Title: the showdown that was always meant to be [1/?]

Fandom: The Legend of Korra

Summary: Finale AU. Did you seriously swallow every word from the man that kidnapped you days ago?

A/N: Season 1 finale rewrite GO. And rewritten after a certain scene, because up until certain points in the finale, I had hope. Title references Azula's line from awesome AtLA series finale.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the Legend of Korra or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

"Your family wasn't killed by a firebender." Korra glared at the crowd, triumph rising up in her throat. "His father was Yakone—"

The young Avatar felt bolstered by the crowd's gasps.

"—and his brother is Councilman Tarrlok."

Her eyes narrowed as Amon still showed no real reaction there on the stage. His voice remained level even as it projected to the crowds, "Now who told you such an amusing tale?"

Korra immediately began to answer. "Tarrlok did—"

"And you trusted hisword?" That wasn't Amon, but a woman's voice. Familiar, too. "After what he did to us?"

Bile rising up in her throat, Korra snapped her head around, and found the speaker—the mother on that snowy night, children still at her side. But the woman looked harsher, and the children more wary.

"I—" Korra's mind was shutting down, she had no idea what to say...

"She has a point, Avatar," Amon called to her, grabbing her attention. "And isn't he the bloodbender that had you kidnapped days ago?" The Equalist leader gestured to the crowd. "I can assure you, the story's broken by now. Everyone knows."

"That—he has no reason to lie to me now! Not with him locked up and after you removed his bending!" Korra desperately snapped, revulsion coloring her voice over the last parts of the sentence.

"How nice, you listen to a purged bender. But what of my people? Have you ever really sat down and listened to a nonbender's grievances? Or can you hear only benders, especially those living your pitiful vision of a nightmare-"

"They aren't your people!"

"You're too stubborn to be the Avatar, the supposed peacekeeper of this world," Amon said. "Again, you have no real proof of that."

"If I'm wrong, take off the mask!"

"Make me."

Korra snapped. Fire flared up on in her hands.

"Don't, he's baiting you—"

Mako's warning fell on deaf ears, as Korra launched herself on the wall, running along it with the flames blasting out to balance her. Blood rushed in her ears; he wanted scars for his lie, she'd give him scars...

"Evacuate, now!" Amon shouted the order to the assembled crowds, swiping a hand to one of the exits. Korra had never heard him sound so tense before, or look so completely distracted...

Korra startled a bit, but kept running even when lightning struck the stage. Mako provided back-up after all, had also noticed Amon's apparent distraction.

She felt no surprise as Amon dodged the lightning and rolled over to Mustache Guy. Distracted or not, he was still monstrously skilled.

Launching herself off the wall, Korra blasted out a barrage of fire attacks before landing on the stage. Of course Amon and Mustache Guy dodged those too—but that wasn't what made Korra's stomach lurch uncomfortably. She distantly noticed the zone of that attack—her control had slipped with her growing rage, if the crowds had not started evacuating, some would've been burned...

Deal with that later. Korra kept attacking, but Amon and his subordinate were getting closer—his subordinate had just activated his electrified kali sticks—

"Let's get out of here!" Mako shouted, and Korra yelped as he pulled her away. Mako blasted out cover fire, and Korra lost sight of Amon and Mustache Guy as she was yanked into the hallway.

She still heard Amon bark out, "I'll find them, you go make sure the arena's clear of civilians—"

Korra tried to pull away from Mako. "No, we have to—!"

"You can't unmask him in front of no one, the crowd's run off now!"

Before Korra could bring herself to argue more, she heard pounding feet and saw Amon run for them. The sight of him fast approaching finally made Korra lose her nerve and remember her complete and utter fear of the Equalist leader.

She blasted a wall of fire to block him, then another, before fleeing with Mako. They darted into one of the arena's practice gyms, hiding.

###

Korra's heart pounded in her ears as she watched Amon's feet stalk before her eyes, he was too damn close...

And then suddenly those feet were gone and she heard the thunk of something being pierced. More alarmingly, she felt the familiar sensation of bloodbending painfully yank her from her hiding spot.

She was made to kneel down, as was Mako, both sharing in their terror, while Amon...was struggling madly against the jagged chunk of ice that kept him pinned to the wall. Clearly not waterbending it away.

"I really do not understand why the great Katara never trained you to fight off bloodbending," Tarrlok said as he entered the room, hands bent in that horribly familiar gesture, his face as grim as the very first time he had bloodbent Korra into submission. "And you've still done nothing to prepare for it—

though granted, you really haven't had much time, except to run around as if your head was cut off, listen to the first sob story you hear..."

"Your bending's not gone," was the first thing out of Korra's dry mouth. From her position on the ground with Mako, she was firmly in between Tarrlok and the trapped Amon, seeing them both.

And so Korra saw a sign of real human emotion in Amon—guilt and anger in that glare behind the mask.

"Want to answer that, Amon?" Tarrlok's lip curled into a bitter smile. "Tell the Avatar how the great revolutionary leader dedicated to end bending for all time, couldn't even bring himself to remove it from his own brother."

"So you are brothers?" Mako hissed.

Tarrlok shrugged, but his hold never loosened on their bodies. "Adopted. My father had plucked him out of the fire that slaugthered his family. Had me heal him to gain a better understanding of the human body—couldn't do a thing for his face though. And then Yakone had me bloodbend him, so that I could practice on humans better."

Amon stopped his struggle, to stare at the bloodbender. "Yes, Tarrlok—Yakone made you do that," Amon said lowly, eyes locking with Tarrlok's, which had narrowed. "Brother, please—"

And Korra felt her head hurt, hearing the crack in Amon's voice, what he was saying, how his eyes burned.

"—your father made you do this. Just because you could bend. It was never you. You never enjoyed it. You always knew it was wrong, I know you did—"

"You always thought I was wrong, didn't you, baby brother?"

Amon paused, and Korra's heart pounded as she saw him actually shut his eyes tight, clearly regretting. Then he opened them. "I did once, and I was wrong to believe that. It was only the bending, I should never have blamed you. You do not have to do this, Tarrlok. You've always been better than this."

Korra hissed as Tarrlok gestured, making Mako pass out. Then his arm twisted, and Amon hissed as well, while the ice tightened around him.

Tarrlok looked furious.

"You're still that little naive farm boy, Amon. I am my bending. Just as you are nothing without it." Korra's eyes widened as the ice began to choke Amon, making him gag. "Even you knew that, deep down. Why else would you spare my bending? Even you did not wish to remove my very being."

"Tarrlok," Korra snapped, still struggling madly but not moving even an inch. "What is this? What are you after—?"

The former councilman laughed. "Did you really think Amon was the only one with an endgame?"

If Korra had looked, she would've known Amon wore the same look of horror as she did.

###

"How are the evacuations going?"

"Sir, half of them are out of the arena!"

"And the Avatar? Anyone fin—?"

"Lieutenant!"

"What?" The elder snapped, whirling on the latest Equalist.

The younger nonbender said in a rush, "The Red Monsoons, the Agni Kais, the Rumblers, the Triple Threats, they're all striking at once, together—!"

The Lieutenant's eyes widened.

###

"I know you feared a power vacuum after taking Zolt out, Amon, but still thought it was worth it to topple the crime lord—worth it for me, too." Tarrlok's gaze darted from Amon's furious glare to Korra's equally angry eyes. "Now, I did tell you, Avatar, that I preferred to take the city from within the system—but I'm not so great a fool as to not have any involvement with the city's underbelly. And Zolt's disgrace was the perfect opportunity to begin consolidating my hold on all the gangs. What with you and Amon fighting, not to mention my task force and the metalbending police added to that squabble, it was simple enough to deal with the gangs and go relatively unnoticed. Unite them, have them lie low, bide their time until the opportune moment."

"Admittedly that moment was just a vague promise, but it became more clear once the council was no longer an option, though even that was delayed. But after you and your boy toy so kindly removed the guards for me back at the temple, it was easy enough to avoid the next scheduled chiblocking session and escape, make contact with my people, tell them rescue was no longer necessary. Instead they were to attack right about...now."

###

The Lieutenant barked out orders, sending teams to deal with the bender gangs, and to protect the rally evacuees.

Inwardly he cursed. Not only were the gangs notoriously competitive with each other, the Equalists had thought the city's bending underbelly had been sufficiently intimidated. Surveillance suggested a number of them fleeing the city, their decreased activity, gang members being rounded up and their bending removed. And admittedly increased warfare with the metalbending police and the Avatar had distracted them. Clearly the gangs had not only put aside their differences and united, but also lured them into a false sense of security and confidence...

One of the walls burst out, and the Lieutenant joined the first defense team against the onslaught of fire, earth and water.

###

"So what? You're gonna hijack Amon's scheme and take over the city?" Korra snarled, and Tarrlok laughed.

"My brother the would-be conqueror? How rid—"

And then Mako surged up, lighting in his hand, and Korra felt hope.

Tarrlok only smirked, twisting his arm so that Mako twisted, so that he faced Korra, but his lightning was still going—

Korra screamed as Mako's lightning hit her, barely able to hear Mako's own horrified shout.

She slammed to the ground, shaking from the shock. Korra gritted her teeth, curled into herself against the pain. Okay, if Tarrlok just left her here, didn't bloodbend her again, she would have a chance, she just had to shake this off—

Korra bit her lip as her body trembled. She cursed when she felt herself bloodbent again.

She managed to open her eyes. From her position on the floor, she saw Mako frozen in place and glaring again, Tarrlok bloodbending him once more, and behind Tarrlok was—

Mustache Guy.

He rushed Tarrlok, electrified kali sticks raised.

Korra inwardly cursed as Tarrlok whirled around, throwing Mako toward the Mustache Guy. At least before Mako slammed into Amon's Equalist commander, the older man flicked something on one of his kali sticks and threw it toward Tarrlok. Who sidestepped.

The bloodbender smirked. "Missed."

Not really, Korra thought, eyes wide, as the kali stick had sharp prongs split out, electricity crackling through all the new points, and the transformed and apparently overcharged kali stick slammed into Amon's ice cage, cracking it. That was enough. Amon burst out of the cracked ice, breaking the rest and charging Tarrlok.

Amon struck for the bender's pressure points, but Tarrlok was fast—Korra was certain Amon had meant to paralyze his body along with blocking his chi, but Tarrlok had moved at just the right moment. Amon still struck, Tarrlok hissed and Korra was no longer bloodbent. But Tarrlok still moved. He punched at Amon, who dodged. Korra struggled to get up; Mako's misdirected lightning attack had really done a number on her.

She saw Tarrlok shove his hand into an overlarge pocket, then twist away from Amon's attack. Korra lunged, too late. When Tarrlok's hand slipped out of his pocket, an electrified glove adorned it, and he slammed the now armed hand straight for Amon's chest. Korra's eyes widened at the first really pained shout she'd heard from Amon. Her eyes squeezed shut when Amon was blasted into her, both crashing to the floor, and Korra grunting at some of the electrical shock jumping to her too.

"You really had such wonderful toys made, brother," Korra heard Tarrlok murmur as she desperately tried to disentangle herself from an Amon struggling to get back up on his feet.

Then Tarrlok shocked them again, and she knew nothing more.

tbc

A/N: So I added another component to Lieutenant's kali sticks, but I thought it would be interesting, make some sense, and I figured that was okay since canon pretty much had Korra suddenly airbend. I wanted lying Tarrlok because originally I thought he was lying. That story sounded too melodramatic and stilted and kinda too convenient. And flashback!Noatak really didn't look a thing like the Amon we'd seen all season! Just look at the skin color! And then Amon took off the mask and the scars and showed the skin color that clearly wasn't Noatak's. So for a wild moment I really thought canon would do something awesome and show that Tarrlok lied and messed with Korra's head, and they cleverly told the flashback in a poor way to hint it was a lie. But no, apparently he was dead serious, and that flashback was really just poorly executed. And Amon/Noatak apparently had color-changing skin? I'm sorry, I still don't really accept Noatak and Amon as the same person. I really enjoyed bringing that nonbender mother from ep. 8 back. Especially since she never appeared in season 1 again. In fact, her scene was never really followed up on again within season 1, which is a shame. I just took out the captured airbenders because it messed up too many characters and didn't really make any sense IMHO. There goes Lin's supposed "sacrifice" and making Amon and the Equalist just "bad guys" instead of taking an opportunity for any sort of depth with them. Tarrlok and the shock glove is an echo of canon's ep. 9 and the its finale. Originally this was going to be a one-shot, but I'm splitting it up into more than one part. Next time is Asami and her dad!