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Tuesday, January 7th. Roughly two months have passed since Riddler blew up Gotham’s seawall. The flooding has slowed, and the water level has lowered to a safe level for regular pedestrians. A few healthy donations from Bruce Wayne has helped speed up construction on the seawall. Batman can only do so much on the streets, after all. Bruce Wayne can help with finances, and I’ve already made some upgrades to the workspace.
Alfred has been dead set on getting me to attend meetings for Wayne Enterprises. While I’m not excited for them, the board does have its uses. I’ve been able to make some upgrades to the cave and my equipment. Maybe-
Bruce stopped in his train of thought when he heard a scuffle echo in his workspace. He squinted in the darkness and put down his pen in his journal as he reached for his cowl. Readying his grapple gun, the vigilante took a few steps forward. After a moment of silence, a blue sphere formed in front of them, pulsating with increasing fervor. Bruce stepped back, and watched on as a humanoid figure fell out of it. The sphere then blinked out, leaving only the fluorescent lights to give depth in the room.
Upon closer inspection, the figure looked to be that of a teenager to young adult. He had his hair up in a ponytail and was wearing a sleeveless blue tunic. Bruce loomed over him awkwardly as the boy regained consciousness and lifted himself up. The boy looked around, shivering.
“Dang, has the architect never seen sunlight before?” the boy said to himself as he scanned the area. He froze once he noticed the tall and dark figure standing in front of him. “...Evidently, yes.”
“Who are you? What was that portal?” Batman rasped.
“Wow, way to welcome guests,” came the reply. “Haven’t even asked if I’m okay.”
“I already saw you were in a stable condition,” Batman fired back, choosing to omit the fact that his detective vision contacts had scanned and found no major injuries on the boy. Still, he supposed the kid was right when it came to first impressions. “...Are you alright?”
“Yeah man, I’m fine, no problem. Name’s Sokka,” Sokka said as he brushed his shoulders. “What’s your name?”
“Batman.”
“Oh ok, so we’re using our made up names. In that case, my name is Wang F-” he paused upon seeing Batman’s eyebrow. “Alright, uncalled for. I get that.” His eyes strayed over the desk, and focused on a journal that looked written in. “Wait, is that a diary?”
“It’s a journal. I use it to record my progress.” Batman muttered.
“I dunno, looks like a diary to me…” Sokka intoned. “Reminds me of Zuko’s.”
“It’s not a-”
Just then, the computer gave an alert. The masked man whipped his head toward it and read the report.
“Robbery, suspects headed to Gotham Harbor…” Sokka heard him mutter. Sokka himself was studying the strange screen. What on earth was it? He didn’t have time to think about it, as Batman strode past him to a structure and climbed in it. “Hey, what are you-”
Sokka was cut off by the roar of an engine starting up, and he gaped as it emitted a blue flame from the back. “Tui and La, what the f-?” Batman poked his head out of the vehicle.
“Stay there. Look at the screen and monitor. Don’t do anything dumb.” And he roared out of the cave before Sokka could make a witty retort, as he was known to do. Sokka instead walked to the desk and surveyed his surroundings. There was a rectangle that had moving images, probably the screen if he assumed correctly. There was also a display of a, uh, map! Ok, he could work with that. He heard a crackle before Batman’s voice came on.
“Sokka, I’m going to need you to keep tabs on the map. There should be a red dot blinking and moving. Those are the culprits.” Sure enough, he was able to see the indicator. He then thought about why the man would trust him to do so. “In case you were wondering, I don’t entirely trust a stranger to lead me to the robbers, so there will be someone monitoring you.”
“A smart strategy, sir,” a heavily accented voice called out. Sokka turned and screamed in shock as an old man limped in with a cane and a smart vest-slack combo. “Agent A. It’s a pleasure.” He held his hand out.
“Sokka,” Sokka replied, taking the elder’s hand and shaking it somewhat weakly. They turned back to the screen, watching as the dots moved around. “I’m assuming the white dot is Batman?”
“No, that’s Lieutenant Gordon’s cruiser. This is Batman’s indicator,” Alfred pointed to another spot on the screen. Sokka raised an eyebrow in amusement at the bat-shaped emblem that he also saw on Batman’s chest.
“Agent A, we discussed this. That was the most effective choice, you don’t need to point it out to him.” Batman muttered over the communication device. The old man smirked good-naturedly.
“Of course, sir. It is rather effective. Although from your defensiveness, it seems like you think it could be misconstrued as a source of amusement for us,” Agent A joked. They both heard nothing from Batman’s end, but the silence said enough.
“Could we please get back to the chase?” Batman gritted out.
“Got it, Bats,” Sokka affirmed, shifting into battle mode. “Alright, take a left turn at Hampshire Boo-lee-vaird?”
“Boulevard,” His companion corrected.
“Right.”
After a series of directions from the pair in the cave, Batman had arrived at the harbor, just in time to catch the robbers off guard. Sokka and Alfred watched on as Batman proceeded to absolutely pummel the criminals. Then, Sokka spotted one of the thugs running away.
“Hey, uh, Batman-”
“On it,” the man grunted, as he extended his arm to reveal his grappling gun. He fired it at the runner’s left leg, but it was just out of reach. Sokka quickly looked around the screen, hoping for anything to stop the thug.
“Can you cut the rope on the crate up there below the hangar-thing on the hook?” Sokka asked.
“The crane?”
“Yeah, sure!”
He heard a grunt and some shuffling, and then heard a distinct metal sound. As Soka watched, Batman threw the emblem on his chest towards the rope, cutting through in a clean slice. Sure enough, gravity brought the crate right in front of the thug’s path, slowing him as he banged into it. That gave Batman enough time to catch up and restrain him, before dumping him with his co-conspirators.
“Agent A, ping the location to Gordon, please.”
“On it, sir,” said the Agent as he clicked on a board below the screen. “They have been notified. Head on back.” As Batman revved up the vehicle and stopped talking (Sokka figured as much since there was no sound coming from the monitor or whatever it was called), the old man turned to him.
“You’re not from this time, are you?” he asked.
“What gave it away?” Sokka replied. “My reaction to whatever Batman was using to get around, my lack of awareness, my-”
“Your fashion sense, lad.”
“Oh.”
“Of course, I know of people who wear similar garments, but they are usually very far away from the likes of Gotham or Metropolis. You don’t seem to fit the bill, though.”
“Yeah, you’re correct on that much,” Sokka conceded. “I come from around 100 AG.” The older man started.
“I beg your pardon?”
“100 AG. After Genocide.”
“Of whom?”
“The Air Nomads.”
“... I see.”
“You don’t know who they were, do you?”
“I’m afraid not, young man.”
“Ok, well-”
A Few Minutes Pass…
Batman drove into the cave to find Sokka explaining something to Alfred, who was responding with variations of “hmm” and “ah.” They turned to see him as he climbed out of the car.
“Sir, I do believe this young teen is of no harm to us,” Alfred stated, ignoring Sokka’s cry of “I’m 17!” in the background.
“How so?”
“His timeline does not match ours. According to him, there was a mass genocide of a race of people who could control air, at the hands of a Fire Lord.”
“...What?”
And so, after Sokka explained, Bruce looked at him in confusion.
“You’re telling me that a group of teens consisting of two siblings, a rich kid-turned wrestler, a warrior, the son of the Fire Lord, and a literal god with the body of a child, were able to take down a global superpower in one day?” he asked Sokka.
“Yes. And now the son of the Fire Lord - Zuko - is ruling the Fire Nation, and the Nations are going over peace negotiations,” Sokka finished.
“Hmm. Alternate universe, then.”
“I’m surprised you’re not freaking out over this,” Sokka commented.
“Nothing worse than a flying man who can lift an aircraft like it’s paper,” the vigilante surmised. “Besides, your timeline and technology doesn’t match up at all with ours.”
“Sir, you can take the mask off, he won’t be able to recognize you in his world anyway,” Alfred chided him. Bruce decided, just this once, that he would listen. It was getting pretty stuffy. Sokka’s jaw dropped.
“Spirits, you do look like Zuko. The haunted gaze, slouch, raspy voice, all of it. The only thing missing is the burn scar,” Sokka gasped. “Wait, is that eyeliner!?” He held his hands out when Bruce glared at him. “Hold on, I didn’t mean that in a bad way, I just know about applying eyeliner. I’ve done it before to try and fail to impress my girlfriend.” Bruce grunted in acknowledgement as he took out the knife emblem and placed it on the table. Sokka glanced at it.
“Did you have to go get that when you threw it at the rope?”
“Yes.”
“Couldn’t you have just had it come back?” Sokka prodded.
“It’s not designed that way,” Bruce explained.
“Then, you can’t do this?” With that, Sokka whipped out his trusty boomerang that he was able to recover after the battle, and threw it. The boomerang spun around in a wide arc until it landed right back in Sokka’s hand. “It always comes back.” There was an awkward pause after that, and Sokka was starting to regret the suggestion, until he heard Bruce whispering.
“...Why didn’t I think of that?” Bruce asked Alfred, who could only shake his head and mutter something about stubbornness. Ignoring this, he glanced at Sokka and asked “Could I see that for a second?” Sokka shrugged and handed it over. Bruce put it down next to the knife and studied the two, taking notes and sketches. “I can work with this.” With that, he looked back. “Could I ask for your help in designing some small versions of these?”
“Um, yeah, sure!” Sokka went to roll up his sleeves before realizing his grave mistake. Bruce noticed and nodded.
“I’ve done that far too many times to admit,” he confessed. Sokka chuckled, and got back to work.
After a week, in which Sokka was given a temporary bed in the penthouse and was introduced to the brightening hellhole that was Gotham City, the bat-shaped projectiles were fully designed, and the two were now testing out some prototypes in a makeshift firing range in the cave.
“Ok, so hold them like this,” Sokka instructed, miming a throwing grip. Batman complied. “Now throw!” He did so, and saw as the three shurikens whizzed through the air. After a few seconds, they all embedded themselves into the dummy. One of them landed on the arm, the other on the leg, and the last one on the shoulder. Sokka nodded and took a standalone shuriken. He aimed in the air towards a random light and flicked it. It traveled in a graceful arc before heading back. It missed Sokka by an inch, but the older man was able to catch it between his fingers.
“Might need a bit of reworking,” Sokka noted. Batman smirked.
“They should suffice, though. Saves me a few grappling hooks and distance from criminals,” he turned to the teenager. “Thank you for helping me with this.”
“Oh, it’s no problem,” Sokka brushed it off, “I’ve always wanted to mess with engineering and inventing, so this was a cool way to do it.”
“Hold out your hand.”
“What?” Sokka did so anyway, and Batman placed the bat shuriken into the outstretched hand.
“You more than deserve it, seeing as how you came up with the design.”
“Thanks, Batman.”
Just then, a blue light appeared on Sokka, with a loud whining sound. Both men recoiled from the light, and Sokka could barely make out his companion putting on dark glasses as he stepped back from Sokka.
“I guess this is goodbye, then!” Batman yelled over the noise.
“I guess so,” Sokka shouted back, before checking for his belongings. “Ok, hair ties, wrist guards-Boomerang!” His boomerang was missing. He looked over to the desk, where it lay untouched. He motioned towards it, but couldn’t move, in risk of disrupting the portal. Batman saw and quickly marched towards it. He grabbed it and tossed it towards Sokka, who barely caught it. Sokka nodded, but heard something from Batman. “What?” he shouted.
“Bruce!” Batman answered, “My name is Bruce!” Sokka smiled.
“It was nice meeting you, Bruce! Good luck on your crusade on crime!” Sokka bid his farewell.
“Good luck on your peace negotiations!” Bruce yelled back. The blue light flared, and then blinked out, leaving Bruce alone in the cave. He stood there for a moment, staring at the bat-shurikens. A ding from the elevator alerted him to Alfred’s presence.
“I presume that our young companion has gone back to his world?” Alfred asked as he walked over. Bruce nodded. “Well then, that should clear you up for breakfast.” He handed a bowl to Bruce. “Blueberries?”
“Alfred, that was one time,” Bruce smiled softly as he popped one in his mouth.
“Now that, Bruce, is a bold-faced lie.” And they walked together to the elevator for breakfast.
Elsewhere…
Fire Lord Zuko was in his office with Kyoshi Warrior Suki, going over the summary of the recent meeting with his advisors. While they were making progress with the Northern Water Tribe, they were a bit more worried about Sokka’s disappearance a week ago. They received the report from a very distraught Aang, and Katara was equally as inconsolable. After Aang had calmed down and explained the phenomenon, they chalked it up to Spirit Work. That didn’t stop them from worrying about their boyfriend, though.
The duo were lost in their thoughts when they were blinded by a blue light. Zuko moved to cover Suki in case it was a threat, but Suki pushed him behind her.
“In case you didn’t remember,” she said to him, “I’m supposed to be the Fire Lord’s guard. That means I guard you!” Zuko made an apologetic face in apology.
“Force of habit?” He weakly responded. He lowered his stance when Suki increased the power of her incredulous glare. They turned back to the glowing sphere, readying their respective weapons. The sphere in question pulsated and then went out. They blinked in shock, and Sokka appeared in its place.
“SUKI!!! ZUKO!!!” Sokka cried out in jubilation.
“SOKKA!?” Suki and Zuko yelled.
“Where in Agni have you been? It’s been a week!” Zuko questioned.
“Oh, you wouldn't believe it, Zuko,” Sokka grinned as he pulled out the bat-shuriken. His friends looked at the object curiously as he went on. “Allow me to explain how I helped make this…this…?” He floundered for a bit. As Sokka rotated and studied the weapon in his hand, he wracked his brain for a name, until he reached an epiphany.
“Wait…boomerang…bat…that’s it!” Zuko and Suki traded a concerned look.
“Sokka…? What are you talking about?” Suki asked.
“It’s a BATARANG!!!!!” Sokka exclaimed. He was then promptly interrupted by Suki and Zuko hugging him.
“We love you Sokka, and we’ll listen to your explanation once the rest of the Gaang arrive,” Suki started.
“But please don’t ever do that to us again. I don’t think we could take it,” Zuko continued. Sokka stood, a bit shocked, before returning the hug.
“ Alright, I’ll do my best not to be whisked away by a spirit portal or anything like that next time,” Sokka placated.
“Asshole.”
“Jerkbender.”
“Boys.”
The trio stayed in the hug for a minute when they heard the familiar sound of a bison outside. They separated, and Zuko put his hand on Sokka’s left shoulder while Suki took his right arm.
“Looks like Aang, Katara, and Toph are here early for our meeting,” Zuko proclaimed. “Won’t your arrival be a surprise.”
“And I’m willing to bet the Fire Nation Treasury (‘Please don’t,’ Zuko called out) that Katara and Toph want to kill you for ghosting us,” Suki finished.
“Wait, that wasn’t my fault, y’know,” Sokka protested, as he was dragged outside. He blanched once he saw his sister, who turned and widened her eyes at the sight of him.
“H-hey, Katara, dear sister of mine-” and he screamed as Katara stomped towards him with a gleam in her eyes. Then she hugged him, and everyone else took that as a sign to join in. Sokka wheezed at the new weight.
“This is your punishment for going off the radar for a week, Sokka,” Katara said.
“Yeah, I deserve it,” Sokka managed to say before Appa also joined in, sending all of them to the ground.
“Appa missed you a lot, Sokka,” Aang piped up.
“I kinda figured, Aang.”
End.