Disclaimer - I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Young Justice. This was written for the Blue Belt rank for Write to Rank 2020. For this round we needed to write an action story 1,150-1,200 words which favors show rather than telling and is also of the sci-fi genre. I chose cloning and superhero as the sci-fi elements for this story.
Forged in Fire: Currents of Air
One nano-second blended into the next.
"We're almost there, right?" Kid Flash asked.
Robin watched the young hero decked out in yellow spandex turn his head towards the other three while the newest member of their team—Super Man's clone—said, "Wait."
The sound of the floor groaning under some kind of heavyweight echoed through the dark walls of the underground shafts of the hidden facility under Cadamas. The red and blue lines which adorned the walls vibrated with the sound. Kid Flash sped towards the sound, his head still turned so he might look at his companion.
A rather large creature lumbered into view and Robin's jaw dropped while his fingers touched the holographic keyboard of his wrist computer. Kid Flash ran straight into the grey leg of the troll-like creature. The young speedster bounced back and his head tilted up so he might look up at the monolithic beast. A creature with a pair of horns on either side of the face and glowing red eyes in darkness turned its rather grotesque head so it might look at Kid Flash.
Everything blurred together yet Robin's mind registered the hulking grey arm swinging towards him and dodged backward. The smallest of the young superheroes discerned the sound of the floor beneath him crumbling away underneath him before he started plummeting. Robin reached up with his grappling gun and fired off a shot.
The rope tightened and Robin swung towards the nearest wall. He looked up yet saw nothing through the dust just as the rope went slack and he felt his small body tumbling through the air. Twisting, he regained control of the summersault yet still landed hard.
Robin sat up and his eyes squinted.
His shoulder hurt yet he also felt cold air against the skin where the spandex tore. He let his fingers reach up and let out a hiss upon touching the spot.
"I am so not whelmed right now. And why did Kid Flash have to go and jinx things back there? We really were close to the end." The young superhero stood up and pushed a button on his wrist, turning on a light. Robin shown the light upwards taking in the debris which blocked his path up and his teammate's path down. "Definitely not feeling it right now." Robin shook his head. "I'm the one with the map, so I've got to find my way back up there." Robin looked at the map. His finger pushed the hologram around while his eyes scanned for the closest location for heading up to the level he'd just fallen from. "There."
Robin walked in the direction the map indicated, his eyes focused on the hologram.
"The kid that fell down here might be that way."
Robin looked up.
"This is a lot of area to cover."
The voices grew louder. Robin glanced around and saw a door. He lifted his wrist computer towards the control panel which kept the door locked while code consisting of ones and zeros spun across the screen. The door sprung open and he hurried through.
"Please don't let it be something I'll regret running into," Robin muttered under his breath. He continued forward while the doors whisked shut behind him. He continued forward and shook his head. Eventually, his mind noted a change in the environment. He stopped and looked up. Robin's mouth went slack.
He saw in front of him a pod much like the one they found Superman's clone in. Slowly as Robin stepped forward the inside of the pod lit up revealing a rather young boy with no hair and a blue arrow on his forehead. "Not a Superman clone."
Robin glanced around. When he spotted the control console, he pushed a button. The pod disengaged. The air rushed out. The temperature in the already cold room dropped even more while a mist settled into the entire room. The mist settled and the boy with the blue arrow on his head stood in front of Robin.
"Hi. I'm Aang. I'm the Avatar," said the boy with the blue arrow on his head.
Robin's eyes blinked while the boy—Aang—smiled up at him. "What's an Avatar?"
"You don't know?" The smile on the boy's face faltered.
Robin reached a hand up and rubbed the top of his head. "No."
"Oh. Good. Never mind then." The boy's arms tucked behind his back and he started smiling again. "Want to play?"
"Do I want to play?" Robin's eyes blinked. The boy took off before Robin responded and Robin turned. "Hey! Get back here! There..."
Everything felt like a blur.
Robin heard yelling from the men down the corridor he just came so he might escape them and he hurried towards the door he hacked moments before. He stepped out in the hall and saw the strange elf-like creatures the director of Cadamas sent after him. His eyes narrowed. "They're capable of human speech?"
The two creatures looked at each other and then at Aang. Without hesitation, they moved forward, the intent to grab the boy. Robin felt a gust of wind rush from the boy with the blue arrow on his head right before Aang launched himself into the air over the two creatures before going into a sitting position from which maneuvered his way down the hallway in the direction Robin originally came from. As Aang did, he scooted up along the wall and onto the ceiling.
Robin's mouth opened right before he somersaulted over the two creatures and hurried after the boy.
Aang stopped in front of the place Robin fell from. His head lifted up and down while he looked at the damage, one hand saluting as he did so. "Wow. What happened here?"
"I fell."
"You fell?"
"From up there." Robin pointed.
He heard a creaking sound and instinctively he grabbed onto the back of Aang's clothes and pulled him back. Robin's eyes closed while his ears discerned the sound of something shattering. "There you are."
Robin opened his eyes when he heard Kid Flash just as the speedster followed up and said, "Wait? You found another one?"
"Another one what?" Aang asked.
"Another clone."
"What's a clone?"
"Um..." Robin turned his head so he might look at Kid Flash. Kid Flash's eyes blinked right before he said, "A copy?"
"I'm not a copy." Aang pouted and his arms crossed.
Robin ignored the two and instead focused on seeing how the debris fell and created a path so they might head up towards the level they fell from. He started up the debris, moving quickly. "Come on. Once we get to the above level we still need to make our way to the ground level."
"It would be much shorter if we could take the elevator," Kid Flash muttered.
"What is an elevator?"
"It's a shaft that leads from one level to another," Kid Flash said.
"I could probably blast us up the shaft with my Airbending," Aang stated.
Kid Flash looked at the boy, his mouth opening.
"No," Robin stated firmly. "I've already fallen enough for one night, thank you very much."
