Aden Strong: Avatar In DC

A million more chap...sorry, over 30 advance chapters in my pat.reon.

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(Aden's P.O.V)

"I still don't get why we had to leave the Watchtower for this."

Red Tornado ignored my complaints and floated towards the training room. So far we had passed by the kitchen, meeting hall, the showers and personal rooms. 

"The watchtower is for league members and associates only. Your previous stay was due to the unique circumstances."

He finally decided to answer.

I rolled my eyes.

" So after you guys finished interrogating me you decided to kick me out of the underoos club? I feel used."

"Negative. The Batman suggested, bringing you down to earth would help you get used to a new planet by spending time with other people. Preferably, your age-mates."

He probably meant the side-kicks. Problem was I hadn't even met one except for Robin and that didn't count because I was screaming my ass off during our first meeting. Oh and I was also responsible for his injuries so...

That aside. The interrogation had been… surprisingly tame compared to what I had been expecting of Batman. They already knew or guessed I was from another world, so I just rolled with the information they already had and told them about the league from my version of the earth being relatively newer as compared to here.

They had me write down some of the things I could remember about their alternate selves and I wrote general stuff that a normal civilian would know. There was the threat of being found out about the information I had by the Martian Manhunter, so I had projected my reasons for lying to him.

" Hello, J'onn," I'd begun. By the subtle widening of his eyes while standing behind Batman, I knew he'd heard me. Meanwhile, my hand hadn't stalled for a single second during that time. Writing down some of the villains I knew they had faced already.

" I don't know if you've read my mind or not but this world is based on a comic book in my world, so I guess you understand why I couldn't share that information with the whole collective. I know it's your duty as a Justice League member to inform the others but I fear that such a delicate…issue would be better handled with discretion." I could feel his shock ripple through the link he had made with my mind.

"I urge you to only share this with Batman. I'll answer any questions you have after you've taken my opinion into account and come to a logical conclusion."

Luckily, J'onn had acted like nothing had happened and after a while I was done.

There were inconsistencies that Batman picked up on and combined with what I had told J'onn, I could expect to see the Dark Knight soon. 

The truth is, I was doing this for my own safety as well. I would rather Batman, Mr. suspicion incarnate know this early on rather than finding out about it due to his detective skills. Giving him the chance to decide whether to tell the rest of the League would keep the responsibility off my shoulders and I could focus fully on training my powers.

The easy part was that I could guess what he would decide. Probably something along the lines of asking me to tell him everything and then file it away and start countermeasures on any future threats. That would guarantee me a level of trust from him as well as a healthy suspicion on my true intentions. A good balance. He would keep me close and offer the best training for me that the league could offer because of the value of what I knew and the power I possessed. 

I hated using what I knew of his personality to plan around him and the others but, I couldn't afford to half-ass this. Infact, building my own mental shields was PARAMOUNT. Apart from J'onn J'onzz, his niece Miss Martian and Psimon could read my mind. 

I could take advantage of my adaptive physiology, and have Miss Martian regularly intrude into my mind. Adapting to those intrusions, I can then build my mental shields up stronger. It would take a lot of time but with patience, my mind would become an impenetrable fortress.

We reached the training room…and passed it.

"Wait, I thought we were going to test out my powers?"

I asked, confused.

"We are."

The android said in that same blank tone I had already gotten used to. I looked back at the door we were leaving behind.

"We were never meant to do it in the training room were we?"

I swear I caught a hint of amusement from Tornado as he replied,

"No. That was just your assumption."

"So…where are we going exactly?"

"The beach. The open area will be suitable and prevent damage to any equipment incase things get out of hand."

Annoyance showed itself on my face.

"Is that what the League thinks is gonna happen? That I'm going to go all Rage god again?"

He didn't answer and floated silently as before, leaving me to my thoughts.

It was when we appeared behind the mountain complex that I came to the obvious conclusion, I had missed entirely. I snapped my fingers in realization.

"You were giving me a tour of the place! That's why we didn't come here directly."

Red Tornado didn't have any expression on his face but the smug was rolling off him in waves.

"You finally caught on. Good. You'll be responsible for giving the tour to your peers once they arrive. This is meant to be your base of operation."

I nodded. Batman had also informed me of the team being put together. 

They were supposed to be brought here in a week. Robin will probably have already healed by then. The League's medical expertise was pretty good. Break a bone? Green Lantern lines up the broken bone in surgical precision. Wayne industries and Lexcorp had also made huge strides in the medical practice that my normal earth wouldn't see for the next 20 years.

Red Tornado floated to a small distance away from me and stopped. A gentle wave lapped onto the shore as a slow breeze blew through my clothes. I was dressed in a red t-shirt and black shorts. Knowing what the business was for today, my shoes and socks were put away and I settled into an Airbender stance similar to Ba Gua Zhang. 

The style emphasized the concept of 'Flow'. Maneuvering around objects to avoid direct confrontation while still controlling the motion of the fight. Being free like the air. All this was supplied by my innate air-bending powers. I didn't have a teacher to teach me the forms but that was the good thing about air bending…it was freeing.

"Let's begin with a demonstration of what you can do."

I nodded at Red Tornado and breathed in and out. I sank into the breeze blowing slightly and tried to beckon it. The breeze escaped my grasp and I reduced my aggressiveness. It wasn't about control…it was about… manipulation.

My left leg stepped back in a circular motion, followed closely by my left hand. The sand on the beach picked up as a breeze followed behind my actions. The air ruffled my T-shirt as I completed my twirl in a complete 360 degrees. My right hand picked up the breeze and the palm exploded out in a swift action. 

The breeze turned to a torrential wave of wind that sent sand and dust flying away Infront of me. 

"Wow."

I muttered in fascination as the aggression in the wind petered out to nothing. Leaving behind the soft breeze from before.

" You seem to have basic understanding of wind manipulation. You can't force it to do your bidding. It's very nature opposes that. Now let's try a spar."

Red Tornado was an android of few words so I nodded and breathed in, watching him intently. I wasn't sure but I think that he was an air elemental? There was no way I could beat him in that. But I didn't need to beat him. I just needed to learn and get better. 

I waved my hand a blast of air fanned out towards him. The wind was nullified into nothing before it could even get close. The dust and sand picked up by the attack provided enough cover for me to sprint towards him. I got within range and jumped, I manipulated the air to give me a push and I found myself 5 meters above him.

My leg lashed out in an air slash but he calmly floated away from the attack. My arm then shot off to the side and pushed my body away on the air,  bringing me closer to Tornado. Tornado's hand came up and a swirling mass of red wind hit my body, throwing me back.

"Oof!"

I used the air to slow my descent but I still landed on the beach painfully. 

"Do you know what you did wrong?"

He asked, floating calmly towards me. I was busy trying to breathe though, so he decided to answer.

"You left yourself open before a superior opponent. Fighting in the air is a different skill from doing it on land. It's an environment suited for those with free range of movement. Something you currently lack. To put it in human terms, You're not quite there yet, Champ."

It's official, Red Tornado can joke. I turned myself over and rose up to my knees while feeling dizzy. He was right. That move had been fancy but completely unnecessary. I looked back at him, my determination as strong as ever.

"Again."