"I think I figured out what our mentors are doing." Wally said.
"No duh! They're putting out the friggin fires before they reach the town!"
"No... they're not. They're probably helping to evacuate the people. There's no way anyone could put out these fires before they hit the town, they'd need a massive amount of water..." Roy said.
"You mean like that dam over there?" Dick asked. They all looked where he was pointing. Across the valley a thousand feet or so was a massive dam, built where another mountain rose up...
"But even if you could walk through flaming grass to get there, then what?" Wally asked. Scarlet rolled her eyes. "Gee, I don't know. Maybe use our backpacks full of EXPLOSIVE DEVICES to blow the thing and flood the valley before the village, so the fires couldn't reach."
Roy squinted. "There's some planes. They're evacuating people. They're preparing for the worst."
"But we can stop it." Dick said, shouldering his backpack.
"Wait. You mean we're going to try and cross a sea of fire?" Wally asked.
"Yes. Wally, can you run through it?"
"Not without a ton of wind fanning the flames even more. That might make it even worse."
"Right. Then we'll have to do it normal-speed. The detonators are remote control as long as they don't catch fire we're good."
"Right. You two, ditch the capes. Unless you want to be walking torches." Roy tore up the discarded capes, soaking each in water and tying them over his sibling's faces, before holding a wet cloth over his own. They were before the flames, but it wouldn't hurt to practice...
Hell had never felt so real. They waded waist-deep through flames, trying not to panic and choke on the billowing smoke and to keep each other in sight, while making sure they were headed in the right direction. The heat was unbearable, it was hard to breathe, and by the time they were halfway through they felt like collapsing into the flames and giving up. But none of them would let the others do that.
"Keep going..." Roy gasped. His eyes were watering from the smoke, the heat was crazy, and he felt like collapsing, but the one thought that kept him on his feet was that if he went down, his siblings wouldn't leave him, and they'd ALL die...
"Come on..." Dick muttered. Sweat poured from their bodies. The costumes were flameproof, mostly, but the heat burned fiercely... The flames stretched into an eternity, but finally, they reached a small area where the fire had burned itself out and collapsed on the charred grass, gasping for air...
They'd all been hit with the realization they wanted to give up while walking through the fire, and that if they did, they'd die. That alone would've been enough to scare any average kid into giving up- but they weren't average.
"It's spreading. We have to stop it- now." Scarlet rasped. Their throats were all bone dry from the smoke, and Roy nodded.
"We can get to high ground, but someone needs to plant the detonators..."
Dick nodded. He and Scarlet would be the best choice, with their acrobat past and knowledge of explosives. "You ready?" he asked.
Scarlet nodded, pulling her grappling gun from within her utility belt. It was yet another sheer, rocky climb besides the smooth concrete dam wall, and she wrapped an arm around Roy and pulled them both up. Roy climbed the remaining ten feet to the top, and Wally followed after when Dick swung up.
"You ready?" he asked, and Scarlet nodded. They'd handed the backpacks on to Roy and Wally, taking three each, and the plan was Roy would drop them down to them when they needed more...
"One every twenty feet. If this doesn't work, we're screwed." Dick said, nodding to her. From there, it was a dance with 'd secured the line fro, the grappling hooks to their belts, but might pull loose if they swung around too much. Still, Dick was pushing his feet off, swinging to the side and planting detonators as best he could. He fired another line, moving up...
Scarlet finished the areas he'd missed, twisting and swooping like a cat, before she fired up the final line. It arched well over the cliff and hit the ground, and Wally looped it around a tree while Roy pulled. Scarlet grabbed Dick on her way up, and they all just laid on the top of the cliff a moment later, exhausted...
"Fifty feet away. Then we can detonate." Dick said. They all wearily got to their feet and trooped away before Dick pulled out the detonator. "We sure about this, guys?"
"Just hit the dam button." Roy said, exhausted. Dick did- nothing happened. They all exchanged nervous glances. What if the detonator hadn't-
before the worried thought could finish, a blast knocked them all off their feet, concrete crumbled and the dam gave, the larger pieces of concrete, at least several tons, crashing down into the flaming valley, followed by several thousand gallons of water.
They stared, shocked, as the two forces warred, water clashing with fire... And then all that was left was smoke.
"We... we actually did it..." Scarlet panted, hacking. They were all light-headed frm the smoke, and she coughed up some soot.
"Yeah... We did." Roy said, looking up at the smoke. That was all that remained of the fire. Smoke and rubble... I did it, Dad. he thought proudly, before Wally shook him excitedly.
"Come on, man, let's go!" Wally whined.
"Go where?" Roy asked.
"To the town we just saved. Duh." Scarlet was already getting to her feet, exhaustion almost forgotten.
"Why? Our mentors will figure out where we are soon enough. I mean, we caused a huge explosion, they'll figure it was us."
"That's not the point. The point is, we get to make a dramatic entrance." Dick said. "Like in the movies. Now let's go."
They slowly picked their way around the rubble, working their way down what had been the dam until they reached the valley floor.
There was an inch or two of standing water there, but Dick smiled. "Perfect. No fire is going to get past THIS."
And he was right, The fires raging at the other side of the mountain stopped abruptly at the valley.
"What about the town?" Scarlet asked, wondering aloud.
"It's a few miles east. There's probably a rise in elevation, this is just a water basin here- the town will be fine." Wally said calmly.
"Yeah- except they'll need a new dam." Roy muttered, and they all burst out laughing. Roy sighed. He was exhausted, they all were. But they had a dramatic entrance to make. They'd keep walking.
"The fire was supposed to have reached this valley an hour ago." Batman said, looking confused.
He'd been heading evacuation efforts and was also on fire watch. He could still see no flames in the distance, only smoke...
"So it's a little late. That's a GOOD thing, since we've hardly evacuated anyone." Flash said over his comm. The people here had instead decided to stay with their homes, and stood by the masses, watching the smoky horizon. They'd worked hard to build their homes here, lived here, and the were willing to die here.
"Look!" Someone pointed, and Batman saw four figured emerging from the smoke. He stared. "Flash, Arrow- get down here. NOW."
"It's Speedy! And Kid Flash, and Robin, and Sparrow!" people were yelling, some cheering...
"There is no danger!" Roy yelled. "We managed to put out the fires in the valley..."
"How?" Someone asked.
"We blew up the dam." Scarlet said hoarsely. "The lower valley's flooded- a few inches worth of water. But no fire."
And the cheering started then. It abruptly stopped when Batman, Flash, and Green Arrow emerged, looking at them.
"All of you- we need to debrief." Batman said as an excuse before he turned. All the kids fell int step behind him, feeling like real heroes as everyone regarded them with warm looks and respect. They'd done it.