Superheroes
Asami Sato was having a bad day. A really bad day. First her girlfriend had bailed on her for lunch and now she was about to get her skull caved in by some bastard in one of her own stolen mechasuits. The two incidents were thankfully not connected. That would probably have upgraded it to a shitty day. Still. Probably time to do something about saving her cranium from the solid metal fist about to turn it into pulp. The arm that was pinning her to the wall might as well have been a truck parked against her, pressing so hard the bricks behind her were creaking. The bricks...Asami raised her hands and fired her jets, blasting herself backwards through the mercifully thin wall and into some unfortunate family’s living room in a cascade of shattering brick. She regained her footing in time to see the mecha get hit by a fireball. Ah. So she’d turned up at last.
There was no official agreement between the Avatar and her. They’d never agreed to team up and at first Asami had been highly unimpressed by the hothead who’d dropped into her rather delicate hostage situation wearing a set of very old Water Tribe armour that would be about as effective as marshmallow when it came to protecting her from a mecha suit. Or even the gun that had been the threat. Then Avatar had ended the situation by encasing the hostage taker’s entire upper body in ice, trigger finger first. If he hadn’t cracked his head when he’d fallen over it would have been completely bloodless. These days Asami was happy to have the backup, although punctuality was not one of the Avatar’s many powers.
Asami climbed out of the wrecked house. The Avatar dropped down at her side.
“Alright, Red?” She grinned, her eyes alight with unearthly power, face concealed in the shadow of the helmet and by thick war paint.
“Fantastic.” Asami replied, the helmet automatically scrambling her voice beyond recognition. She raised one fist, sending a bolt of electricity arcing into one of the mechas. “Yourself?”
“Never better,” she grinned, sending one mecha tumbling with a blast like a hurricane. Asami smiled back, not that the Avatar could see. Between the full face helmet and the full body powered suit Asami wore she wasn’t sure if the Avatar even knew she was female. Anonymity was a superhero’s best friend. Well, that and a suit that was thirty years beyond what anyone else could build.
Three goons piloting mecha were hardly a match for two superheroes. Asami managed to cripple one of them, cutting the hydraulics in its legs, rending it immobile. One down. I might even manage to catch a late lunch with Korra...She heard the shout. She turned too late. The great metal fist was scything towards her head. Asami braced for an impact that never came; the Avatar slammed into her, knocking her clear. That’s the second time today. I’m getting sloppy Asami chided herself, getting back to her feet. The Avatar did not. The world stopped. Even the two mecha were frozen, as if they could not believe their eyes. Asami’s scanners were picking up signs of life; breathing, heartbeat. It had to be enough for now. She clenched her fists, sparks crackling around her knuckles. Time to end this.
When Asami was done the mecha were scrap metal and their pilots lying groaning in the wreckage. Normally she’d hang around to ensure the police picked them up but not today. She scooped up the Avatar, grateful for the mechanical assistance. The woman wasn’t exactly light. Her helmet was split at the temple, blood oozing through the crack. Asami fired her jets.
Asami laid the Avatar down on the little bed in her HQ. Now she had time to fully utilise the sensors she’d built into her helmet. Her skull was still intact, thank the spirits, but she was still unconscious. Asami bit her lip. She knew when she was in over her head and potentially serious brain injuries definitely counted.
“Call Korra,” she said aloud, knowing the voice activated software would do exactly that. It was a hell of a gamble, and she didn’t want to bring her girlfriend into this, but what choice did she have? Korra didn’t pick up.
Asami bit her lip, looking down at the woman. She reached out for the helmet but stopped herself. It would be a gross violation of the superhero bro code. She couldn’t. Asami pulled up a chair to the bedside and sat a little awkwardly. It hadn’t exactly been designed for someone wearing a thick metal suit. She needed to do something, anything, just to keep her mind off the fact that the Avatar had been hurt because of her own carelessness. She was debating calling Korra again when the Avatar groaned, almost immediately trying to sit up.
“Hey there,” Asami tried to gently push her back onto the bed, forgetting that she was still fully suited up. The suit didn’t really do ‘gentle’. “Oops. Sorry. Are you ok?”
“Never better,” the Avatar repeated, sounding a little dazed. “You get them?”
“Yeah. And just...lie still, ok? I’ve got a doctor coming.”
“Don’t need one,” the Avatar said, pushing Asami’s arm off her and sitting up a little unsteadily. “Just need some water.”
She went to remove her helmet and Asami hurriedly turned away. The Avatar snorted in apparent amusement.
“Superhero bro code? I appreciate it.”
Asami returned with a bowl of water and sat looking away from the bed. She saw the glow out of the corner of her eye as the Avatar healed herself.
“Why did you get in the way?” Asami asked, after a while. “I’m pretty sure my armour is better than yours. I could have taken that hit without splitting my skull open.”
“Must just be a saving people thing,” The Avatar said casually. “Hey, you might want to cancel that doc. Don’t want you to have to give away your secret lair or anything for me.”
Asami nodded then caught herself.
“How do you know I’m giving anything away? Maybe this doctor’s been in on it from the start. Maybe they already know exactly where my lair is and who I am under all this.”
The Avatar chuckled.
“I have my ways. Say, am I going to have to fly out of here blindfolded? Only I really don’t need another head wound.”
Asami hadn’t got as far as that. She just shrugged.
Asami stepped away to make the call. She removed her helmet, grateful to feel fresh air again, and one gauntlet so that she could work her phone without crushing it. This time Korra answered.
“Hey, sorry, been crazy busy. You ok? I saw a voicemail, hadn’t had time to check it yet.”
“I’m fine,” Asami leaned against the wall. “Everything’s fine, babe. Just...can you delete that? I had a moment of weakness and I just...please just wipe it, save my embarrassment.”
“Yeah, sure. Look, are you free? Like, nowish? Because I think we need to talk.”
Asami’s heart fell. Nothing good ever followed ‘we need to talk’.
“What about?” She asked, trying to keep her voice casual.
“Oh, just stuff. Your eyesight, for one.”
Asami frowned. Her eyesight?
“Yeah.” The voice came from behind her. Asami spun on her heel to see the Avatar stood there, face washed clean of paint, holding her phone to her ear. “I mean, come on! You really couldn’t recognise me?”
Asami just gaped.
“You...you knew?” She managed. Korra laughed.
“After about two minutes. There aren’t exactly many people with the funds or the brains to build a suit like that, you know?”
“...oh.”
Asami felt oddly disappointed with herself.
“And Asami, I’m not trying to be mean here or anything but, well,” Korra tapped the insignia on her chest. “You didn’t think it was a little weird that I have this exact image tattooed on my bicep?”
Asami really didn’t have an answer to that.