Claire, Joseph, Khana and Ty Lee ventured forth towards City Hall, the rain ceasing its fall since their departure from the Police Station.
"How do we plan to defeat Amon?" Khana asked, hoping Joseph knew.
"Depending on how far his Shadowy influence has spread, we may needa slay him," Joseph informed her.
"Is there any special way to kill a Shadow-Bender?" Claire asked with a raised eyebrow.
"That would depend on how well of a master he is, Slaying regular Shadow elves is simple, but you need to overwhelm the Masters of the art with light. Any form of Light will suffice."
The three ladies quizzically looking to one another, "... What are Elves?" Ty Lee asked as the three turned their curious attention to Joseph.
"You know, Elves. They're like humans but short, slender, have pointy ears and legs like a deer..."
The ladies looked to one another with confused, slanted gazes.
"Ye don't have Elves here, do ye?" Joseph asked.
"No, not as far as I'm aware," Ty Lee replied.
Joseph brushed off the subject, continuing their route to City Hall whilst preparations for Amon's Coronation as Lord of Republic City had begun.
A massive crowd of remaining Fanatics and Citizens stood before Amon, chatter filling the air as he stood atop a large podium, looking down at the crowd with a silent gaze.
A robed fanatic approached the masked man with a circlet crown, "We are gathered here on this day to bear witness to the coronation of our Leader and Saviour, Amon!" he preached to the audience, "He is Amon the Liberator, Amon the Equalizer, Amon the Ever Great. And he shall be our Lord from this day forth!"
"Would you like to address the crowd, Boss?" he whispered.
The masked man nodded. The Robed Fanatic backed away with the crown as Amon approached the crowd, "My followers! My People! I am honoured to have finally brought harmony to this city once more! No longer will weaklings who allow such vile acts of chaos and imbalance to occur in this city govern us. I promise you: I shall rule with a Just Iron Fist!"
A Shadow began emitting from him, flowing into the Audience, throwing the crowd burst into an enthusiastic appraisal of Amon, "Non-benders rejoice! I had a dream when I came to this city! That one day you would all be able to rise from the fear and poverty the vile scourges of this city put you in!"
"No longer will they will trample you! No loner will villains restrict your lives! You. Are. Free!"
The crowd erupted into an uproar of gratitude towards Amon as Claire, Joseph, Ty Lee and Khana arrived at the Coronation, seeing the people flailing in approval, "Definitely Shadow-Bender work. No one gets this much approval naturally." Joseph explained.
"He's manipulated an entire crowd into loving him?" Khana asked, somewhat disturbed by the thought.
"Yes..." Joseph replied, forming a ball of light in his palm, "But I can quickly fix that!"
Joseph threw the sphere of light at the crowd, unleashing a blinding light, showering the crowd like snowfall in winter.
Everyone including Amon and his robed Fanatic shielded their eyes, "What's going on?!" Amon demanded to know.
The light dimmed, confusing the crowd of citizens and followers as they looked around at one another whilst the girls looked to Joseph with questions running through their minds.
"Purifying light! Removes all Shadow-Bender manipulation... And erases the memory of it."
Claire approached the crowd, "Can everyone please disperse! This is Avatar business!"
Many people gawked and gasped at Claire as they began making way for her and her allies whilst Amon groaned, "Of course, the moment I have them eating out of the palm of my hand! You show up!"
Claire confidently smiled as she punched her palm, "I didn't want to be late for the coronation party!"
Despite her sarcastic japes, Amon scoffed, "Has the cowardly Avatar come back to fight? Thinking she can touch the power I possess?"
"Talking about your power makes it sound like you're compensating for something!"
Joseph, Khana, and Ty Lee approached Claire, standing by her side whilst Amon fixed his gaze unto Joseph, "You found A Light-Bender! How Clever of you!"
Amon sarcastically applauded them before leaping down to their height, standing tall before them with a steely gaze.
"You're... human?" Joseph asked as he observed Amon in surprise, to which the masked man nodded.
"So he's not an elf... what's so surprising?" Khana asked.
"Human Shadow-Benders donnae exist, they're a myth because only the truly foolish or truly desperate endure the trials to become one!" Joseph explained as he looked at Amon, dread crawling over him, "For a human to become a Shadow-Bender, the Shadow elves break them, every ounce of humanity stripped away so that they can reforge them into a Shadow-Bender..."
"After the trials are done, the human is a husk of their former self, and as a morbid way of jump-starting them, they brand a mask onto their face, sealing off the last part that made them human."
Amon chuckled, slowly approaching them, "All correct, Light-Bender. I endured those trials so that I can truly make a difference in this world! Starting with this city, and neither you nor your allies will stand in my path!"
Amon outstretched his hands, pulling the shadows of Claire, Khana and Ty Lee out from under them and forging them into Shadowy beings to fight by his side, "I thought I'd even the odds!"
The Shadows engaged the four, striking at them mercilessly.
Claire fought against Khana's Shadow, unsure what to do about it, "We won't hurt one another if we attack the Shadows, right?"
"No!" Joseph shouted.
"Excellent!" Claire replied as she unleashed a blaze of flame towards Khana's shadow, annihilating it.
Ty Lee kicked Claire's Shadow in half whilst Khana crushed Ty Lee's shadow under a boulder, but Amon looked on at the battle, smiling behind his mask as the four stood seemingly victorious before the masked man.
But the Shadows began reforming before them, doubling up, and without thinking, Claire blasted them all with a blaze of powerful fire, destroying them instantly.
"Claire... that was a bad idea," Joseph told her. The Avatar bewilderingly looked at him before seeing the Shadows reform their numbers doubling again, "Every time ye destroy one, two more take its place!"
The Shadows began attacking relentlessly against them, "How do we fight it?!" Ty Lee asked as she fought against the merciless shadows.
"Ideally, we don't!" Joseph explained as he tried to bind the shadows in Light.
"Should we use that technique, dad?" Claire cried out as she dodged the shadow's barrage.
"Ye've already used it once, Lassie!"
The four came back-to-back.
"Surely you have some Light-Bending trick to deal with this!?" Khana asked, poised to strike the oncoming shadows.
"I do, but it'll only keep them down for a few minutes!"
Joseph conjured a sphere of brilliant light in his hands, The ladies protecting him as he formed the light, trying their utmost to survive, "Shield yer eyes, lassies!"
Joseph slammed the light onto the ground, the Shadows hissing before being erased.
Silence loomed over the battlefield as the four stood before Amon, watching him crack his neck and loosen his muscles before raising a hand to them, egging them on to strike.
Claire bent the water from the ground into a whip, striking towards Amon whilst Khana with blades drawn and Ty Lee with fists at the ready charged him.
Amon latched onto the Water Whip, pulling Claire into him and viciously striking her face with his knees before swiping her towards Ty Lee, knocking away the old Kyoshi Warrior.
Khana reached Amon, mercilessly striking with her daggers, but Amon deflected her attacks with his metal Gauntlets, forming a shadowy blade in his hand, fighting back against Khana, the sheer force of colliding blades pushing Khana back, but Joseph unleashed a powerful ray of light, vaporising the Shadow blade as it loomed over Khana.
With Amon off guard, Khana kicked the masked man's mask, knocking him back as she spun around and kicked up a large boulder at him, smashing him into the podium.
Joseph entangled Amon in Light bindings whilst Claire and Ty Lee rushed in, all four facing the bound Amon with their fists at the ready.
"We needa finish him, now!" Joseph said as Claire stood before Amon, preparing her Fire-Bending to burn him to ashes.
But as she raised her hand, a shadowy tendril latched onto it, then another weaved around her body and restrained her arms and legs, "Claire!" Joseph cried out as he formed a sphere of light, only for a Shadow Tendril to catch him, as well as restraining Khana and Ty Lee.
The light bindings faded, freeing Amon, "Foolishness, Avatar! Forgetting your father's warnings so quickly. To think the Avatar Spirit picked you to bring balance to the world."
Claire raged against the Shadowy binds, her heart racing as the shadows crushed her body, her eyes glowing, but Amon simply glared down at her, raising his hand to her and clenching his fist, the Shadowy binds tightening around Claire, forcing her to descend from the Avatar State.
"The Avatar State cannot save you now, nor can your friends..." Amon said as he bent the Shadows around the four and carried them into City Hall.
Amon attached them all to individual pillars, leaving them to hang as he sat upon his throne.
Kang, Lin, Zu and Li exited the Graveyard, seeing hordes of people coming from City Hall, curiously looking around at the people, "What's going on?" Lin asked as she observed the people.
Zu, however, approached a group directly, "Pardon me, but could you perhaps tell us where all these people are coming from?"
The women of the group blushed at Zu's politeness before one cleared their throat, "There was this... event, some masked guy stood on a podium and then the Avatar showed up and told us to leave."
Zu quickly rushed back over to Lin, Li and Kang, "Avatar's fighting, Eamon! We need to get moving quickly!"
The four ran towards City Hall, using the hordes as a guide towards it, but upon arriving outside City hall, they saw the podium, but no signs of Claire or Amon, sending a chill down their spines.
"You don't think they're... dead, do you? Or banished to some kind of Shadow Realm?" Zu nervously asked.
"Don't be silly, Zu! The Shadow Realm isn't real," Kang nonchalantly replied, as he looked around for Claire and the others.
"He raises a good point, though. I wouldn't picture Amon as a person to run or take the fight elsewhere..." Lin argued.
Li's eye twitched, kneeling to the ground and studying it as he raised his gaze towards City Hall, "He's inside City Hall!" he told them in a nervous tone: changing into Gai, a Nervous Earth-Bender.
"How do you know?" Kang asked.
"There's this ominous presence coming from it, an Amoninous presence if you will!" Gai said, smiling at his pun as the others briefly exhaled through their noses.
Sweat broke out over the Nervous Earth-Bender's head, "Alright, that was a good one, Gai," Zu said as Gai lightly pumped his fist.
The four marched confidently towards the entrance of City Hall, "No turning back now. We go in... and we finish the fight!" Kang confidently said, letting out a heavy sigh as they ascended the stairs. Gai pulled out the stick, whispering into it as he changed back to Li.
Lin kicked open the door, the four marching into the sinister ambience of Amon's throne room, seeing Claire, Khana, Joseph and Ty Lee unconscious and restrained on the pillars by circling shadows.
Amon perked up from his throne, looking to his unannounced visitors, "Eamon!" Kang shouted.
Kang's exclamation took aback Amon, the now angered masked man silently standing up before them, "I haven't heard that name in over two decades. And you have the gall to shout it to my face... Kang?"
"Yes, I do!" Kang defiantly replied as Zu, Lin and Li stood tall beside the mad inventor.
"All I want to know is why Eamon. Why did you... turn into this?" Zu sombrely asked.
"I wanted to bring harmony to this city, but you always stood in my way, treating it as a meaningless side project, calling me Naïve and foolish, but look at me now!" Amon replied, leaving them all speechless.
"You've gone too far, Eamon! You strode for harmony, but all you're bringing to the city is dissonance!" Li argued.
Amon's eyes twitched under his mask as he snarled, "I AM AMON! And only by my will shall Republic City know True Harmony!"
Amon clenched his fists as he set his glare upon them, "After I'm done with Republic City, I will take Ba Sing Se! The North and South poles! The Fire Nation! And in time the world will know True Harmony! My Harmony!"
Amon's shadow of overwhelming darkness shrouded the room, "Come! Fight me!"
Amon raised his hands to them, taunting them to attack.
Zu and Lin punched out, but nothing came of it as Zu growled, "Blocking our bending again? You always loved to fight dirty didn't you!"
Zu began charging in, intending to use his superior physical strength to bring down Amon, but to his surprise, Amon swept up a wave of shadows into his face, temporarily blinding him and breaking his guard.
Amon kicked out, striking Zu's Abdomen, Chest and Chin in quick succession, finishing with a spinning kick to his neck, blasting him off to the side and crashing into a wall.
The crashing of Zu awaking Joseph from his unconsciousness, seeing Amon battle with Lin, Li and Kang, "The Shadows... they can't bend..."
Joseph slowly swirled his fingers, a sphere of light growing in his hand, "But I can!"
Joseph flicked the Sphere of Light into the wall, bouncing off into the centre of the room, letting loose a brilliant light and snuffing out Amon's Shadow.
The trio looked over to Joseph whilst Amon's eyes burned with a fiery rage, whereas Kang, Li and Lin's brimmed with glee.
Amon turned to face the trio as Lin kicked up a boulder at Amon, striking and knocking him back towards his throne, but as the boulder crumbled, he launched himself at Lin, mercilessly striking out with his fist. But Lin caught his attack in the palms of her hands, the sheer force pushing the sturdy police chief back as the draft of Amon's speed threw Li and Kang off their balance.
Lin broke away from Amon's attack, kicking up a pillar into his gut, then delivering an uppercut to his chin, blasting Amon up, but as Lin smirked, the Masked man's head faced the ceiling, his lower inhumanly spinning around as his foot out kicked out and struck her with his heel, blasting her into the Pillar which restrained Claire.
"That... didn't look right..." Li muttered as he observed Amon's movements.
"No kidding..." Kang replied.
Amon turned his attention to them, dashing in at a relentless pace. However, Li froze Amon's foot to the ground, tripping the masked man over.
Li quickly leapt in with water in hand, supported by Kang who charged in beside him, but to their surprise, Amon stood up on his frozen foot and took control of Li's water, bending it into a pole of ice and swatting them away.
Both tumbled onto the floor, Li's vision disorientated, but he could hear Kang standing back up, "Kang! Don't!"
Li flailed towards him, but Kang looked down at him with a sorrowful gaze, "Someone needs to finish this..."
Kang marched forward, but Li grasped his ankle, "Not you! We can't have you going through this twice!"
Kang let out a heavy sigh, looking to Li, before shaking off his grip, emerging before Amon, standing before his old friend with one goal in mind, taking in a sharp breath and clenching his fists.
Amon placed his hands behind his back, gazing to his friend, "You don't have to do this, why don't we-"
"Shut up!" Kang snapped as Amon's hands swayed to his side, "No more words, Eamon... this ends, right here."
Kang slowly marched towards Amon, sprinting as he got closer, fire rushing through his veins, "Then come, Kang!"
The mad inventor leapt, his arms circling at his side, lightning crackling along his fingers as he brought them to a point towards Amon's face
But as Kang approached, Amon struck his arms between Kang's separating them, the Lightning ejecting from Kang's fingertips, blasting two holes through the ceiling as Amon mercilessly kicked Kang's gut.
But with a tightened core and burning resolve, Kang remained steadfast, wincing before slamming his head into Amon, knocking the masked man back into his throne.
Kang empowered his fist with a mighty blaze of fire, but Amon deflected the attack, unleashing the fiery stream through the walls of city hall.
The two engaged each other, Kang with mighty blasts of Red blazing Fire and Amon with merciless strikes of black, abyssal shadow.
Amon broke through Kang's guard, decisively striking his chest and unleashing a powerful wave of shadow, almost overwhelming Kang, but he stood fast amongst it, taking in a deep breath, glaring at Amon.
And with a mighty cry, Kang unleashed an indomitable blast of Fire, knocking Amon off his balance and ceasing the Shadow's barrage. The mad inventor generated lightning on his fingertips as he charged towards Amon, leaping and spinning around, aiming the lightning at the underside of the Masked man's jaw, but Amon grappled his wrist which held the Lightning, forming a shadowy blade in his free hand, intending to impale Kang.
However, with his free hand, Kang caught Amon's arm, clutching it tightly and locking the two in a stalemate as they each pushed their weapons towards one another.
"You think you can do it again? Kill someone you love?" Amon taunted him.
But Kang scoffed, "You don't get to play that card... Amon..."
Kang broke through Amon's grasp, jabbing his fingertips into the underside of Amon's jaw and hoisting him up, "It's like Zu said: The Eamon I knew is dead. You are nothing... but a husk!"
The Lightning erupted, surging directly into Amon's head as it exploded, the Lightning blasted through the ceiling and into the skies, a spectacular display of power catching the awe of Republic City's citizens.
Amon's body fell to the floor, but the mask remained in Kang's hand. Amon's clothes deflated, a black shadowy mist dissipating from them.
Kang silently gazed at the mask, as Claire, Joseph, Khana and Ty Lee all fell from the pillars, knocking them awake, "What happened?" Claire asked as she looked around at the carnage, seeing herself on top of Lin, "Oh... sorry, Lin!"
Claire stood up, forming water around her hands and healing Lin, causing her to reawaken.
The Avatar quickly looked around, seeing Zu unconscious within the wall, sprinting over to him and healing him, then dashing over to Li to heal him.
Soon after, everyone got back on their own feet, looking around, and seeing Kang still silently stood with Amon's mask in hand.
"Is it over?" Zu asked as he and Li slowly approached.
And Kang nodded, "It's... over."
Kang gazed upon the mask, a lump growing in his throat as the governors barged into City Hall, seeing everyone standing triumphant over Amon, "Of course, we're late for the final battle," Hou said, as the other Governors approached, bowing to Claire with great respect.
"We are grateful that you defeated Amon, Avatar!" Sheng said.
But Claire shook her head, "It wasn't me..."
Claire moved aside and gestured to Kang, "I think... Kang did it..."
The shocked governors all looked at him as Kang, Zu and Li walked down to them, "You... did it, Kang?" the surprised Jing asked.
But Kang looked away, clutching the mask, "Yeah... but you can tell the citizens The Avatar did it. I don't want any of the glory here..."
Kang walked through them, hunched over as his actions weighed down upon him.
"Are you sure that's-" Claire asked, but Zu raised his hand to her, shaking his head as he and Li followed Kang whilst an unsure Lin looked at them, swallowing her pride before running after them, quickly catching up to Zu, "Do you mind if I... tag along?"
A smile broke over Zu's face at the sound of Lin's request, "I think he'd like that!"
The four ventured back to the Derelict estate, leaving everyone else behind as they curiously gazing at the four as they watched them leave.
"I think there's a story there that we don't know about..." Khana said as she approached Claire.
"Anyway, with Amon dead and gone. We can finally bring peace and order back to the city!" Gao happily said as he crossed his arms.
"Are ye sure ye're alright with taking responsibility for Amon's defeat, lassie?" Joseph asked.
"If Kang wants me to... then I won't argue," Claire sombrely replied, gazing towards the exit of City Hall.
Over the next week, peace slowly came back to Republic City, the Governors tearing down Amon's Throne and restoring their stand, reinstalling the pews, and fixing the damage caused by Kang and Amon's duel.
The remaining police force rebuilt their Station with the help of Zu, bringing it back to its former glory, but no matter what they did, there would always be an everlasting scar of the night Amon struck back against the City.
Most of the citizens hailed Claire as a hero, but others were sceptical, not believing the word of the Governors. And although she accepted the praise, although this discomforted the Avatar, she knew if she didn't accept the praise, it would constantly remind Kang of that day.
Claire, Khana and Joseph stood outside Kang's Lab, awaiting his return from Zu and Li's house, "Do you think he'll be alright now?" Khana asked.
"I hope so..." Claire nervously replied.
The trio saw Kang approaching them in the distance with his head held higher than the last time they saw him.
The two ladies rushed over to him with Joseph shortly following behind, "How are you doing, Kang?" Claire eagerly asked.
"Better than before... Did you two need something?" Kang asked.
Khana nudged Claire to tell him first, "After the events that happened here... I've decided I need to return to the White Lotus Compound, there's still a lot I don't know about, and if I've learnt anything from this adventure, it's that I am not as ready as I thought I was to be the Avatar."
Kang nodded, "Well, you're not wrong there... will you be needing a ride back?"
But Joseph interjected, placing his hand on his daughter's shoulder, "I'll be able to take the lass back there on my borrowed airship."
"If you're leaving, would you mind taking this with you?" Kang replied as he handed a wide box to Joseph.
Claire's father quizzically looked to Kang but accepted the gift.
Khana nudged the mad inventor's arm, "I was hoping you could fly me back to the Fire Nation Palace."
"Sure, I'll take you right now!" Kang replied, escorting Khana to The Magnificent Turtle Duck.
Joseph led Claire to the Airship, still in the place he left it. The two ascended to the skies, seeing The Magnificent Turtle Duck soar off into the distance, flying west towards the Fire Nation.
Claire slumped down inside the Airship whilst Joseph piloted it out towards the sky, "Hey! Donnae go relaxing! I need ye to guide the way!"
Whilst Joseph heartily laughed, Claire stood back up and pointed South-east, towards the White Lotus Compound.
Kang and Khana flew for several hours before the Palace came into view, landing before the front door, but to their surprise, Fire Lord Zuko came out to greet them personally.
"Kang, could you wait here for a few minutes?" Khana asked.
The sceptical mad inventor looked back at her, quickly twigging what she was doing, "Sure!"
Kang got comfortable whilst Khana raced out of The Magnificent Turtle Duck and over to Zuko, standing tall before kneeling before him, "Fire Lord Zuko. I have a request!"
But Zuko tapped the Kyoshi Warrior on her Pauldron, "There's no need to kneel, Khana."
The Fire Lord's words shocked Khana as she stood back up, "Now, what's your request?" Zuko asked her with a smile.
"I... Wish to travel with The Avatar, to be her protector, and... her friend!"
Zuko softly chuckled, "You can, Khana."
Khana giddily smiled, bowing to the Fire Lord one last time, "Thank you, Fire Lord Zuko!"
Khana ran back to The Magnificent Turtle Duck, "Make sure the other Kyoshi Warriors and Royal Guards protect you to their last breath!"
Zuko chuckled once more, "I will don't you worry!"
Khana boarded The Magnificent Turtle Duck once again whilst Kang smirked, engaging the engines once more, "So, White Lotus Compound or Republic City, Khana?"
"Republic City, I'm sure Claire will return soon. So for now, I'll wait... see what the city has to offer."
Kang smiled before the two soared back through the skies to Republic City, awaiting the return of their friend.
