Ally Beifong

3: Amon

"For the past few weeks, anti-bending rally's were happening all over town. At first, Mom and I thought they were just a bunch of talk, led by a coward who hid behind a mask. But the anti benders, who called themselves Equalist's, were a lot more powerful then we thought."

Korra became a pro bender and so most of her time was devoted to training at the arena. One day, Ally went to check on how things were doing; she knew Bolin and Mako from watching pro-bending and other events; they were pretty good friends. 

"Hey, Mako," Ally said as she walked into the brother's apartment. "Have you seen Korra and Bolin? I wanted to see how everyone was doing." 

"I think he's at Air Temple Island," Mako said. "Probably looking for Korra. I was gonna go over there and look, want to come with?"

"Sure," Ally replied. They took a ferry over to the island where Korra finally mastered getting through the spinning boards. "Good job, Korra!" 

"Hey," Mako said roughly. "I'm looking for Bolin, have you seen him?"

"Jeez, you just get straight to it, don't you," Korra grumbled. "No, I haven't. Is something wrong?"

"I don't know," Mako replied. "But my brother has a talent for getting into dumb situations." 

"I can help look, and we can take Naga," Korra offered. 

"Naga?" Mako asked. 

"She's my best friend, and an excellent tracker," Korra said with pride. 

"She's a giant polar bear dog who loves cuddles," Ally chuckled. "Listen, I'd love to come with you all, but I have some important police business I need to attend to. I hope you find him." She waved and walked off, catching a ferry back to the city. She snuck back into her apartment, forgetting her mother had seismic sense, and ran smack into a very angry Lin Beifong. Ally could feel her moms enraged breathing through the vibrations of the earth, and she knew it wasn't going to be good. 

"Where the flameo have you been?!" Lin shouted. "I have been searching all over the city for you, you can't just up and vanish without telling me!"

"I'm sorry," Ally murmured. "She wrung her hands, evidently uncomfortable with the energy in the room. 

"You're still a child! You can't go wandering off whenever and wherever you feel like!" Lin continued. A vein bulged in her neck as she yelled, scaring her daughter. Ally was never abused by anyone, she just hated being yelled at. She started shaking, and bowed her head, tears in her eyes. Lin realized she had been to harsh, and dropped her cold demeanor. 

"I'm sorry," Ally said again. 

"Oh, sweetheart," Lin enveloped her daughter in a hug and cradled the back of her head, her eyes misty. "I'm sorry for yelling at you like that." Ally didn't look up at Lin, but felt her mother hug her, and she took a deep breath.

"Mom," Ally whispered. "I'm sorry."

"No, no, shh," Lin murmured. "It's okay, kiddo. It's okay. I'm sorry."  The next day, Ally was patrolling the park when she found an equalist protest. Pretending to be curious, she grabbed a flyer with the face of a masked man on it. Amon, the leader of the equalist's. On the back was a red dot with a part of a map that she was able to locate. She discovered it was part of a "revelation", but other than that, she had no idea what it entailed. At 9pm that night, the teen donned her police armor and covered her slender frame in a coat. She tied her hair up and hid it in a hat, adding a touch of makeup to conceal her identity.

"I'm not going to do anything stupid," Ally promised. "And if I do, I'm just an earthbender. Pretty much no one knows I'm the Avatar."

"Be careful," Lin said. Ally nodded and went to the location on the map, a giant warehouse. Presented the flyer to a guard at the front door, and walked in. She ran into Korra and Mako in the back of the crowd looking for Bolin, they had a feeling he would be here. 

"Hey," Ally said. "Fancy seeing you here."

"We're looking for Bo," Mako explained. Ally nodded and promised she'd keep her eyes out.

"Welcome, Amon!" A deep male voice announced. Light flooded a stage in the warehouse and a man rose up from under it. He was tall, wearing a mask and simple gray clothing. A hood covered his face, leaving nothing but the mask, and his eyes. Amon surveyed the crowd, and then picked up the microphone in front of him. 

"When I was young, my family and I lived on a quaint farm," Amon started. "We weren't rich, we weren't benders. So we were easy targets for extortion. A firebender did just that, and when my father decided to confront him, I lost everything. First he took my family, then my face to serve as an eternal reminder, how unjust the world is." The crowd erupted in gasps and whispers filled the warehouse. 

"And as you have all heard, the Avatar is in Republic City, saying that bending is the thing that brings balance and peace. But she is sorely mistaken. Bending has brought nothing but horror, war, and suffering. What do you think caused the hundred year war?"

"And what do you think stopped it?" Ally growled. 

"But that injustice is about to change," Amon said in a level tone. "I know you're all here, wondering what that revelation is. Now, you're about to find out."

"This isn't going to be good," Ally whispered. 

"The spirts have spoken to me, and given me a power," Amon continued. "They tell me that the Avatar has failed. And so the spirits chose me to lead a new era! One of balance in the world. That's why they have given me a power to take someone's bending away. For good." The crowd erupted in gasps and whispers, filling the warehouse with white noise, similar to the buzzing of bees. Ally's pupil's dilated and she looked around in horror. 

"No, no one can do that," Korra muttered. "That's impossible!"

"I can see you're all a bit skeptical," Amon said. "So allow me to demonstrate. Everyone please welcome Lightning Bolt Zolt, one of the worst criminals in the city, and the leader of the Triple Threat Triads." The crowd started booing at the man on stage. He was an older man in his late fifties, with gray and white hair, sideburns and broad shoulders. He leaned forward, bound in ropes and spat at the crowd, his yellow eyes darting around. Four others were brought on stage, one of those people being Bolin. 

"Go boo your own stupid selves!" Zolt yelled. 

"As most of you know, the way Zolt gained his fortune is by abusing non benders," Amon stated. "But luckily, his time has come to an end. But in the interest of fair play, I'll let him fight to keep his bending." 

A man on stage freed Zolt from his ropes and shoved him forward. He stumbled and turned around, throwing his hands out. A ball of fire erupted from his hand and shot towards Amon, who dodged it almost lazily. Fireball after fireball and Amon wasn't trying, Zolt stuck two fingers out, sending a bolt of blue lighting at the man in the mask. Amon ran up, grabbed Zolt's arm, and forced him down to his knees. He grabbed the back of his neck and placed his thumb on the  space in between his eyebrows. Zolt's eyes seemed to shrink as he looked around, trying to break free. Amon kept forcing his hand up, until the lightning faded to fire, then was gone. Zolt collapsed on the stage, with a groan. The next time he tried to bend, he couldn't.  

"Got a plan to save Bolin?" Korra asked. 

"Yeah," Mako replied. He pointed to machines bolted on the walls. "Those are powered by water, if you can create some cover, I can't grab him and get out of here."

"Ok," Korra smiled. "Ally, I'm gonna need your help to airbend this." Ally nodded and they snuck out of the crowd. Everyone's eyes were glued to the stage, so they had some time. Ally bent the metal to reveal a gaping hole of steam. As the white vapor started to put out, Korra waterbended it to create some cover. Mako got his brother and they ran out, getting on Naga to escape. Amon let them go to convey a message, he was more powerful than anyone thought. Ally ran home and burst into her apartment, her chest heaving. Tears mixing with the sweat pouring down her face. Lin looked up, startled, then stood up and ran over to her daughter. 

"Ally, what happened?" Lin asked, gripping the young woman's shoulders. Ally put her hands on her knees to catch her breath and looked up with fear. 

"Amon can take away people's bending," she panted. 

"What?!" Lin gasped. "That's impossible."

"I saw it with my own eyes," Ally replied. 

"I believe you, kid," Lin said. "If that's true, no bender is safe here."