Chapter 8 : The Avatar is Stronger

He didn't really know how long he was away, but when he returned home, Republic City seemed even worse than when he left it. Where resistance had seemed futile when he was still there, now it was simply extinguished. Even the statue of Avatar Aang was desecrated: its face was covered by Amon's mask. Seeing it, Tahno felt as if knifed through his stomach, but he forced himself to breathe and calm down. As much as Amon was strong, the Avatar was stronger. He kept repeating it to himself, as a mantra, to save his sanity.

But the Avatar was nowhere to be found.

The people around him were walking around empty-eyed, desperate, and there were no more benders to speak of. He went to the police station, looking for Chief Beifong, but nobody knew what had become of her after she went to protect the Air Temple Island. Just a glance toward the Island was sufficient to notice that it was also under the control of the Equalists now. Still, the idea that chief Beifong might have gone down with it seemed impossible. She was tough as nails, just as Korra; surely nothing would happen to her. And yet, in situations such as this one, strong people fall too. After the thought inducing another pang in his stomach, Tahno decided that he will go and...find someone. Or at least, try to. Find someone, find anyone, since everybody he knew and cared about disappeared. Chief Beifong, Korra, even the ferret brothers and Asami were gone. Suddenly, another sort of icy fear took upon him. People were disappearing. They were vanishing in the thin air. He felt alone in the city, this city which was turning in a city of ghosts... He was suffocating. He needed to find...someone...someone...anyone...anyone! He needed people, he needed to feel the crowd, he needed to find a place, any place where there would be people, where he had a chance of seeing anybody known. Even if said place was an Equalist rally.

He didn't exactly know what to expect there. Extremists or demolished people in the audience, maybe. An eventual apparition of Amon on the stage. He didn't think. He didn't know. But there he was. And no matter all that he had lived up to this moment, no matter for what his discussion with the wolfbats or his wanderings through Republic City had prepared him, nothing could have made him expect the horror that he was about to see.

Amon was on the stage, saying that he will wipe the airbenders forever.

The floor opened. Tenzin and his children appeared, tied to a pole.

Tahno uttered a voiceless scream, wondering if this entire nightmare would ever end or if things were to keep getting worse by minute. However, before Amon delivered his ultimate strike of victory, Tahno heard a familiar voice.

- Let them go, Amon, it said.

It was the voice of Korra... Kora was there. Korra was alive! Korra still had her bending...

- Avatar Korra, you're just in time to witness the disappearance of the Air Nation, said Amon.

Korra was terrorized, that much was apparent, but she didn't let him destabilize her. She had something on him.

- The spirits did not grant Amon the power to take away bending — said Korra, pointing a finger on Amon. — He's using bloodbending to block it. Amon is a Waterbender!

The audience uttered a noisy sigh of surprise. Tahno was shaking. He was fuming with rage. He had heard stories about bloodbending, but it was illegal for obvious reasons, namely cruelty. Now more than ever, Amon appeared as a monster.

But a true monster is always prepared. Amon kept claiming that a firebender had disfigured him, and even took off his mask to show his wounds. Tahno knew that he was lying. His wounds may have been real, but everything else...

He didn't even get to finish his thought, that Avatar Korra threw an attack towards Amon. She wasn't alone. Mako was there too. Korra was powerful and Tahno had seen Mako fighting. Mako was maybe an annoying douche, but he was also an excellent firebender and most importantly, he still had his bending. He could help Korra.

Mako and Korra had barely reached the scene where Amon was standing, that Amon eloped. Or did he? Everything was unclear, there was smoke, there was noise, the audience was shouting, going crazy, some tried to come closer to the scene to get a better view, some tried to escape the place, and everything was generally a huge mess. There was, however, no chance of approaching to the stage: chi-blockers, some of which were armed with Equalist gloves, blocked the way, possibly not even knowing themselves why they were doing it. The crowd then tried to leave the place, but with no order whatsoever, making the entire rally look like a giant group fight. Tahno had gotten inside in under a few minutes, but it took ages to get out.

All that time, voices of people around him talked about Korra, about Amon, about who was telling the truth and who was lying, and some, more daring ones, took bets about who was going to survive; even though they didn't as much talk as they shouted unrelated opinions and panicked ascertainments, barely making any sense. Tahno wasn't certain about how he felt anymore, about Korra and Amon, about getting his own head out of this crowd, about that fear that has penetrated so deeply into his body that it was now a part of him, remaining almost unnoticed at most moments.

When they finally broke outside, Tahno was able to think more clearly. Korra's image crystallized itself in his mind. He ran around the factory in which the rally had taken place to see whether he could enter through the back door, but when he reached the other side of the building, he saw a window breaking. Somebody fell in the water, and could only fall that if someone propelled him through the window via airbending. Either Korra unblocked her airbending or the airbenders had come to help her. Whatever it was, it was good. He looked above himself, just like several dozen people who were gathered there. Korra was standing at the windowsill. She could airbend.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of something emerging from the water with a flash. They looked over and saw Amon, who was standing on a tall swirl of water. No scar was visible on his face. He was unmasked and Korra was right. He was a waterbender, a hypocrite, a liar, and everybody could see it now.

What Equalist could support his cause now that his blatant hypocrisy was revealed? Tahno could see Amon's defeat crumbling just before his face, as Amon was floating on his giant wave, looking at the fruit of his work disappearing before his very eyes. He could see that he was not feared anymore, and that he would be rejected. He plunged in the water and disappeared, splashing all the people gathered there by the same occasion.

And from beneath the huge wave of water created by no other than Amon himself, Republic City emerged once again.

A/N: Please Review

...I didn't want to ruin the last sentence with a long A/N, so I just wrote that...but as usual, I want to thank all of those who read this story :) Even though you're quite silent xD but I see you on my traffic graph and so I can telepathically thank you too ^^