Chapter 12: Republic on the Brink
Khana reached Lin's office inside City Hall before Amon's Fanatical army reached the inner city, busting in through the door and scaring Ty Lee, "Khana?!" she exclaimed.
"Can't talk, busy!" Khana abruptly replied before sensing Lin to her right, quickly turning her head as she began sprinting down a corridor and barging through a metal door to see Lin at her desk.
The Police Chief perked her head up to see the out of breath Khana, and Ty Lee following shortly behind, "What are you doing here?"
"Amon's escaped!" Khana replied.
Lin let out a heavy sigh, "I know..."
"Then why are you just sat there?" The bemused Kyoshi Warrior asked as Lin looked her in the eye.
"We don't know where he is and we have no leads on his whereabouts," Lin replied, disappointment riddling through her voice.
"But Kang found his hideout, Claire and him are there right now!" Khana explained.
But before Lin could say another word, Hou walked through the door, "Uh, Lin. You might want to come see this..."
Hou exited, quickly pursued by Lin, Khana and Ty Lee, walking out of City hall to see Amon's army marching through the streets, Gao, Sheng and Jing stood there with them.
"What in the name of Avatar Kuruk is happening?!" Sheng exclaimed.
"I don't know... But where are they going?" Hou replied as the fanatics marched, one glancing over at Lin, the mask and black hood shaking the police chief to her core, and without hesitation, she rushed in, but Khana grabbed her by the arm.
"If you run in there on your own, they'll kill you!" Khana said as Hou walked over to Lin, "She's right, Lin!"
Lin slumped back. Her muscles tensing, "We need to get to wherever it is they're going, maybe then we can stop them!" Jing explained.
"I'm with Jing!" Ty Lee enthusiastically replied.
"I agree, let's follow them!" Gao replied.
Lin and Khana formed a staircase up to the roof for the governors, Ty Lee and themselves to run across.
Kang arrived back at the Derelict estate, scanning the area before he spotted the house with a green flag on its door, "Found it!"
The mad inventor raced over towards the house, barging through the door, but as he did several knives flew towards him as he quickly dropped to the floor, "I forgot about that..."
Zu ran out towards the door, looking down at Kang and breathing a sigh of relief, "Kang, you know you're supposed to knock."
"Sorry, Zu. It slipped my mind... we have an emergency," Kang nervously replied.
"I don't want to get involved in those riots, Kang!" Zu replied mildly annoyed as he began walking back into the room he came from.
"Oh no, this is much worse than the riots!" Kang urgently said.
Zu turned around, staring his friend in the goggles, "... two riots?"
Kang smacked his hand with his palm, letting his hand drop as he looked back at Zu, "No, Zu. Amon's rallied all his followers and is marching out into the city!"
Li jumped through the archway, "How many we talking?"
"Hundreds, he's got his own personal army!" Kang replied.
Zu and Li looked to each other, then back to Kang, "We'll have to gather our own army to combat him then," Zu replied as he cracked his knuckles.
"Good idea, but probably get a change of clothes first," Kang replied.
Zu looked down at his kimono as his beefy arms swayed out to the side, "Yeah, I don't think anyone will take me seriously in my house clothes."
"I'll go rally everyone else whilst you two get ready!" Kang replied as Zu and Li nodded.
Kang ran out of the door and into the estate, Zu then walked upstairs to get changed whilst Li followed Kang to help rally the other gangs in the area.
Claire remained on the rooftop for half an hour, getting a hang of blood-bending, and as she trained, a stray fanatic came running out from the gate.
"I already missed the march, I hope The Boss doesn't punish me!" the follower said to himself as Claire smirked, picking up the scroll and leaping from the rooftops landing in front of the follower.
The follower jumped back as Claire stood menacingly over him, "The Avatar!?"
He swallowed his fear, throwing a fist at Claire, but the Avatar outstretched her hands like a puppet-master, taking control of the fanatic and twisting him around, clutching his neck before placing her thumb on his forehead.
But the follower let off no response to Claire's actions, looking at the confused Avatar, and his surroundings, "... What are you doing?"
Claire continued trying to sever his bending, but nothing came of it, releasing her grip of the follower and restraining his arms in the earth, "Why didn't it work? I've practised the blood-bending forms and did exactly what Amon does... so why?"
"I don't think he does it with blood-bending..." The follower replied as he turned his head to Claire, catching her attention.
"... Now that you mention it, that doesn't make sense, does it?" Claire nonchalantly asked.
The follower nodded and shrugged, "Well yeah, how would it even work?"
Claire to shrugged, "Do you know how Amon does the thing?" she asked, mimicking Amon's moves.
"No one knows, not even his most trusted followers," The follower replied.
Claire let out a disgruntled sigh, "So uh, mind letting me out of these?" The follower politely asked.
Claire's eyebrows curiously raised as she considered the idea, "Sure."
Claire broke away the earthly binds before sprinting off into the night, leaving the follower in her dust.
Lin, Khana, Ty Lee and the governors arrived at the Police Station, seeing it in rubble and flames, the Fire Division of Amon's cult scorched the building, the Earth Division crushing it with boulders, and the Water Division healing the other two whilst the non-bending fanatics cheered them on, pumping their fists in the air with appraisal. Lin and Hou looked at the crumbling station, seeing the fires rage within it and the structure crumble to its foundations.
Lin's heart sank as Hou placed his hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Lin. If only we had been faster..."
Lin placed her hand atop Hou's as he looked to the wreckage, "It's okay... we can rebuild... once we're done with Amon!"
The fire and earth Divisions ceased their attack as Amon stood before his army, "This is but our first step to taking this city! With the Police no longer able to impede on our goals, we will be victorious!"
Amon's fanatics praised him as Claire arrived on scene atop the opposite rooftop her friends and allies stood on, seeing the destruction Amon's cult had rort.
The masked man himself looked up at Claire, smirking under his mask, "And here is the Avatar! Right on cue!"
Amon's followers looked up and see Claire standing over them, but before they could attack, three mobs of benders and non-benders alike marched towards Amon and his army from all sides.
Kang led the right mod whilst Li led the left mob, now switched to Kaz, an Air-Bender, and the central mob led by Zu, now dressed in a grey sleeveless partially ripped Gi with a black belt around his waist.
"Well, if it isn't, Amon! Public enemy number one!" Zu shouted to Amon.
But the masked Man simply chucked at him, "I was wondering when you'd show your face, Zu. Infamous crusher of Yakone!"
Amon's jest took aback Zu, but he stood tall against the masked fiend, "Attacking the police force was a big mistake, Amon, now it's time to pay the fine!"
Kang groaned at his pun as Amon shook his head, "After all these years and you still care about the Police Force?"
Amon mockingly gestured to the ruins behind him, "We do! Someone has to give us unorganized criminals a run for our money, it'd get boring otherwise!" Zu said as he looked up at Lin, winking at her, to which Lin let out a disgusted grunt.
"I believe we've spoken enough, Zu! Time to let our elements and fists do the talking!" Amon replied as he signalled for his followers to engage the mob.
Zu, Kaz and Kang signalled for their mobs to engage whilst Claire, Lin, Khana, Ty Lee and the Governors join the mob. The fight for Republic City had begun.
The Mob and Amon's army clashed, Chi-blockers and benders on both sides brutally attacked one another, showing no mercy to their opposing side as Zu smashed through Amon's fanatics, carving a path to the masked man, quickly joined by Kang and Kaz.
"What's our plan when we reach Amon," Kaz asked.
"Beat him senseless, usually works," Zu replied with a chuckle.
"I like that plan!" Kaz said as he pumped his fist.
"I don't think that'll work this time, Zu. Amon's a blood-bender," Kang explained.
The bemused Zu raised one of his fluffy eyebrows, "Well... I guess we better go all out, no holding back!" he egged Kang on whilst patting his shoulder.
"... Indeed" Kang replied, his nerves twitching as he listened to Zu.
Amongst the Mob, Lin and the Governors fought off Amon's army, Lin and Hou working alongside each other, utilising their earth-bending and metal-bending to its fullest extent, Gao and Sheng fought together, Sheng immobilising the targets with his Water-Bending as Gao scorched them with his fire-bending, whilst Jing and Ty Lee fought alongside one another.
Jing Used the fighting forms he learnt from Sokka and Suki, using the opponent's force against them, then strike mercilessly with his sword whilst Ty Lee followed up by blocking their Chi, and vice versa. Claire and Khana met up among the mob using Khana's power as an earth-bender, and Claire's versatility in the elements to make their way through the army to Amon, However, Zu, Kaz and Kang had already made it to him.
"Let's see just how good of a blood-bender you are, Amon!" Zu taunted him as he stomped the ground, bringing two boulders to his side, grasping ahold of them and throwing them at Amon.
But they phased through Amon, confusing all three of them as they crashed behind the masked man.
Amon raised a hand to Zu, egging him on to attack, Zu and Kaz ran in together, The Giant bringing Earth to his forearms: forming gauntlets of earth around them as he viciously swung at Amon whilst Kaz attacked with slashes and gusts of air, keeping up with him by using an Air Scooter he copied from Aang.
Both kept Amon on his toes whilst Kang supported them with streams of fire, but Amon avoided them effortlessly, weaving and phasing through their attacks, as he smirked under his mask, "Play time's over, boys!"
Amon punched and blasted the air out of Zu before bending the surrounding water to his will, and launching Zu away into the mob, before swiftly knocking Kaz into the Police station ruins, freezing him to the rubble and reverting him back to Li.
Amon cracked his neck before turning his attention towards the befuddled Kang, "We meet again, Kang."
Amon approached him, but the Mad inventor said nothing back, taking a deep breath, clearing his mind completely.
Kang stretched his left arm out to the side and arched it downwards, then to the opposite side, lightning coursing around his hands as the mad inventor drew his arm back to its original side, then repeating the same process with his other arm, finally bringing both his hands together in front of him.
The Mob and Fanatical army stopped fighting as they saw the lightning surge across the battlefield, standing in awe.
"Whoa..." Li gasped from his frozen position.
Amon looked around, seeing that the battle had silenced, "He can still generate lightning? It matters not, I can deal with this easily," he thought to himself as he raised his arms to his side, taunting Kang, "Come! Strike me!"
Kang smiled, launching the Lightning towards Amon but to his shock, Amon pointed his hands towards the Lightning, catching it in his hands before bringing his hand down to his stomach, then lifting it up and out towards the sky, redirecting Kang's lightning into the clouds, dispelling the cloud cover above them and revealing the full moon.
"My followers! Strike down this mob with all your strength!" Amon shouted to his army of fanatics, causing them to become severely aggressive, inevitably beating down on the Mob. Amon's victory was on the horizon.
Wasting no time, Amon stretched his arms out like a puppet-master, forcing Kang's blood to drag him onto his knees, and despite the Mad inventor's resistance, he gave in, but to his surprise, Khana sprang into action attempting to strike down Amon, however, with a flick of his wrist, he took control of Khana and lowered her down behind Kang.
"Now... restrain your friend!" Amon demanded as he twisted Khana to his will, stringing her along to bend earth around Kang's wrists and ankles, leaving him unable to move, "Good Girl!"
Khana snarled as Amon strung her to his side. Kang fell to the ground, as Lin, Claire and the governors broke through the battle towards Amon, the masked man laughing as a sinister presence emitted from around him, the area around Amon and the others grew darker, a shadow casting over that area alone, and as it grew, a chill pierced through Claire and her allies.
Hou rushed over to Kang to break his restraints, but Kang shook his head, "Forget about me! Just take down Amon!"
"Right!" Hou replied, striking out his fist to earth-bend.
But nothing happened as Everyone gave Hou a quizzical stare, "Stop messing around, Hou!" Lin scolded him as she began to earth-bend.
But nothing happened once again.
Everyone nervously looked at themselves as Amon chuckled to himself, "This is the key to my victory!"
Amon took hold of Hou with his free hand before stringing Khana along to first restrain Him, then moving to Lin, and finally the Governors, all bound by seemingly unbreakable earth.
With Khana still bound to his will, Amon turned to Claire. She attempted to Fire-bend, but just like the others nothing happened, even Claire's other bending practises failed to work, "How!? How did you take our bending!?"
Claire's heart raced, her hands trembled, but Amon simply glared at her with a shadowy gaze, "You think I'm going to answer that?"
Amon's his grip relaxed as he laughed at Claire, but sensing his weakened grip, Khana swung her fist to Amon's mask, knocking him down to the ground, forcing him to drop the Kyoshi Warrior.
"Claire! Get out of here!" Khana shouted as she flipped herself back up.
But Claire gave her a quizzical stare, "I can't just leave you! We need to end this here and now!"
Khana withdrew her daggers from behind her hips, "No! Amon has an ability we've never encountered before! If you fall here, we'll never rise again! Now, do as I say, Avatar. Get out of here!"
Taken aback by Khana's words, the stubborn Avatar fled, but not before Amon took a hold of her blood, pulling on it as she fell.
The masked man puppeted her leg, slowly dragging her toward him, but with fury in her eyes, Khana threw one of her daggers towards Amon, impaling his arm and breaking his hold over Claire, "GO!" Khana shouted one last time.
Claire got back to her feet, quickly breaking through the battle, deftly avoiding the combatants and fleeing from the city.
Khana watched Claire flee to safety, sheathing her dagger behind her back and surrendering to Amon, who stood before her with her Dagger, twirling it in his hand.
Khana lowered her head, accepting what she thought was her fate, "I did my duty..."
But to her surprise, Amon used her earth-bending against her to bind her arms and ankles.
Amon's Army of fanatics had successfully beaten the mob into submission. Many members of the mob lay dead, others unconscious and a few surrendered, seeing their defeat.
Four of Amon's Fanatics lugged Zu's heavy unconscious body before Amon, and one dragged Li's body still trapped in ice before him, "These are the other leaders, Boss. What should we do with them?"
Amon observed them, humming before looking to the Police Station, "Carve a path into the Police Station and lock them up, along with the Ex-Police Chief, Kang, The Ex-Governors, this woman and..." Amon looked around, noticing a person was missing, "Wait... Where is that old Chi-Blocking woman?"
Amon and his followers scanned the battlefield, "seems she ran away, probably chased after the Avatar, Boss."
"Speaking of which, what should we do about her, Boss?"
Amon thought to himself, looking to the distance, "Leave her, there's no way she can stand up to us now."
Amon's victorious ego got the better of him whilst the Fanatics gave each other quizzical looks, "If you say so, Boss!"
The Fanatics carried Claire's allies into the Police Station, ready to lock them away.