Aden Strong: Avatar In DC

(Aden's P.O.V)

I concentrated on the link I had established with all three of my Spirits.
"COME."
I requested. According to Iroh, a spirit embodying a concept or in this case element, usually would not leave it's abode. Meaning Hakai and Saisei could not leave the Fire Dimension and Similarly, Breeze could not go out of the Air Dimension. The key word being Usually.

Iroh speculated that due to my 'unique' position and circumstances as the Lord of the Realm, I could in a sense…allow it. So after meeting Breeze, I decided to try it out while on Sanctuary, to see if they could use our link to access the main dimension, the energy plane.

There was a slight shimmer in the air and a brief energy pop before a slight breeze ruffled my hoodie and surrounded me. I chuckled a little as the air started carrying me in the air. I looked down and saw a smiling Iroh, staring up. The breeze was gentle and it was a novel experience. Usually I had to use my will to nudge the air to carry me. To be honest though, floating as I was, I realized that it wasn't all that different from when I was flying by myself. The strain had considerably lessened ever since I'd become a Grand Master.

2 more presences made themselves known as Hakai and Saisei flew beside me. They danced in glee, winding over my form, in graceful twists and turns. Breeze suddenly sped me up.
"Whoa."
I said, a little surprised as she moved me in a similar pattern to the dragon twins. I realized that she was copying them…

And to be sure, I felt the feeling of shock and surprise which soon gave way to giddy excitement as she realized she wasn't the only spirit around. I shared those feelings with Hakai and Saisei, linking all of us together.
"Hakai, Saisei meet Breeze."
I said through the link, sending an image and impression of a little girl who turned into an adorable cloud to them. I felt a wave of elation from Hakai and shy acceptance from Saisei.
"Breeze, meet your brother and sister, Saisei and Hakai."
I told the precocious bundle of free energy that was Breeze. Her feelings were of unbridled joy with undertones of excitement.
"Breeze…Friend? Family?"
Hakai wondered, making me open my eyes in surprise as we landed. That was the first time she had said more than one word.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!"
I landed a bit unsteadily as Breeze lost control in her excitement, chanting yes several times in a row.

The twins flew down and above Iroh and I, in circles before swooping down and snuggling with me. I chuckled a little, rubbing their scales. Iroh gave me a nod from where he stood. I nodded back and stepped away from the twins. Hakai cocked her head in question. I merely smiled and turned my attention to the link.

"Breeze…you can materialize now."

I told my Air Spirit who was suddenly very shy.
"Come on…"
"No…"
I rolled my eyes at the sudden change in behavior.
"Come out or else you're going to miss out on all of the fun…tell you what, you guys can play all you want."
I enticed her.
"Play!?"
I chuckled as a draft of air suddenly materialized into the shape of a little Fairy. She was dressed in a light green dress that reached to her knees, had on a funny little helmet made in the shape of a Flying Bison head with the horns shooting straight to the sky and the Arrow glowing green atop the white Helmet. Her hair was a lime green, with green eyes and a cute face and sharp little fangs. This seemed to be her favorite form.

She darted to my neck and hid from Hakai and Saisei, peeking from the side of my neck. I sighed and lifted her by her little dress, dropping her on my palm.
Hakai, Saisei…this is Breeze, she's an air spirit."
2 minutes later, Iroh and I were watching as the Spirits flew above the sky, playing. It hadn't taken too long for them to become fast friends.
"Now that you can allow them access to the main dimension, it figures that they can even follow you out to the real world."
Iroh observed.

I shook my head.
"I'm not taking them outside with me. I can't. They're not ready for that just yet. If ever."
I replied, feeling the critical look he gave me before nodding and staring at the three innocent spirits.
"Good."
He approved.

(Later)

The boom tube opened up to my room. I walked through and threw myself on the bed. I frowned as my back landed on something. Just then, my phone started chiming with a few missed calls, some app notifications and a text from Maze. I swiped the screen and at the back of my mind, marveled as I usually did at just how advanced the tech of this world was. The Wayne phone I had was easy to use, had no lag and it's slim design put my original world's smart phone to shame.

I opened the text and read it.

Maze: Sup Kid, Luci and I will be gone for a few days. We got something to take care of. I left you some cash on your bed and if you need anything, talk to the staff. Nobody wants you to burn the whole building down because you tried to cook. Later.

Maze: Hey Kid, if a dude dressed in a long black cloak, with white eyes appears, telling you to 'go with him'...yeah forget anything you were taught about strangers and just follow along...it's kinda important. Think of it as you next mission.

Maze: Luci says, 'Don't touch my Jazz records or I'll curse your descendants for all eternity.'

I frowned at the second message and scoffed at the last. As if I'd bring harm to the true flavor of African American music. Jazz was...is an inspiration. See, and old people say this gen x are so uneducated in the ways of life. Looking at you Dad. I sighed and cut off my useless train of thought. I reached underneath me and pulled out a stack of dollar bills. Just a grand. Huh... speaking of which, Maze nor Luci had ever so blatantly given me money, they must have thought they would be gone for some time. I wonder if it's to do with her second cryptic text. A stranger with a long black cloak and white eyes huh? Sounds familiar.

Oh well, if it happens, it happens I guess. I rose up and wobbled on my feet. Exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks. My body was relatively untired just sleepy and the fact that I had been active for the past 24 hours just compounded it. I had already taken a shower back in the Sanctuary, so I dug into my sheets and slept like a log.

The next day saw me get some donuts and a cup of coffee to go for my guest back in the Elemental Dimension. I had been wary of getting Iroh tea, thinking he would probably hate it due to the kind he was used to. The boom tube opened in the alley behind the coffee shop. I waved at the homeless dude who looked as if he'd seen a ghost, throwing him a five controlled by the air, before plunging in.

So apparently, Iroh's version of sleep is meditation. The twins and Breeze were nowhere to be seen though and using our links, I could feel that they were back to their dimensions. Of course, I had permanently given them access to the Main dimension. Breeze had particularly enjoyed whizzing past the island and animals in the main dimension because the only creatures in the Air Plane were Flying Bisons. For her it was more friends to play with.

I set the coffee and donuts to the side, using my Realm master status to maintain a small field of heat around them to make sure they remained at an optimal temperature and then I started meditating too. I did as Iroh had instructed me, taking deep breaths and releasing them while opening myself up to the essence of the world. I had no idea how much time had passed but when I opened my eyes later, it was to the sight of the box of donuts lying to the side, empty while the coffee looked untouched.

I raised an eyebrow at my master.

"Teacher, how...did you get the tea set here?" I asked pointing to the small black table with a familiar kettle and two cups placed on it.

Did he have a Hammerspace like I did?

"A magician never reveals his tricks."

He told me and winked.

I snorted at the cliche' saying.

"Anyway...not a fan of coffee huh?"

He made a face.

"No. Too bitter."

I slapped myself on the forehead.

"But the tea you make is even more so!"

"No, tea refreshes the mind, my young student." He said in a profound and serious tone.

"Plus...all the cool old people like it."

He added, ruining the atmosphere.

"Did you at least like the donuts?"

I asked already knowing the answer. Iroh scratched his beard.

"So that is what they're called? I wish to have more of these...donuts. I found them very tasty."

I smiled.
"Good. But trust me, you have a lot more to try if you think donuts are tasty. We'll see if you won't change your tune once you dip fries in a milkshake. Absolute heaven."

We idly chatted until Iroh told me to show him my other skills apart from bending. I demonstrated, my chi-blocking skills going further to show him the air variation, called Dragon Fist, a skill that had not seen much use, my expert hand to hand combat that I'd learned from Black Canary and my skill with a blade that I had...taught myself from inspiration gotten from different media and tutorial videos.

Iroh had been shocked at how I wasn't dead yet. He called my chi-blocking skills adequate, my hand to hand combat subpar 'atleast I could throw a punch' and my blade skills were criminal and an affront to masters like Piandao and Sokka. I was... suitably shocked. He then went further to explain the only reason I hadn't gotten my ass kicked was because I was very good at mixing what I had. While fighting, I always had air sense, energy sense and recently spirit attunement activated for me to sense the battlefield. I leveraged my strength and speed to hit as hard and fast as I could and I fell back when I was outmatched and relied on my elements for quick and damaging attacks. He dissected my fighting style within seconds.

Unfortunately, Iroh told me that he couldn't teach me anything worthwhile in terms of unarmed combat or weapon skills. He wasn't a true master in any of those and frankly my strong body ensured that I wouldn't learn anything substantial and just fall to punching or kicking as hard as I could. Fortunately I knew where I could learn all that. It came with some...risk in the case of one of those ways but I was confident I could make it work. But, Iroh's good news was that he would help me to seamlessly blend the abilities of my spirits with my sword whenever they combined.

After coming up with a rough plan of what we would do for my spirit training, I opened a Boom Tube and we left for Washington. The last time I had been here was when I'd first been introduced to the sidekicks.