The three walked through the streets of Amon's Republic City, remaining as stealthy as rain fell all around them, the scent of it filling the air.
Several of Amon's Fanatics looked in their direction, not seeing them but knowing something was off, "Does the rain over there look a bit... funny?"
"Yeah... kinda like it's... disappearing before hitting the ground..."
Their conversation reached Claire's ears as she tugged on Joseph's arm, "I think they're onto us!"
Joseph thought to himself as Ty Lee raised her hand, "You could try water-bending the surrounding rain."
But Joseph shook his head, "If she does, they'll notice us right away... our best option is to just keep going."
The trio marched further into The City of Shadows whilst The Fanatics continued watching the anomaly in the rain before looking back to one another, "It's been a long day, perhaps we're just seeing things."
"Yeah probably... Do you think we should report this to the Boss?"
"No, he'd be pretty annoyed if we told him and it turned out to be nothing."
"Eh, good point..."
The fanatics went on their way.
The trio arrived outside the Police Station, cautiously venturing in whilst Joseph kept up the invisibility, sneaking past several Fanatic guards and down into the Prison Cells, "Are you sure yer friends are here, lassie?"
"I can't think of anywhere else he'd keep them," Claire replied.
The three returned to investigating the Prison Cells, venturing in as a man reciting a song to himself hit their ears, becoming more distinct the further they delved.
"Twenty-Nine Bottles of Wine on the wall. Twenty-Nine Bottles of Wine. Take one down, chug it all down. Twenty-Eight Bottles of wine on the wall!" Zu sang to himself whilst everyone else kept to themselves.
"Isn't it supposed to be 'pass it around'?" Lin asked.
But The Giant let out a loud laugh at her question, "You might be Chief Beifong, but I only share my wine with the Chief!"
Lin raised a curious eyebrow as she looked to both Kang and Li, "He's referring to Toph," Kang explained.
"Yeah," Li confirmed.
Lin lightly scoffed, detecting the approach of three people but not seeing anyone, raising an uneasy eyebrow to the approaching presence.
"Over there!" Claire whispered.
Khana's head perked up at the sound of the Avatar's voice.
The trio stood before Claire's imprisoned allies, still invisible to them before Joseph dispelled the invisibility, all turning their attention to the unveiling three.
"Avatar!" The Governors exclaimed.
But Claire quickly signalled them to keep it down.
Unfortunately, one fanatic heard their exclamation, turning his head to another Fanatic, "I think someone's sneaking around down there, go check it out."
Claire's friends and allies jumped to their feet in joy seeing Claire had returned.
But the sight of just Joseph and Ty Lee with her dimmed their newfound hope, "I know you were gone for a day, Avatar... but a buff man and Ty Lee are all you brought?" Jing asked, bringing gloom to everyone else.
"Hey, I'm more than just 'a buff man', ye twinky blighter."
Jing quizzically shook his head before brushing off the subject, intending to explain more pressing matters to Claire, "Although we appreciate you coming for us, we're just dead-weight now."
Claire raised a befuddled eyebrow to his statement, "What makes you say that? You're a skilled Swordsman and Fansman."
Zu let out a laugh as he poised his fists to his hips, "'Fansman' Why did I never think of that?"
Claire told him to shush once more.
"Avatar, whatever Amon does to take away bending, he's done it to us. They are no longer benders, and I can't wield my fan and sword properly anymore..." Jing explained, letting out a disheartened sigh.
"Who are you three!?" A fanatic guard asked as Joseph swiftly turned around, unleashing chains of light and wrapping the Fanatic up before viciously pulling him over.
The fanatic soared over to Joseph as the Light-Bender snatched him out of the air, placing his thumb to the Fanatics forehead as he spaced out within Joseph's grip.
"Ye never saw us," Joseph firmly said.
"I never saw you."
"Ye gonnae tell your fellows ye saw nothing down here."
"I will tell my fellows I saw nothing down here."
Joseph released his hold, the Fanatic slumping to the ground as he strode out of the cells like a zombie.
"... What was that?" Ty Lee cautiously asked.
"A little Light-Bender mind trick..."
Joseph cleared his throat, approaching Claire's allies, "Did this... Amon touch yer Wills of Light and Sound?"
"Our what?" Lin asked with a shrug.
"Oh... that's right, ye call them Chakras here, don't ye?" Joseph replied, "Did Amon touch yer Light and Sound Chakras?"
"Do you mean our throats and foreheads?" Kang asked as he gestured to each, not entirely sure what Chakras were.
"Yes! Did he use his abilities against ye in that way?" Joseph asked once more.
Everyone looked around, all shaking their heads to one another, "No, he hasn't..." Lin replied
"Ah! Good, that means his Shadow-Bending is only affecting the cells!"
"Everyone, shield yer eyes!" Joseph said as he outstretched his hand.
A ball of dazzling light emitted from his hand, placing his other hand to the side of it then pulling it back towards the side of his face. Everyone blocked their eyes aside from Kang, who observed the light and Joseph with great intrigue.
A faint hissing reverberated, the Light shining ever brighter, extinguishing the looming shadow around the cells, "Try to bend now," Joseph said.
Whilst everyone adjusted their eyes, Kang unleashed a blast of fire through the bars, smiling with delight as Zu and Lin looked to each other prying the bars apart with an eager smile, freeing themselves, Kang, Li, then The Governors and Khana.
"Now probably isn't the best time to ask, but... what was all that?" Hou asked.
"That was Light-Bending, It's a foreign bending style."
Joseph's words piqued Kang's interest as he thought to himself, "Does that mean Amon is a Shadow-Bender like you briefly mentioned?"
"He is. His Shadow-Bending is how he made you think you couldn't bend."
"Wait, 'Make us think'? What are you implying?" Gao asked.
"Shadow-Benders have an ability called 'The Shadow of doubt', it tricks yer mind and body into thinking ye cannae bend like he did here. Although that is only temporary, it's Permanent if he instils the shadow of doubt directly by striking the Light and Sound Wil- Chakras."
"So that's what he meant by the foreign power being the key to his victory," Kang replied.
"What do we do now?" Li asked, hoping Claire, Ty Lee and Joseph planned passed this point.
"We need to take the city back from Amon, but first we need to bring down his Fanatics," Claire explained
"Kang, Zu, Li, and Lin: I want you to take out the Fanatics on the east side of the city, and Governors I want you to take them out on the west side of the city," Claire commanded.
"And what will you and the others do?" Gao asked.
"Khana, Ty Lee, my dad and myself will carve a path to Amon. Once you've cleared your sides of the city, meet up with us outside City hall."
"As you wish, Avatar!" Gao replied, bowing before leading the Governors out of the prison cells. The other Governors bowed, taking their leave with Gao.
Kang placed his hand on Claire's shoulder, "Good Luck, Claire!"
Claire placed her hand on his forearm, "Same to you, Kang!"
Lin, Zu and Li followed Kang out of the Prison Cells.
Khana slowly approached Claire, remaining silent before her.
"Are you okay, Khana?" Claire asked, looking to the dismal Kyoshi Warrior with concern.
Khana took a deep breath, gazing into Claire's eyes, "It's good to see you're safe..."
A brief smile came over her face as Claire extended her arms out to Khana, however, her gesture made the Kyoshi warrior uneasy, not sure what to make of Claire's gesture as Ty Lee leaned in towards Khana, "It's a hug, silly."
Khana blushed, going into hug Claire, the two holding one another gently, "I won't run this time..." Claire said.
Khana smiled, shedding a tear as their embrace tightened, "We know what we're up against this time, and with your father here. I'm sure we'll be victorious!"
Khana and Claire released their hug, "Yeah, Let's get going. We have a Masked Mad Man to bring down!" Claire enthusiastically replied, leading Ty Lee, Joseph and Khana out of the Prison Cells.
Kang, Li, Zu and Lin stealthily moved around the eastern side of the city, avoiding detection from Amon's Fanatics whilst simultaneously knocking them out and dragging them into alleyways, slowly making their way towards City Park.
Zu observed the park from afar, letting out a disgruntled sigh as he ducked back behind their cover, "Too many Fanatics, not enough cover."
They all dropped their heads, beginning to think, "I've got an idea!" Kang exclaimed.
Everyone turned their gaze to him, "Zu, Lin, you form a rocky structure around all of us, then we walk into City Park and take everyone out!"
"Won't we be... obvious?" Zu asked, raising an eyebrow.
"And wouldn't it be better for me to get Kaz to just bend the air out of the surrounding area and suffocate all of them?" Li asked whilst everyone stared at him with mild horror.
"We're trying to knock them out, not kill them!" Kang replied as Li scrunched up slightly, "It's also surprising how easily people will disregard a rock."
"But how will we get there unseen?" Lin asked, crossing her arms.
"You can use Seismic Sense, right? Use that to keep an 'eye' on them," Kang explained.
"This might work, but I prefer my plan!"
"If we get caught... it'll be quite the battle," Lin warned them as the four moved towards City Park.
Zu and Lin formed a rocky structure around themselves as they scurried their way across to City Park, dropping the rock structure onto the ground whenever Lin could sense a Fanatic looking to them, placing themselves next to the entrance inside City Park.
Lin began looking around for Amon's Fanatics, "There's two just ahead!"
Lin and Zu slowly sneaked up behind them, keeping the rocky structure around them as they gently placed themselves down.
But before they could strike, one fanatic noticed the rock, "Where did this Rock come from?"
The Fanatic who stood with him turned to the rock, "It was probably there when we got here and we just didn't notice."
"No, no, this was definitely not here when we arrived!"
But before their conversation could continue, Zu grasped them both by their legs, dragging them in.
"Hello There," Kang said as his Giant friend knocked them both out with his massive fists.
"What do we do with them?" Li whispered.
Zu bent the ground beneath the Fanatics, dropping the two in neck-deep and sealing their bodies within the earth.
Lin continued sensing for Fanatics, repeating the same process of sneak attacks until they had cleaned the entirety of City Park.
"City Park's clear... where are we going next?" Lin asked them.
"The only other major district on the east side is the Graveyard," Kang explained.
"Graveyard it is..." Li said, a brief silence coming over the team, "can we lose the rock now?"
Zu nodded his head, throwing the rocky cover away as the four made way to the Graveyard, subduing all Fanatics they met on their way.
The chilling silence of the Graveyard loomed as several fanatics patrolled the Graveyard.
Li carefully observed the Graveyard, studying the gravestones and Fanatic positions, "Plenty of cover, but not enough room to move around..."
But despite Li's warning, Zu raised his hand, before scooping up three stones in his hand, placing one on top of his thumb in a coin-flipping posture.
With a mighty flick of the Giant's thumb, the stone pinged out towards one of Amon's Fanatics, striking them in the temple of their head, knocking them out, as the stone ricocheted, but Zu bent the stone around, aiming it toward another Fanatic, and then another, and another, until they were all knocked unconscious, amazing the three bystanders as Zu proudly smirked.
"That didn't look like one of mother's tricks. Where did you learn that?" Lin asked.
But Zu simply smiled at her, "Usually earth-benders thinking is looked down upon, but sometimes using the mind is a good thing."
Zu entered the graveyard, leaving the perplexed Lin behind him, "... That did not answer my question!"
Lin watched Zu walk away, but Kang cleared his throat, catching her attention, "What he meant was: 'I thought of it just now'."
Lin looked to Li for confirmation, watching him nod in response.
The three followed Zu into the Graveyard as he searched for stragglers, returning to Lin and Li, "No followers left! I guess we should start making way to City Hall!"
But as he spoke, he noticed Kang's absence, looking around and spying him knelt in front of a Gravestone, "Are you okay, Kang?" Lin called out.
But Kang remained silent for a moment as he worryingly picked up the Crimson Rose, "What's this doing here?"
"It's a flower, lots of people give flowers to dead loved ones," Li tried to reassure him as the three approached.
Zu and Li stood by his side whilst Lin positioned herself behind the gravestone, watching the mad inventor gently clutch the rose, "I know that, but look at who's grave it was on!"
Kang pointed to the gravestone, Zu, Li and Lin looked at the name on the gravestone, "Eamon... But who would give a rose to Eamon's grave?" Zu asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah... he died for over two decades ago, and we were his only friends..." Li said.
Lin continued observing the gravestone, trying to remember their friend, "Eamon... he was the guy obsessed with maintaining harmony in the City, wasn't he?"
"Yeah..." Zu replied, twigging what Lin might be getting at, widening his eyes in the process, "Are you implying what I think you are, Lin?"
"Think about it before you rush to conclusions. Eamon obsessed over maintaining Harmony in the City. Just like Amon!" Lin explained.
"Lots of people want Harmony. How does that mean he's Amon?!" Zu argued.
Lin took a deep breath, "Amon appeared out of nowhere two years ago. Perhaps Eamon ventured off to the land Claire's father is from to learn this... Shadow-Bending."
"In a way... she might be right," Kang replied, shocking Zu as Li looked to them both curiously.
"Don't tell me you're just siding with her because you like her Kang!" Zu exclaimed.
But Kang shook his head, "No Zu, Amon knows us by name, among other things."
But Zu scoffed, "Well, of course, he'd know us. We killed Yakone!"
Lin cleared her throat, "Just look at the name, Zu!"
Lin covered the first symbol of Eamon's name, "Don't you think their names being similar is odd?"
But despite the evidence building against him, Zu shook his head, letting out a mocking chuckle whilst Kang and Li sceptically looked at each other, "Similar names or not, Lin. Eamon is dead, buried right here!"
Lin rooted her foot in the ground, scanning the coffin beneath them, seeing crushed bones and a tatty suit, widening her eyes, "Tell me."
Lin abruptly pushed the ground beneath them aside before shoving the coffin to the surface, kicking open the coffin. Zu, Li and Kang looked on in horror at the shattered bones and ruined suit, "Was your friend Eamon crushed by a rock when he died!?"
Zu, Li and Kang gazed at the remains, recognising the suit, "That's... Yakone!" Zu exclaimed, his heart racing.
"Exactly, Eamon must have swapped out his body with the remains before they could bury him."
"Eamon faked his death... but why, why would he do that?!" Kang frantically asked.
Zu's body shook all over whilst he gazed down at the remains, "The better question is how? Yakone stopped his heart!"
"Perhaps he saw you three as obstacles impeding his mission to bring Harmony to the city..." Lin sombrely explained.
The boys calmed, slumping down to the ground as they gazed at the coffin, "What do we do about him now? We can't just... kill him!" Kang asked as he held his head.
But Zu stood up tall, taking in a deep breath, "Think about it this way, Kang. The Eamon we knew is long gone. Amon is just his husk!"
Li stood beside Zu, shortly followed by Lin, "He's right, Kang..." Li said as he offered a hand to Kang.
The Mad Inventor accepted it, Li pulled him off the ground as Kang took a deep breath, "Let's go put Eamon to rest properly this time..."
The Boys and Lin marched from the graveyard with sombre determination, setting their sights on City Hall.