Part 3 - Chaos
Tuan soared through the turbulent, chaotic skies with Kang atop her head as the sight of The Heart of Chaos' imposing Crystal structure looming amongst the waves of black caught his eye.
"Tuan, down there!"
The Sky bison affirmatively roared and began her descent. Kang saw everyone on the ground, his gaze affixed on the people laid atop earthen beds and gazing up at someone sprinting from the Gigantic Crystal.
Ghazi carried Khana out from the Heart of Chaos as Suki sprinted over, gazing upon the victorious Khana and gasping at the sight of her.
"Medics! She requires your aid!"
Li and Katara rushed over as Ghazi laid her down atop an earthen bed, and Toph pushed her feet to the ground, sensing for Khana's heartbeat before lowering her head and heavily gazing at Suki.
"This isn't good... she's lost a lot of blood; we're going to need something better than regular water healing!"
Ghazi ran his finger along her blood-stained face and tapped them together, "This blood is not of Kadan..."
Li and Katara's heads perked up before swiftly turning back, "Her blood or not; we can't get Spirit Water. That's all the way up in the North Pole!"
They swished the water along her torso and arms while everyone anxiously watched on. But while they did, Tenzin could hear Tuan land a fair distance behind them.
Kang patted her head and leapt from her, and as his feet hit the ground, Toph's eyes widened.
"Do you know the way back from here, Tuan?"
The Sky Bison affirmatively grumbled as she nudged him, "alright, you got me... I stole a second apple."
Kang smiled and pulled out the fruit, chucking it into Tuan's mouth as she gleefully munched away, "Well, Yip-Yip your way on home! And thank you for the ride!"
She ascended into the sky, returning to the air mountain whilst Tenzin watched her fly away, and Toph wiggled her toes.
"Now, unless my feet deceive me... Azula just arrived on a Sky Bison."
Zuko perked up and rushed over, as did Sokka, Suki and Katara, but with her gone, Li was left alone to sustain Khana.
"Oh, come on!"
Sokka drew his sword as they all stood fast, "Are you sure, Toph?"
"It certainly feels like her... and I'd know a thud like that anywhere."
Tenzin too joined them, ready to fight, all the while Zu, Ho Tun and Hou quizzically watched them.
"I can't believe it... after all these years, she's finally shown herself..." Zuko sombrely muttered.
"Well, whatever she has planned, we can take her down!"
Kang raised a perplexed eyebrow at everyone's hostility, "Geez, I thought they'd be happier to see me."
But as he approached further, Zu squinted his eyes and marched forward, passing by the ready combatants, "Don't mess around, Zu! Azula's dangerous!"
But he raised a hand to her and tilted his head, "Kang?"
The Mad Inventor's prosthetic hand waved to him.
"KANG!"
He charged in like a Gemsbok Bull and scooped him up into a Platypus-bear hug as Kang let out a sharp gasp at his loving restraint, "Hi, Zu!"
The combatants dropped their guards, staring at Zu and Kang in wide-eyed curiosity, "Kang?... That kid who used to run around with Zu, Li and what's-his-name?" Sokka asked.
The Giant dropped his buddy back down to the floor, wondrously gazing into his golden eyes and quizzically shrugging his arms, "Your goggles! Where are they?"
He faintly smiled and lightly tapped the hairpin, "I didn't need them anymore."
Zu stared at it as a smile broke over his fluffy face.
"I also got your letter!" he pulled it out from his pouch as The Giant's eyes welled up.
"Thank you for doing what you, Li and Masato did."
"It was the least we could do! Come on!"
Kang and Zu strode in side by side, and Katara sceptically turned to Toph with crossed arms, "It's not like you to mix people up... why did you think Kang was Azula?"
"And what was this about him arriving on a Sky Bison? They're extinct!" Zuko interjected.
"I would agree with you if I didn't see it for myself."
But Toph lightly scoffed and smirked at Kang, "I guess Twinkle Toes was right..."
The two stood before them as Toph's eyes turned to The Mad Inventor, "you really are Azula's son."
Everyone stepped back, eyes widening and breaths gasping, "He's WHAT!?"
Sokka hopped over to Kang and studied him, gazing into his eyes and observing the hairpin, "Wow, he really is... he's very... Azulary."
Zuko gawked and slowly marched up to him, "That explains why I felt that chill when we met..."
Kang nodded, "Indeed, Uncle ZuZu."
The Fire Lord's eyes slanted in an unimpressed manner, "In that case... can I ask you something, Kang?"
He gazed into his eyes and sombrely nodded.
"Was Azula, your mother... was she happy?"
He took in a long, deep breath and nodded, "She was, and she's still here in spirit."
Zuko solemnly smiled.
"And to answer the questions going through your head, Tenzin. A small number of air-benders survived the genocide, and they're still living inside a mountain within the Earth Kingdom."
He stared at him, utterly flabbergasted, "You're... serious? Why haven't they tried to make contact with the outside world then?"
"They still believed the war was ongoing, but now they know they're safe. And I'm sure they'd be more than happy to meet you."
The Air Nomad smiled as Kang scanned around and raised a nervous eyebrow, "Where is everybody?"
Zu gazed over to the earthen beds and coffins, heavily sighing and raising his hand to them.
Kang's heart lightly sunk, "Oh..."
"Ghazi is scouting out the Crystal. Ty Lee and Lin are alive, and Khana's just barely hanging on."
A light bulb pinged over Kang's head as he sprinted over to Li, desperately trying to keep Khana alive.
"Li! What happened?"
He perked up, and his eyes widened while he kept the water coursing up and down Khana, "Kang! They tried fighting that False Avatar guy. And Khana... she's not looking good. Although she did rip out his heart."
"Metaphorically?"
He swivelled his hand to the ground, pulling up a heart encased in a blob of water, "Literally."
His eyebrows perked up at it, "Huh, I guess Khana's skilled in penetrating Avatars."
"Come again?"
"Pretty sure Claire said that a few times."
A brief silence loomed over them as Li solidified the water and placed it back down. But as he did, Ghazi returned.
"I would not be so certain he is dead."
The Boys sceptically turned to him, "You don't need to be a medical professional to know someone can't live without a heart."
"You also do not need to be a medical professional to see that The False Avatar is perched on his throne, alive and well."
They stood speechless and taken aback as The Mad Inventor gazed down at her and reached into his pouch with a long sigh, "What would Claire say if she found her girlfriend dead and bloodied."
Li's head quizzically perked up to find him holding out a flask of water.
"Spirit Water should help her, right?"
"Damn right it'll help!" The healer gently took the flask and popped the cork before gazing over at Katara, "Oi! Get back over here, would you!"
His cries took her aback, but nevertheless, she rushed over, "Have you no respect for your elders?"
"Not when they leave a dying woman, no."
Her icy glare slanted as Li bent a blob of the spirit water from the flask.
"Kang got some Spirit Water! Let's get to work."
She curiously stared at The Mad Inventor before shrugging it off and bending a segment of the Spirit Water from the blob to form it around Khana.
The water soaked into the Kyoshi Warrior's body as a faint light emitted from it, and as it faded, she lowly groaned.
"Where... am I?"
Her eyes fluttered open, trying to sit up, but the pain still racked her body as she slowly looked around, "... Kang?"
He gleefully smiled, "The one and only!"
She smiled, struggling to speak.
"Rest, Kadan. You have earned it."
Khana slowly nodded, lowering her head back down and shutting her eyes. And as she returned to her rest, Lin slowly sat up, rubbing her jaw and scanning around, "... Kang?"
She sat up from her earthen bed and limped over to him.
He affectionately smiled as their hands met and softly held each other, "It's good to see you're alive, Lin."
She gawked and observed him reaching for his prosthetic and gazing into his eyes, "I... thought you might've been dead; what happened to you?"
He wiggled his blue and gold metallic fingers, "Well, got my left arm cut off for a start."
She hesitantly smirked, "I guess all that, 'you never know when you'll need a spare limb' talk really came through for you."
He smiled, "Indeed! Then after that, I fell into a Spirit Portal. Met my Great-Uncle. Went to a Library with a big owl in it... left Claire behind in the Spirit World."
He peeked over his shoulder to Khana, finding her still asleep and breathing a sigh of relief.
"...I returned home."
He sighed, half smiling at the thought, "Reconciled with my mother. Met the Air Clan."
He flicked his wrists out, conjuring an Azure flame in one hand and a spiral of air in the other, "became a Dual-bender."
He extinguished his elements, "hitched a ride on a Sky Bison, and now I'm here!"
Lin stood in awe, unable to think of a way to respond, "Are all your adventures that bizarre?"
Kang briefly chuckled, "Are adventures with an Avatar ever normal?"
He finally turned his glare to the Heart of Chaos, "And if what Ghazi said is right... I'm going to put Talos in his place."
He marched towards the Heart of Chaos.
"Kang! You can't go in there on your own; you'll be killed!"
He stopped in his tracks and turned back to her with a confident smile, "Are you forgetting I'm the Greatest Fire-Bender there is?"
She clenched her fists as he marched away once more. But she outstretched her arm and pulled on the earthy metal of Kang's prosthetic arm.
"Oh my!"
Lin dragged him back into her arms, everyone else lightly choking as they watched.
"I know you well enough to know that you're too stubborn to be talked out of something... so, you aren't leaving without this."
She closed her eyes and kissed him, making everyone's mouths drop through the floor as their eyes widened.
Kang stood in shock for a moment, but in time he accepted the reality and closed his eyes, softly embracing Lin.
"MY MAN!" Zu cheered and clapped his hands whilst Li cheered with him.
"Huh... I didn't see that one coming," Toph quietly exclaimed.
"You can't see anything, to begin with," Hou said without thinking.
His mother swiftly bent up a small pillar of earth into his gut, knocking his wind out and throwing him to the floor.
"And you should've seen that coming!"
Lin and Kang ended their embrace and softly smiled at each other, "Well... colour me motivated," he said with an uncontrollable smile.
She smirked and lightly scoffed as she patted his arm, "Go get him."
He confidently nodded, resuming his march towards the Heart of Chaos and determinedly glaring at it.
"Don't worry, Claire. I won't let you go through the pain I did."
He arrived at its archway and stepped inside, making his way onto the pure Obsidian ground, the water completely gone since Khana's battle.
Talos perked his head up and glared at him, "I don't recognise you... Who are you?"
Kang silently glared at him, standing tall with his palms open as the deafening silence took aback Talos.
"What? No proud proclamations? No pre-battle banter? Did you just come in here to-" an Azure fireball cut off his Monologue.
He leapt away from it and landed back down, gazing at the blue flames crackling atop his destroyed throne.
Talos turned his gaze to Kang as he lowered his open prosthetic palm back to his side.
"Be on thy guard. There is something... unnerving about him."
But he scoffed at Raava's concern, "Fine; you want to get right to the fighting? Then let's get right to the fighting!"
Talos punched out a stream of violet flame, but Kang swiftly countered with a blazing stream of Azure, colliding and coiling around each other before crashing into the crystal ceiling. The False Avatar gazed up in wonder whilst The Mad Inventor remained focused. Then, finally, Talos leapt forward and slashed out black stalagmites under Kang. But he deftly flowed into the air and landed atop one on the ball of his foot. He gracefully leapt and kicked out a ball of azure flame, flowing down the stalagmites, spinning and kicking out crescents of blue flames for each one he landed on as Talos erected obsidian walls, but with each strike of his flames, the walls crumbled to pieces, knocking him back with each azure blast, and as Kang landed back on the ground, The False Avatar unleashed a mighty violet comet. But he stood his ground, gracefully leaping and spinning as blue flames coursed around his hands, and with a firm stance, he struck his hands out to his side and dissipated the screeching violet comet.
Talos wondrously glared at him, "What... are you?"
His arms lightly quaked, but despite that, he leant back in his stance, taking a deep breath and bringing his hands to his mouth as he blew out a roaring stream of Azure fire. Talos gawked and weightlessly leapt up, waiting for the fires to cease as they slammed and scorched the crystal walls. He generated an arc of violet fire from his foot and slammed down onto the ground, but Kang flowed away from the attack, the fire barely glancing him as he flipped around and flew on jets of azure flames, charging at Talos with a relentless pace as he punched out streams of unparalleled firepower from his palms. He desperately tried to defend himself with walls of obsidian, but they crumbled and shattered at the sheer force. Finally, Kang cooled his jets before leaping and slicing his arm up, erecting a razor wall of flame at The False Avatar. But he jumped away as the heat stung his skin. Talos unleashed a blast of air at Kang as he floated back down, shoving him back across the blackened floor; however, The Mad Inventor stood his ground. Talos' eyes quaked, his muscles tense and breathing ragged as he frantically sliced his blade arm, launching elemental slashes one after another. But Kang deftly weaved between them before leaping through the last two and punching out his palms, and unleashing a mighty blue blaze. He tried to defend himself once more, but the obsidian walls crumbled, throwing the False Avatar back into the burnt ruins of his throne.
He glared at Kang; his teeth gritted and black heart racing, "WHAT ARE YOU!?"
Kang remained silent, taking a slow breath and arching his arms around himself as electricity crackled along his fingers. Talos' heart skipped a beat as The Mad Inventor brought the tips of his fleshy 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."
A faint blue glow radiated around him as Talos shot into the air, roaring and descending while his eyes turned pitch black and the dark aura shrouded him, almost taking the form of Raava. But he set his golden glare on The False Avatar as a condensed azure flame grew on his prosthetic fist. He twisted around, bringing the generated Lightning behind him and striking out with his metal fist as Azula's spirit formed behind him and mirrored his movements. The Mother and Son unleashed two gigantic, unmatched coiling streams of screeching Azure Fire as Talos froze in fear, frantically pulling obsidian and what water he had to his side as the flames mercilessly engulfed him. His screams echoed throughout the Heart of Chaos as the coiling Azure streams smashed into the damaged crystal walls. It cracked and split at the sheer force until finally shattering as the cerulean flames soared up into the air, spiralling around each other like two sapphire dragons. The roaring 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 ceased and revealed Talos burnt all over, his skin charred and melting in parts, his hair burnt away, his sleeveless shirt utterly destroyed, his pants and boots barely holding together, and his blade arm glowed a brilliant hot white. He stumbled forward, choking on his breath, his eyes still pitch black, Raava's silhouette fading in and out of view; if he could scream in agony, he would, but Kang had no mercy for him. He stepped forward and struck out with his fleshy fingers as Azula mirrored his movements, unleashing two coiling bolts of Lightning and striking his chest. His mouth shot open as Raava's wails of agony roared through him, the electricity surging all over his body, cascading around him. As the bolts ceased, his smoking electrified body stumbled back, and the black light and aura faded from his glazed eyes. He collapsed to his knees as Kang took an upright stance, slowly pushing his hands down the front of his body and letting out a slow breath as Azula's spirit faded back into him and Talos collapsed onto his stomach with a faint gasp.
"It's over."
He took one last look before he turned around and began his march from the Heart of Chaos. But a faint chuckle echoed from behind him, and his heart skipped a beat.
Talos slowly stumbled back up, chuckling while an ominous black light coursed over him as he stood back on his own two feet, "That... was Spectacular!"
His skin remoulded, his hair growing back, and his once glazed pupils contracted to the size of a pin's point as a smile of malicious delight etched into his face.
"ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR!" he shouted at the top of his lungs as he outstretched his arms like a deity.
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!"
His wounds partially healed into blazing scars and his blade arm cooled as he lowered his arms back down, and the chaotic shock-wave ceased.
"For mere moments, I saw Death itself... but Raava in all her glory pulled me back from the brink!"
Kang frightfully gazed upon him as Talos adamantly pointed to him, "You are the first to truly push me to the edge of death! And for that, you have my utmost respect!"
He graciously bowed as Kang glared at him, unsure how to respond.
"Doesn't matter if I'm the strongest or the weakest... If he can recover from that, there's no way I can beat him..."
The Mad Inventor turned his gaze to the hole he and Azula created, spying a little silhouette stood on the burning rim.
"Well, looks like I missed quite the snazzy performance!"
Talos turned his gaze to the person standing within the hole and smiled, "Fashionably late as usual..."