Part 3 - Chaos
Zu, Li, and his alter egos less than successfully restored the three Governors and encased them in stone coffins, lining them up near the buildings with their names engraved on the tops of the coffins.
Ghazi and Lin stood before the Heart of Chaos, gazing up at it with worry creeping over The Guard Captain's face, "Do you think they're okay?"
He turned to her and sighed, "The Avatar and Inventor?... I do not know."
The weight of the challenge before them set in as a silence loomed. But the sound of approaching footsteps broke the silence as the vibrations coursed over the ground to Lin.
The two twisted around and raised a curious eyebrow to their visitor, "The Avatar's Fire-bending master? What are you doing here?"
Shu stood before them, now adorned in an all-red outfit with loose-fitting pants, maroon and gold boots, and a maroon and gold breastplate.
"I'm here to put The Avatar in her place; the other masters are on their way."
"... You think it's Claire in there?" she gestured to the Heart of Chaos.
"Who else but an Avatar could cause such havoc?"
Before they could reply, Ho Tun tumbled in and raced up to Shu, wheezing and slumping over, "Whew, Shu, I got your message!"
He stared down at his friend's slumped posture, "Evidently."
Lin snapped her fingers, "It's not Claire in there."
The master's eyes widened as Ho Tun perked himself up, "Then who else could it be? A Spirit?"
"It is a man known as Talos. But you were right about him being an Avatar."
A befuddled Shu and Ho Tun turned to each other with slight slacked jaws, "Wasn't that the name of the kid Claire was training with before we took her away?" Ho Tun asked, his breathing stabilising.
"I believe so... but how is he an Avatar?"
As the four conversed, two more people arrived and tapped the two masters on their shoulders. They turned to them and gleefully smiled, "Ah! Tenzin, Kya... where's Jinora?" Shu asked
"She's with Pema; I wasn't about to bring her to what you called 'Ground Zero' of... whatever this is."
He uneasily crossed his arms, "I understand; how has Pema been?"
"She's just like everyone else, scared, confused. But with Jinora there, I'm sure she'll help put her mind at ease."
He smiled and nodded.
"Is it true what you said in your letter? That Claire's the cause of all this?" Kya asked.
He shook his head and hesitantly sighed, "It would appear I made too quick a judgement call. The Avatar is not the one behind this."
"Well, whoever it is, we're going in!" Kya confidently punched her palm.
While the masters conversed, a thought came to Zu's mind, "Hey, Junior!"
His call grasped the Air Nomad's attention, "And here I thought only Toph called me that..."
He turned and approached the Giant, "Yes, uh... Zu, was it? What do you need?"
"Can you do The Spirit World thing?" he asked, trying to mimic a meditative pose.
"I can, yes... why?"
"The Avatar, the proper one, She's lost in The Spirit World, and one of her friends is worried about her. Would you mind going to find her to put her mind at ease?"
Tenzin turned to Lin, then back to Zu, "Where's her friend?"
"She went for a walk a while ago, but I'm sure Lin can help you out," he nodded to her.
"Alright, we'll go find her," he marched back over, "Lin, I could use your help to find the Avatar's friend."
She raised a sceptical eyebrow, "Khana?... Sure, I can help you find her."
The two bid everyone farewell as they set out to find the Kyoshi Warrior.
Khana sat on the edge of City Park, gazing out to the turbulent ocean while Ty Lee watched her from afar, hidden in a bush, quiet as a mouse.
But Khana gazed over at it and lightly scoffed, "I know you're there, Master Ty Lee."
Her neck scrunched up, "Alright, you got me," she perked up from the bush and sauntered over, sitting beside Khana as a silence loomed over them.
"Are you... alright?"
She lowered and shook her head, "I... why do you still care after what I did to you? I could've killed you all because I couldn't control myself!"
Ty Lee placed a hand on her pauldron, "You've held that bottled up anger and resentment for so long. And I guess facing me... in a way, reminded you of those three."
"Still! I shouldn't have done it! I... y- you... and Master Suki saved me from dying, and I repay you by almost killing you!" she buried her face in her knees, letting out a disgusted grunt at herself.
"We should've done more for you once we realised what was happening. But what's past is past, and I still see you as a Kyoshi Warrior, a student, and a daughter."
Khana's head rose as her tear-soaked gaze set on the smiling Ty Lee. The two softly hugged as she wept onto her master's shoulder.
Tenzin and Lin continued through City park while the Air nomad nervously gazed up at the chaos, and the Guard Captain scanned around for Khana.
"Can you sense the Avatar's friend yet?"
She closed her eyes, feeling around City park and picking up on her location, "She's this way... and she has a name, you know."
"I'm not the best at remembering names, Lin."
"You remember mine pretty well."
"What can I say? Our time together was... memorable," he said as the two made way to the Kyoshi Warrior's location.
As the two released their embrace, Ty Lee dried Khana's eyes, but she felt the approach of Lin and Tenzin before quizzically turning around, shortly followed by her master.
"Lin? Tenzin? What are you two doing here?" Ty Lee asked.
"Zu told me about The Avatar being lost in the Spirit World... so I came here to help put..." he curiously gazed at her as Lin leant over to his ear.
"Khana."
"Khana's mind at ease," he lightly nudged Lin.
She strode up to Tenzin as a dim hope illuminated within her, "How are you going to do that?"
"I can traverse into the Spirit World through meditation. And in doing so, I should be able to find The Avatar."
A smile broke over Khana's face, "Can you... take people with you?"
"Unless you too have a heightened spiritual connection, no..."
A dismal gloom came over Khana, but nevertheless, the three cleared a space for Tenzin. He sat on the grassy ground, assuming a meditative posture and taking a deep breath as his spirit journeyed into the Spirit World.
Claire and Vaatu sparred whilst searching for her past lives under the starry night skies pierced by the distant mountain horizon. The two clashed swords, their colliding strikes emitting shockwaves across the battlefield as they glared into each other eyes.
"Bit intense for a training session..."
"I'm not trying to train you!" Vaatu struck the sword from her grasp with his knee, then kicked her jaw, sending her flying into the air then smashing into the ground with a groaning thud.
The spirit ascended into the air and aimed his blade at her, "I'm trying to kill you!"
His Claymore radiated with a brilliant cosmic light as swords upon swords shot out at The Avatar. She quickly recovered herself and ducked and dived from the bladed onslaught as they jammed into the ground around her, one even landing straight in her path as she sprinted up it and leapt off to continue her dodging and weaving. Claire spun to face him and counter-attack, but Vaatu descended and plunged his foot into her gut, blasting the wind out of her and cracking the earth with her. He rose his sword and slammed down with a mighty cry as she tumbled out of the way.
"You and the sword are linked, Young Avatar! Thine own will commands it!"
She kicked herself back up to her feet as she flexed her right hand and focused her will unto the blade, making it vanish into spiritual energy and reappear in her hand.
"That's it; you can bend the energy within yourself, not just the energy of the elements!"
She smirked as the two engaged once more, locking in a stalemate as they pushed against each other with their teeth bared.
"Raava's going to throw everything she has at you! Even if she wears the face of your friend, you can't let anything make you falter!"
"I already know that!"
She let the sword vanish from her hand as Vaatu's sword swung out; however, she ducked back and let it slash over her as she summoned the blade back to her hand and ran it through his gut. He gazed down at the sword and Claire as his Claymore vanished.
"Excellent work, Young Avatar."
She smiled and allowed the blade to vanish as they stood back up straight, only to turn and find Tenzin standing on the sidelines watching them.
"Tenzin?"
"Ah, I was wondering when you'd notice me. It's good to see Shu's message was incorrect... I had an inkling you wouldn't be able to do what... whoever did this did."
Her gaze worryingly slanted, "What's happened?"
"Chaos has spread amongst the world... and from the looks of it, it's spread to here as well."
He sighed and whiffled his head, "Nevertheless, we're doing everything on our end to bring back order in your stead."
Claire's posture slumped, "... Why did you come here? if you don't mind me asking."
"Your friend... Khana? She's worried about you. So I agreed to search for you in the Spirit World. And as luck would have it, I found you immediately."
She softly smiled, "Tell her I've just got a few things to tie up in the Spirit World; then I'm coming home."
Tenzin smiled and nodded, "Good luck on your quest, Claire. But don't dally too long!"
He bowed his head and faded away, reawakening within the mortal world to find Khana's face filling his vision.
"Did you find her!?"
He yelped and jerked back, "... The Avatar says she just needs to tie up a few things in the Spirit World... then she's coming home."
An uncontrollable smile overcame the Kyoshi Warrior while the three gleefully gazed at her.
Ty Lee wrapped her arm around Khana's shoulders, "What do you say we go into that enormous crystal and kick this guys butt for Claire!"
Khana determinedly nodded and glared over at the Heart of Chaos.
"The White Lotus and I are also prepared to fight. So if you don't mind, We'll take a stab at him first."
She softly smirked, "Feel free to. May as well save the best for last."
Tenzin chuckled, "Let's get going then. The sooner we put down this False Avatar, the better."
The four ventured back towards the Heart of Chaos. They stood before everyone, Zu smiling at the change in Khana's demeanour, but Tenzin anxiously stared at his sister, her hands placed atop one of the stone coffins.
He swiftly dashed over and gently placed a hand on her, "Kya...?"
She shook her head as her breath shook, "He's killed, Jing..."
His eyes flared with disbelieve as his vision shot to the coffin to see the symbol '静' etched into it.
"H... how could this-"
Kya turned her adamant teal gaze to her brother as a single tear rolled down her face, "It doesn't matter how it happened! All that matters is that the bastard who did this gets just what he deserves!"
Tenzin took a shaky breath and nodded as they marched over to Shu and Ho Tun.
"Are you ready?" Shu asked.
The Brother and Sister nodded.
"Then come; we will strike down Talos and rid the world of his vile presence!"
The White Lotus marched into the Heart of Chaos, its mighty crystal structure looming over them. They traversed across the bridge, their footsteps reverberating around the crystalline interior and awaking Talos as he sat up in his obsidian throne with a bemused expression.
"Still no, Claire... How disappointing."
But the longer he stared, his eyes perked open, and a grin crawled over his face, "But The White Lotus? Now, this is a surprise!"
"Wow... it really is the kid from the North Pole..."
Talos lightly scoffed and remained seated atop his throne, "This 'kid' is now the Avatar... The True Avatar," he proudly swung his arms out.
"You murdered Jing, Gao and Sheng in cold blood and call yourself the True Avatar!?" Kya asked as fury boiled in her eyes.
"Clearly, he's delusional..." Shu muttered.
He plucked the sheathed meteor sword from beside his throne and twirled it in his palm, "They knew what they were walking into, don't blame me for their foolishness."
He placed it down and weightlessly floated up, standing atop his throne with a menacing elegance, "I am mere moments away from truly correcting the errors of the world; once Claire returns and falls to my hand, there will be no one left to stop our reign!"
The White Lotus prepared for combat as a malicious chuckle radiated around the crystal, "Come, White Lotus!"
The four masters launched their elements at Talos, but he grinned with glee before raising a wall of impenetrable violet flame, crushing the earth, and extinguishing the fire, air and water as they gazed in awe. The violet flames dissipated to reveal him proudly stood behind them. Ho Tun kicked up an obsidian boulder as Shu unleashed a quick comet of fire, but Talos awaited their approach, smashing his fist into the boulder and turning it to dust before taking control of Shu's red flames and bending it to his violet will then extinguishing it. Kya relentlessly whipped out a watery tendril, ensnaring him as Tenzin, Shu and Ho Tun launched their elements once more. But the False Avatar bent the watery tendril to his will, pulling Kya in and leaping from the throne, switching places as the elements collided against her. The earth crushed nearly every bone in her body. The Flames scorched and wracked her skin. And finally, the air smashed her into the throne. She lay there, still as a statue, while everyone except Talos stared and gawked in horror.
"Kya!" Tenzin cried
The False Avatar grinned at the remaining masters with radiating malice, "Oh dear! You've all gone homicidal! Dare I say Sororicidal!"
Tenzin roared and unleashed gale after gale at the False Avatar, but he simply flipped away and in at Ho Tun, his blade poised to strike; however, he bent the metal of the blade and pulled it to the ground, anchoring Talos as Shu kicked out a mighty wave of flame while a howling slash of air followed in its wake. But Talos raised another wall of flame, nullifying their attacks before condensing it into his palm and ejecting a roaring violet blaze at Ho Tun. He desperately released his hold over Talos, raising a forked obsidian wall and blocking the fire. But despite his defence, The False Avatar dashed and smashed through the wall, viciously striking Ho Tun's gut as his skin rippled before he shot off into the crystalline walls, bouncing and cracking it before landing face-first onto the obsidian.
His hand raised to Shu and Tenzin, "If you two don't mind... I'm just gonna take five down here," his arm flopped on the ground.
Talos chuckled and turned to Shu and Tenzin, raising his hand and taunting them to attack. Shu leapt in, kicking out waves of flame, but Talos parried and blocked his attacks, waiting for an opening in his guard whilst Tenzin weaved around to give support. Shu viciously kicked out and ejected a mighty roar of fire, but Talos leant back in his stance, letting the cascade of flame surge over him before bending the water by the Obsidian Bridge and latching onto Shu's leg, dragging him over and viciously driving his fist into the master's face, shattering his nose as blood sputtered out and his vision blurred. Tenzin dashed in as Talos flexed his hand out, binding his ankles in obsidian as he gazed down at the disorientated Shu.
"Let's see how well a Fire-bender floats!"
He slammed his foot into Shu and blasted him high unto the air before plummeting to the watery depths, sinking straight to the bottom. His vision faded as what little air was left drained from his lungs.
Talos turned to the final master and broke him free of the obsidian grasp, "Tenzin... Son of Aang. I do hope you're worthy of those arrows."
He clenched his fist and leapt in, blasting Talos with powerful drafts of air, but try as he might, he quickly countered his attacks, brushing them aside and preparing to strike. However, Tenzin spiralled away, avoiding the slice of his scythe and kicking out a blast of air, but Talos weaved through the shot, smirking and unleashing a barrage of elemental slashes. Tenzin scowled and weaved through them, quickly closing the gap, but as he leapt in to counter-attack, Talos flashed before his eyes, standing an arms breadth from him and striking his gut and unleashing a pressurised gale to launch him across the room. The Air Nomad smashed into the crystal, groaning as he fell to the black ground, turning his exhausted, angered gaze up at Talos as he pushed himself up to his knee.
"Oh, Tenzy, Tenzy, Tenzin, I'm sorry to say, but I don't think your pitiful performance is impressing Daddy one bit."
He roared and pushed himself back up, but Talos weightlessly leapt into the air and drifted over to the Air Nomad. Then, however, a chunk of obsidian shot up and knocked him out of the air.
The False Avatar landed with a mighty thud while Ho Tun stood determined behind him, "My five minutes were up."
Talos snarled and rose between the two masters, eyeing them up as they engaged. Ho Tun kicked and swung out slabs of Obsidian at the False Avatar, but as he went to parry and smash them, Tenzin swirled the air currents around him, carrying the obsidian chunks as he cautiously readied himself. However, Ho Tun shot an obsidian pillar up at Talos' back, striking and knocking him off balance as Tenzin flicked the slabs in at him, crushing the False Avatar's body. But instead of wailing in pain, he laughed as he fell to the ground surrounded by blood splatters and pierced by obsidian shards. They watched in terror as he rose with a black, sickening light radiating from his pierced limbs and torso. Tenzin bleakly gazed at Kya, slowly turning his gaze to Ho Tun as his comrade's eyes filled with disbelieve. He sighed and nodded as his friend gritted his teeth. The Air Nomad unleashed an unstoppable howling gale as The Earth Master dove into the obsidian ground. Talos defended himself from the cyclone as the two made their way for the bridge and sprinted across it, fleeing from the Heart of Chaos.
Talos watched them depart and smirked, "How very wise..."
He waltzed back over to his throne, ruthlessly grasping Kya's throat and slinging her onto the ground before raising Shu's sunken body from the water and laying them out before him.
"I dare say you people make for superb entertainment," he chuckled
Tenzin and Ho Tun made it out of the crystal death trap and fell before the others as they ran up to the fallen masters, but Hou closed his eyes and shook his head.
Zu knelt before them, the masters shaking as rage, despair, and regret toiled within them.
"Are you two alright?"
"Alright!? Are we ALRIGHT!? My sister is dead! Our friend is dead! And you're asking if we're okay!?"
Zu heavily sighed and shook his head, "Sorry... Tenzin."
Ho Tun hung his head as it shook, "There was nothing we could do..."
Tenzin gritted his teeth and punched the ground, "N... nothing..."
Lin anxiously glared up at the Heart of Chaos, but as she did, the corpses of Kya and Shu shot out of the entrance and slapped against the cobblestone floors, horrifying everyone once more.
"In all my years, I have never seen someone so... vile and disrespectful. It is a sickening sight!" Ghazi snarled.
"I sure hope one of the other nation's armies are coming our way..." Lin muttered as her fists clenched.