Chapter 11: The Azure Storm
Tuan soared through the turbulent chaotic skies with Kang atop her head, seeing the Heart of Chaos' imposing Crystal structure looming amongst the waves of Chaos.
"Tuan, down there!" Kang shouted over the turbulence, the Sky bison giving an affirmative low roar as she began descending towards the Heart of Chaos. Kang saw everyone on the ground looking towards people laid atop earthen beds and gazing up at someone flying out from the Heart of Chaos.
Zu looked up, seeing Khana fly through the air, swiftly launching himself into the air and catching her, slamming back down to the ground as Suki ran over to him. Zu slowly turned around, showing her the beaten and broken Khana, The Kyoshi Warrior gasping as she looked at her.
"Li! Kya! Katara! She needs you!" Zu shouted, the three water-benders quickly rushing over whilst Zu raised an earthen bed, laying her down for the three to heal her.
Toph pushed her feet to the ground, feeling for the vibrations of Khana's heart, and as she did her head lowered, letting out a heavy sigh as she looked to Suki.
"This isn't good... she's going to need something better than regular water healing!" Li exclaimed as he continued running the water up and down Khana's body.
"We can't get Spirit Water, that's all the way up in the North Pole!" Katara exclaimed whilst everyone worryingly looked on at Khana, but as they did Tenzin heard Tuan land a fair distance away from them, turning around to see the hazy image of the Sky Bison. Kang patted Taun's head, leaping from her, and as his feet hit the ground, Toph's eyes widened.
"Do you know the way back from here, Tuan?" Kang asked as the Sky Bison gave an affirmative grumble, Kang smiling as he petted her head.
"Well, Yip-Yip your way on home! And thank you for the ride!" Kang told her as Tuan ascended back into the sky, returning to air mountain. Tenzin looked at the flying Tuan Whilst Toph wiggled her toes.
"Now, unless my feet deceive me... Azula just arrived on a Sky Bison," Toph exclaimed as Zuko perked up from his seated position, rushing over to Toph, as did Sokka, Suki and Katara.
"Are you sure, Toph?" Zuko asked, readying himself for combat.
"It certainly feels like her... and I'd know a thud like that from anywhere," Toph replied as Shu, Tenzin and Kya joined them, ready to fight, leaving Li alone to sustain Khana.
"Oh, come on!" Li exclaimed at the two water-benders whilst Zu, Ho Tun, the Governors and Lin quizzically looked at them.
"I can't believe it... after all these years, she's finally shown herself..." Zuko sombrely exclaimed.
"Well, whatever she has planned, we can take her down!" Sokka proudly proclaimed as he limped forward, readying his sword as Kang raised an eyebrow at everyone's hostility.
"Jeez, I thought they'd be happier to see me," Kang muttered, but as he approached further, Zu squinted his eyes at him, walking forward and passing by the ready combatants.
"Don't mess around Zu! Azula's dangerous!" Toph shouted to him, but Zu raised a hand to her as he approached.
"Kang?" Zu called out to him, seeing the mad inventor's prosthetic hand wave to him.
"KANG!" Zu shouted, charging at him like a bull and scooping him up into a bear hug, Kang let out a sharp gasp as Zu lovingly restrained him.
"Hi, Zu!" Kang replied through his squishing whilst the combatants dropped their guards, curiously looking at Zu and Kang.
"Kang?... That kid who used to run around with Zu, Li and what's-his-name?" Toph asked.
Zu dropped Kang back down to the floor, wondrously looking into the mad inventor's eyes.
"Your goggles! Where are they?" Zu asked, quizzically shrugging his arms as Kang lightly smiled.
"I didn't need them anymore," Kang replied, lightly tapping the hairpin as Zu looked at it, then smiling at Kang.
"I also got your letter!" Kang told him as he pulled the letter out from his pouch, showing it to Zu, causing the Giant to well up.
"Thank you for doing what you, Li and Eamon did," Kang added with a smile.
"It was the least we could do! Come on," Zu replied, leading him to the others.
Kang and Zu strode in side by side, amazing everyone to see Azula hadn't come to them.
"Toph, it's not like you to mix people up... why did you think Kang was Azula?" Katara curiously asked her, the Water-bender crossing her arms.
"And what was this about him arriving on a Sky Bison? They're extinct!" Tenzin interjected, but Toph lightly scoffed, smirking at Kang as she did.
"I guess Twinkle Toes was right... you really are Azula's son," Toph said aloud, surprising everyone except for Zu and Li.
"He's WHAT!?" Sokka exclaimed, hopping over to Kang and studying him, gazing into his eyes and looking at the hairpin.
"Wow, he really is... he's very... Azula-y," Sokka shockingly exclaimed whilst Zuko gawked at him, a silence looming over them.
"That explains why I felt a chill when we met..." Zuko exclaimed, to which Kang nodded.
"Indeed, Uncle ZuZu," Kang nonchalantly replied, the Fire Lord's eyes slanting at him in an unimpressed manner.
"Can I ask you something, Kang?" Zuko asked, the mad inventor looking into his eyes, sombrely nodding as he did.
"Was Azula, your mother... was she happy?" Zuko asked, struggling to word his sentence as Kang took in a long deep breath, nodding to Zuko.
"She was, and she's still here in spirit," Kang sombrely replied, Zuko smiling at him.
"And to answer your question, Tenzin. A small amount of air-benders survived the genocide, and they're still living inside a mountain within the earth kingdom," Kang explained as Tenzin looked at him utterly flabbergasted, and whilst the Air Nomad remained speechless, Kang looked around, raising a worrying eyebrow.
"Where are Khana, Sky and Lin?" Kang asked as Zu looked over to the earthen beds, letting out a heavy sigh as he pointed to them.
Kang quickly ran over, seeing his unconscious friends and Li desperately trying to keep Khana alive.
"Li! What happened?" Kang asked as Li perked his head up, his eyes widening as he saw Kang.
"Kang!" Li exclaimed as he kept the water coursing up and down Khana.
"They tried fighting that False Avatar guy, Lin, Sky and Ty Lee are alright... but Khana... she's not looking good," Li explained as Kang looked down at her, lightly placing his prosthetic hand to her face as a thought bloomed in his mind, reaching around into his pouch and pulling out a flask of water.
"Would this help?" Kang asked as he showed the water to Li, but he raised a curious eyebrow to Kang.
"Unless that's Spirit Water... no," Li replied as he returned his focus to Khana, a moment of silence dawning on them as Li lifted his head back up.
"It's Spirit Water, isn't it?" Li nonchalantly asked.
"Yep!" Kang replied, handing it to Li. The healer gently took the flask, popping the cork and looking to Katara and Kya.
"Oi, you two! Get over here," Li shouted, taking aback Katara and Kya as they rushed over.
"Kang got Spirit Water! Let's get to work," Li told them as Katara and Kya curiously looked at the mad inventor, shrugging it off and bending a segment of the Spirit Water from the flask, forming it around Khana. The water soaked into the Kyoshi Warrior's body, a faint light emitting from her, and as the light faded, Khana let out a low groan.
"Where... am I?" Khana asked as her eyes fluttered open, trying to sit up, but the pain still racked her body, as she slowly looked around seeing Kang stood over her.
"... Kang?" Khana faintly asked.
"The one and only!" Kang gleefully replied as Khana smiled at him, struggling to speak.
"You just rest, Khana. From the looks of it, you had quite the battle," Kang told her as Khana slowly nodded, lowering her head back down and shutting her eyes, and as Khana returned to her rest, Lin slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes before looking around, seeing Kang turn to her.
"... Kang?" Lin softly exclaimed, sitting up from her earthen bed and slowly approaching him.
"It's good to see you, Lin," Kang replied, affectionately smiling at her whilst everyone observed the two, silence looming over them.
"I... thought you might've been dead, what happened to you?" Lin asked, her heart racing as she looked into Kang's eyes.
"Well, lost my left got kicked into a Spirit Portal," Kang began explaining, lifting his prosthetic and wiggling its fingers.
"I guess all that 'you never know when you'll need a spare limb' talk really came through for you," Lin jested as Kang smiled at her.
"Indeed! Then after that, I met my Great-Uncle, met a Lion Turtle, saved Claire, went to a Library with a big owl in it, left Claire behind in the Spirit World," Kang explained, looking around to Khana, seeing her still asleep and breathing a sigh of relief, "... returned home," Kang continued, letting out a heavy sigh, half smiling at the thought.
"Reconciled with my mother, met the Air Clan, became a Dual-bender," Kang explained as he flicked his wrists out, conjuring an Azure flame in one hand and a spiral of air in the other, "and now I'm here," Kang finished, extinguishing his elements whilst Lin stood in awe, unable to think of a way to respond.
"Are all your adventures that strange?" Lin asked as Kang briefly chuckled.
"Just the ones involving the Avatar," Kang replied, smiling before looking to the Heart of Chaos.
"And now... I'm going to put Talos in his place," Kang told her as he began his march towards the Heart of Chaos.
"Kang! You can't go in there on your own, he's too powerful!" Lin exclaimed as Kang stopped in his tracks, turning back to her with a confident smile, conjuring a second Azure flame in his hand.
"We'll see who's stronger," Kang replied a smug grin, but Lin clenched her fists as Kang marched away once more, the Police chief outstretching her arm, pulling on the metal of Kang's prosthetic arm.
"Oh, my!" Kang exclaimed as Lin dragged him back into her arms, everyone else lightly choking as they watched.
"Well... you aren't leaving without this," Lin told him, slowly closing her eyes and kissing Kang, everyone's mouths hung open, their eyes widening whilst Kang closed his eyes, softly embracing Lin.
"MY MAN!" Zu cheered, clapping his hands as Li cheered with him.
"Huh... I didn't see that one coming," Toph quietly exclaimed.
"You can't see anything to begin with," Hou spoke without thinking as Toph swiftly bent up a small pillar of earth into Hou's gut, knocking the wind out of him as he collapsed to the floor.
"And you should've seen that coming," Toph jested as Lin and Kang ended their embrace, both softly smiling at one another as they did.
"Well... now I'm motivated," Kang told her with an uncontrollable smile, Lin smirking at him, lightly scoffing as she patted his arm.
"Go get him, Kang," Lin commanded as Kang nodded, resuming his march towards the Heart of Chaos, determinedly glaring at it.
"Don't worry, Claire. I won't let you go through the pain I did," Kang solemnly muttered as he strode further towards the Heart of Chaos, arriving at its archway and stepping inside, making his way onto the Obsidian Bridge. Talos perked his head up, looking to Kang as he marched across the bridge alone.
"I don't recognise you... Who are you?" Talos asked, but Kang silently glared at him, standing tall with his palms open, the deafening silence taking aback Talos.
"What? No proud proclamations? No pre-battle banter? Did you just come in here to-" Talos began monologuing, but an Azure fireball cut him off as he leapt away from it, landing back down to see the blue flames crackling atop his destroyed throne. Talos turned his gaze to Kang, seeing him lower his open prosthetic palm back to his side.
"Fine, you want to get right to the fighting? Then let's get right to the fighting!" Talos shouted, punching out a stream of violet flame, to which Kang swiftly countered, striking out with his open palm and blasting out a stream of Azure flames. The two streams collided, coiling around each other and crashing into the crystal ceiling, Talos looked up in wonder whilst Kang remained focused.
Talos leapt forward, taking a firm stance then thrusting his blade arm into the air, striking up four stalagmites under Kang, but the mad inventor flowed into the air, landing atop the stalagmite on the ball of his foot, deftly leaping forward and kicking out a ball of azure flame as he flowed down the stalagmites, spinning and kicking out crescents of blue flames for each stalagmite he landed on.
Talos erected walls of obsidian to block his attacks, but with each strike of Kang's Azure fire, the walls crumbled to pieces, knocking Talos back with each strike and as Kang landed back on the bridge, Talos unleashed a powerful violet comet towards Kang, but he stood his ground, leaping and spinning in the air, blue flames coursing around his hands as he landed, assuming a firm stance and striking his hands out, parting and dissipating the violet comet whilst Talos wondrously glared at him, Kang's arms lightly quaking.
Kang leaned back in his stance, taking in a deep breath, bringing his hands to his mouth, pointing two fingers up towards his nose as his stomach contracted before leaning forward, blowing out a spiralling stream of Azure fire from his mouth, Talos gawked and leapt weightlessly into the air, waiting for the fires to cease then generating an arc of violet fire from his foot, slamming down onto the ground, intending to roast Kang, but the mad inventor flowed away from the attack, the fire barely touching him before he flipped around, unleashing jets of azure flames from his feet, charging at Talos with a relentless pace, punching out streams of unparalleled firepower from his palms.
Talos desperately tried to defend himself with walls of obsidian, but the walls crumbled before the flames like nothing. Kang stopped his fire jets, leaping forward and slicing his arm upwards, erecting a razor-sharp wall of flame and slicing it at Talos, but the Avatar leapt away from the fire, feeling the heat and unleashing a blast of air at Kang as he floated back down.
The gust shoved Kang back, however, the mad inventor stood his ground as Talos began frantically slicing his blade arm at Kang, launching slashes of each element one after another, but Kang deftly weaved between the slashes, leaping through the gap between the last two, rolling forward and punching out both his palms, unleashing a mighty blaze of blue, Talos tried to defend himself once more, but the obsidian walls crumbled, throwing the Avatar back into the ruins of his throne.
Talos' breath became ragged as he glared at Kang, his teeth gritted whilst his heart raced. Kang took a slow breath, arching his arms around himself, lightning crackling along his fingers as Talos' heart skipped a beat, watching Kang bring the tips of his right hand in front of him, closing his eyes and letting out a long breath.
"From now on you'll always carry me with you, Kang," Azula's voice echoed in Kang's mind as a faint blue glow radiated around him.
Talos furiously stood up, beginning his charge toward Kang, the Avatar's eyes turning pitch black, but Kang opened his eyes, glaring at Talos as a condensed azure flame grew on his prosthetic fist, Kang twisted around, bringing the generated lightning behind him as he punched out with his left fist, Azula's spirit forming behind the mad inventor, mirroring his movements as the mother and son unleashed two gigantic, unmatched coiling streams of Azure Fire, Talos froze on the spot as the flames approached, mercilessly engulfing him.
Talos' screams echoed throughout the Heart of Chaos as the coiling fire streams smashed through the ruins of his throne, destroying the waterfall and crashing into the crystal walls. The crystal cracked and split at the sheer force of the flames, shattering as the Azure flames soared up into the air, spiralling around each other like two sapphire dragons, the roaring sound of the flames surged across Republic City whilst everyone outside gawked in awe, and a tear-streaked out from Zuko's scarred eye.
The flames stopped, revealing Talos burnt all over, his sleeveless shirt utterly destroyed whilst his pants and boots barely held together, most of the left pant leg being burnt off whilst the right leg remained mostly scorched, and his blade arm glowing a brilliant hot white.
Talos stumbled forward, his eyes still pitch black, but Kang had no mercy for him, stepping forward and striking out with his hand, Azula's Spirit mirroring his movements as the mother and son unleashed two coiling bolts of Lightning, striking Talos' heart, the Avatar roared in pain as the electricity surged all over his body, and as the bolts ceased Talos stumbled back, the black light fading from his eyes as he slowly collapsed to his knees. Kang took an upright stance, slowly pushing his hands down the front of his body, letting out a slow breath as Azula's spirit faded back into the mad inventor whilst Talos collapsed onto his stomach, letting out a faint gasp as he did.
"It's over," Kang coldly spoke, turning around and beginning his march from the Heart of Chaos, but as he did, a faint chuckle echoed from behind him, his heart skipping a beat.
Kang turned around, seeing Talos slowly stumble back up, slowly chuckling, an ominous black light coursing over him as he stood back on his own two feet.
"That... was Spectacular!" Talos exclaimed, a look of crazed amazement crawling over his face.
"ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR!" Talos shouted at the top of his lungs, outstretching his arms like a deity as chaos erupted from his body, unleashing a mighty shock-wave and blowing Kang back as he stood his ground.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Kang exclaimed as he stood strong against the chaotic force, Talos' wounds partially healed into scars as he lowered his arms back down, the chaotic shock-wave ceasing.
"For a moment I thought I saw the Spirit of Death itself... but Raava pulled me back from the brink!" Talos proclaimed, shocking Kang as he frightfully gazed upon Talos.
"You are the first to truly push me to the edge of death! And for that, you have my utmost respect!" Talos proudly told him, briefly bowing his head whilst Kang glared at him, unsure how to respond, but the mad inventor turned his gaze to the hole he'd created, seeing someone stood on the azure burning rim.
"Well, looks like I missed quite the snazzy performance!" A woman's voice echoed throughout the Heart of Chaos, surprising Talos as he turned to look at the person standing within the hole.