the rioters, "That was unexpected-" she muttered before returning her focus to the rioters.

Ty Lee looked to Khana with surprise, stunned by her presence in the city, "Khana?! When did you get here?"

"I arrived with the Avatar, I'll explain later!" Khana replied as the two fought together.

Claire looked on at the riot, sighing to herself before swallowing her fear, "... I need to help... just don't kill anyone!"

Claire sprinted in and quickly subdued several people by freezing them in a wall of ice, delivering flurries of punches and mighty gusts of air, but as the riot waged on, Claire stopped, observing it whilst Kang, Lin, Khana, Ty Lee and the Governors fought with everything they had, but all the Avatar saw was a meaningless battle orchestrated by a delusional man.

Whilst Claire watched she saw both Kang and Lin fight side by side, but rioters mercilessly ambushed them, their chi blocking as the two to fell against one another, collapsing to the ground.

A piece of earth struck Gao, knocking him out and down to the ground.

A vicious torrent of water blasted Hou, throwing him to the steps of City Hall where water-benders quickly froze him to the stairs.

A Fire-bender attacked Sheng by surprise, a blaze striking his back, burning his clothes and skin as he fell to the ground.

Khana deflected an incoming boulder from striking Ty Lee, but the impact created a dust cloud around them, leaving them both open to Chi-blockers, both falling to the floor as their chi blocked and muscles numbed.

Lastly, Jing, although he took out many Rioters with his fan and sword, they ultimately overwhelmed him, until exhaustion forced him into unconsciousness.

Seeing her friends and allies fall before her, Claire's eyes flashed with a bright light, her fists clenched as energy rose around her, the Avatar's white ponytail flowing upwards, her eyes glowing with radiant light as she leapt into the air, the ground shattering beneath her.

Claire descended with a mighty smash, unleashing an unparalleled gale of air, disorientating the rioters, before quickly thrusting her fists in the air, imprisoning every person, except her friends and allies, within unbreakable earthen cones.

Claire ascended into the air on an air spout, her eyes still glowing as she looked down on the people, "This battle is meaningless! We built this city to bring harmony to all cultures of the world! A beacon of freedom! But all you do is squabble for power, trying to squash one another!" Claire roared, Aang's voice speaking in tandem with her own.

Her words as it boomed across the city while the rioters looked up in fear, not knowing what The Avatar who some revered and others despised would do to them.

But before Claire could continue, Amon approached, clapping his hands as Claire descended to meet Amon, "Riveting speech, Avatar, but ultimately pointless. You are an outsider to these people, an interloper. You do not know the suffering of this city, how the government allows benders to abuse their power, causing people to live in fear and poverty. This is no city of harmony!" he adamantly said, standing firm against Claire, "But I am a beacon to those people, and these Riots are my fire!"

The masked man pulled the surrounding water to his side, shocking the rioters, however, others cheered for him.

"Get her Amon!"

"Show The Avatar we're not to be trifled with!"

"Give it all you've got, Avatar!"

"Good luck... Claire" Kang muttered as he lay on the ground next to Lin, turning his head to the paralysed Police chief, swiftly raising his eyebrows up and down, but Lin just rolled her eyes.

Claire unleashed a slash of fire at Amon, but he deftly leapt over, bringing down several lashings of water on Claire. However, to Amon's surprise, she took control of the water, deflecting it back as Amon deftly avoided the counter-attack.

Claire sprinted towards Amon at a furious pace, but the masked man swiftly swiped his foot along the ground, covering it in a sheen of ice hoping to throw Claire off her balance, but the Avatar slid along the ice towards Amon at an even faster pace.

A black aura radiated around the desperate Amon, but as Claire came face-to-mask with him, she unleashed a roaring blast of fire directly before him, the black aura faded as the masked man instinctively raised a wall of ice between him and the fire, but the flames melted through it, striking Amon directly and knocking him to the ground, his clothes and skin burnt from the power of Claire's flames.

Claire formed a large spear of ice above Amon, poised to strike him down, but in all her Spirit fuelled anger, she remembered what she told herself, "Don't kill anyone!"

And with the echoing of those words, the Ice spear turned to water, drenching Amon as she descended from The Avatar State.

Lin picked herself up from the floor, her numb limbs regaining feeling as she rushed over to restrain Amon in metal cuffs, "I can't think of the words to describe how satisfying this is."

Lin restrained his arms and upon seeing that the fight had concluded, Claire let out a heavy sigh, sombrely looking around at the rioters, the earthen cones shattering as they fled.

"That was quite the show!" Kang told her as he hobbled over with Khana and Ty Lee in tow.

But Claire looked at her hands with raspy breath and narrowed eyes, "Yeah... it was."

But before the Avatar could properly comprehend what had happened, Ty Lee rushed in front of her, scaring Claire back to reality as Ty Lee intently gazed at her, "So, you're the Avatar!" she wondrously exclaimed.

"Yes... I am?" The frightened Avatar replied as Khana interjected.

"Master Ty Lee. Please, calm down," Khana awkwardly replied.

Ty Lee observed Claire whilst the befuddled Avatar looking to Khana, "This is Ty Lee, the leader of the Kyoshi warriors back in the Fire Nation. She taught me some of the things I know," Khana explained.

Ty Lee ceased observing, perking her head up and putting her fists to her hips, "Yep! I did, except for Earth-bending. She picked that up herself!" she explained.

But as she looked around, Kang caught the Kyoshi Warrior's eye, gasping as she looked at him, bemusing Kang as Ty Lee thought to herself, "You seem... familiar..."

But before she could assess him further, Kang turned his attention to Claire, "We should help the Governors!" The nervous mad inventor said as he rushed away.

Claire quickly followed, helping Hou by unfreezing him from the steps, whilst Ty Lee helped Jing up from the ground.

Khana picked up Gao's unconscious body, and after unfreezing Hou Claire and Kang rushed over to Sheng, the Avatar healing his wounds before Kang assisted him off the ground.

Whilst the four helped the Governors, Lin hauled Amon off to the Police Station, the masked man seemingly accepting his fate of incarceration.

With Amon in prison, the City experienced a moment of peace: His followers fled underground, but Amon hadn't given up just yet.

Kang, Claire and Khana stood before Lin and the Governors inside City Hall, the ambience noble as ever whilst they planned a way to bring order to the city's chaos.

"With Amon in prison, I don't think there's anything to worry about," Sheng said.

But Kang stepped forward, "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Governor Sheng."

Kang's sudden protest caught everyone's attention, "Why is that?" Gao asked.

"Think about it, Amon called the riots the fire to his beacon. That must mean he's stirring up the riots," Kang explained.

"Well yes, we worked that out, but he's behind bars now!" Sheng argued.

"But Amon couldn't have stirred up the last Riot on his own, I would know. He had me hostage inside the memorial statue all day," Kang explained further.

Lin curiously rose from her seat, "Which means he must have groups of people going around stirring up each side then forcing them to war against one another."

"Exactly!" Kang replied, thankful Lin understood what he meant.

"Amon constantly preaches about bringing harmony to the city, so why stir up dissonance between the people?" The befuddled Jing asked.

"I think Amon is using the riots to bring down Republic City's government so he can put himself up as the ruler of the city," Kang theorised.

"If he is rousing aggression between benders and non-benders, I'll tell the police force to halt all demonstrations done in Amon's name," Lin told them as she sat back down.

But Lin's words dragged up a memory, "Those men Amon brought onto the stage," Claire muttered.

"What's your input on this, Avatar?" Lin firmly asked.

the Avatar turned her worried gaze to Lin, "The three people who attacked that demonstration in City Park when I arrived in Republic City, they were the same people Kang and I saw dragged out at Amon's Rally in the theatre hall."

Claire's information caught Lin off guard, the Police Chief gritting her teeth, "What are you implying?"

"There must be corruption in the Police force, that's the only way I can think Amon got those men for his Rally," Claire replied.

Lin hung her head in dismay, clenching her fists on top of the stand, "Is it true, Lin?" Hou asked as he placed a hand on Lin's shoulder, "I... have suspected it for a while now, I just didn't want to bring it to light," Lin dishearteningly replied.

"Then we must root them out, Amon is a disease to this city! We must strike against him and his followers now whilst the Iron's hot," Gao adamantly said.

"Claire, Khana and I will work on a plan to find Amon's hideout. Lin and Hou work on taking out Amon's followers in the Police force," Kang instructed them.

"Excuse me, who made you the instructor of this operation?" The Offended Sheng asked.

"I did!" Kang smugly replied before walking away, followed by Claire and Khana after they bowed to the Governors.

"I hate that guy..." Sheng muttered as he slumped back in his seat.

But Kang quickly zipped back over, looking Sheng dead in the eye, "I heard that!" he snapped before zipping back over to Claire and Khana.

Kang's sudden antics made a half-smile crack over Lin's face, "Hate him all you like, he's right about what we need to do," The Police Chief told the Governors as she walked away.

At the Police station, an officer brought food to Amon's cell. The Masked man's back turned from the cell, facing the wall in a meditative position.

The officer slid the food into Amon's cell, "Upon the next full moon, you'll be free, Boss!"

Amon reached behind him, grasping the food, "Good, don't let me down." he replied coldly as the officer nodded, walking away and leaving Amon in his meditative position.

Claire, Kang and Khana returned to the Lab, Khana continuing to marvel at Kang's creations as they walked in.

But a realisation hit her as she curiously gazed at Kang, "Kang... Why is it that your technology is so advanced, but the rest of the city's isn't?"

Khana's questioning stopped Kang in his tracks, but he didn't turn to look at Khana, "I prefer to... keep to myself," he replied in a bitter tone.

Claire backed off slightly whereas Khana stood her ground, "The things you create are amazing, Kang! Keeping them locked away down here when you could share their greatness with the rest of the world is selfish!" The Kyoshi Warrior argued.

Kang turned his head toward Khana, "Do you remember what happened last time someone tried sharing their 'greatness' with the world?" he asked as he turned to face her, "One Hundred Years of senseless bloody war..."

Kang's gaze pierced through his goggles and into Khana's eyes, but the Kyoshi Warrior stubbornly crossed her arms, "That was different, Sozin invaded the Earth Kingdom and the other nations to colonise the world in the name of sharing their 'greatness'!"

"And what is to stop someone like Sozin from sharing my 'greatness' the way he did!?" Kang raised his voice, making Khana jump back, "If I let these inventions out into the world, and they get into the wrong hands, who knows what will happen!?"

Khana stepped back whilst Kang continued his march, "These inventions are my distractions! I will be the one who decides what happens with them, and no one else!" he sombrely proclaimed, clenching his fists as he tried to control his breath.

"But Kang!" Khana tried to continue arguing, but Claire interjected, "That's enough!" Claire shouted.

Khana looked at Claire, the Kyoshi Warrior's mouth hanging ajar, as Kang heavily exhaled through his nose, "Claire!" Khana persisted.

but the Avatar glared at her, "I said that's enough! If Kang doesn't want to share his inventions with the world, then that is his decision, neither you nor I can dictate how he uses them!" she firmly said before turning her attention to Kang, "And I respect your choice, Kang. But there was no need to speak to Khana in that way!"

Kang looked down at the ground, rubbing his forehead and sighing, "I let my temper... get the better of me, sorry," he begrudgingly replied.

Claire let out a heavy sigh as her eyes slowly darted between her friends, "We need to plan our next step against Amon, and we can't do that with you two at each other's throats!"

Claire's protest forced Khana to swallow her pride, looking Kang in the goggles, "She's right..."

"Indeed, come on," Kang indifferently replied as he turned around and waltzed towards a table.

Claire and Khana sat down with Kang, both looking to him to talk, but before he could a man in a yellow vest and brown pants wearing sandals walked through the elevator door, his hair messy and unkempt.

"Li? You're finally here!" Kang said aloud as he perked his head up.

"I'm Kane actually, would you like me to get Li for you?" Kane nonchalantly replied.

"Oh, yes, please!" Kang politely replied as Claire and Khana looked to each other.

Kane pulled a stick from his pocket, placing it to the side of his head, "Hello? Li? Yes, Kang wants to talk to you!"

Claire and Khana watched him with curious wonder whilst Kang heartily tapped his fingers.

Kane's eye twitched as he shook his head, putting the stick back in his pocket, "Ah! Kang! Where have you been?" Li quizzically asked.

"Sorry about that, I had a run-in with Amon..." Kang replied.

Li looked at him with mild shock, "At least you made it out in one piece!" he replied, reaching into his back pocket, "Anyway, Gai got the information you needed!"

Li threw a scroll to Kang, The mad inventor snatched it out of the air and began scanning through it, "Tell Gai I said 'Excellent work'!"

Kang pulled out a small sack of gold pieces, throwing it to Li.

The strange man caught it in the palm of his hand and looked into the sack, "Pleasure doing business with you, Kang!"

Li exited the laboratory, But before he reached the elevator, he quickly zipped back over, "And Kang... I know Amon's in prison and all... but there's something weird about him."

Li's words brought an uneasy air over both of them, "Like what?" Kang asked.

"Well... he knows you... by name. And you're like a ghost in this city," Li uneasily explained.

"I know... I think he knows about Zu as well, so by extension, he might know about you too..." Kang replied, a chill going down both their spines.

"Yeah..." Li replied, smacking his lips before perking up, "anyway, Zu and I have a bakery to raid!"

Li ran for the elevator, "Can you pick me up some Fire Buns?" Kang called over to Li as the strange man entered the elevator, "What kind of friends would we be if we didn't?"

The elevator door slid shut, Kang smiling at him whilst Claire and Khana quizzically looked at him.

"I said I have my ways of finding Amon's hiding place," Kang told them as Claire got comfortable.

Khana pointed to the elevator, raising an eyebrow to Kang "What was all that about?"

"He has an ability or condition. His personality changes whenever he hears a certain word or 'makes a call' through that stick," Kang explained.

"...Weird," Claire abruptly said as Kang aggressively nudged her arm.

"Don't be rude," Kang replied as Claire rubbed her jabbed arm.

"So, where's Amon's hideout?" Claire asked.

"Deep inside The Dragon Flats Borough, it's a non-bender estate close to here. And the entrance is on the far west side of the estate, indicated by a red wooden door," Kang recited what he read on the scroll.

"I'm guessing we won't be going through that door?" Khana asked.

"Precisely, we need to find the building it's attached to, then squeeze in through the ventilation network. Once we're in we need to take out all the people in there, and then Amon's cult following is done for," Kang enthusiastically replied.

"When do we strike?" Claire asked.

"In the dead of night. If we attack during the day, people will spot within seconds. But with the cover of night, we should be able to slip in without a problem," Kang explained.

"What time is it now?" Khana asked as Kang pulled out a small, well worn circular device, pressing a button as a panel tipped open.

"The time is four in the afternoon," Kang replied, pressing the panel back on and pocketing the device.

"Then we strike tonight!" Claire enthusiastically replied.

Kang raised a finger to the air "Yes!" he said as his finger pointed to Claire, "but you're woefully underprepared."

"I'm... what?" Claire asked, her and Khana looking to each other with puzzled expressions.

"If we plan to invade Amon's hideout, we'll need to be prepared, and although you're well trained in the elements, you aren't trained in fighting," Kang explained.

Claire shot up and confronted Kang, "I can fight well enough!"

But Kang stood unflinching, "Prove it then, you're stood in front of the Greatest Fire-bender and an Elite Warrior is sitting adjacent from you," he explained as he sauntered around towards the elevator, "I'll be waiting outside!"

Khana stood up from her chair, walking over to the bemused Avatar, "I know what you're thinking... and he's got a point,"

Khana lightly patted Claire's shoulder before strolling towards the elevator.