Forged in Fire: Blue Spirit (Young Justice/AtLA Crossover)

Blue Spirit

"Who is he?"

Katara first saw the Blue Spirit before she joined the team, a stark contrast to her Painted Lady persona. The story of the Painted Lady originated from Hinokoku—Fire Nation—lore while the story of the Blue Spirt originated from Mizuzoku—Water Tribe-lore.

Katara remembered that night quite well.

Back then, she moved through the shadows, appearing in front of one or two Hinokoku soldiers lifting her finger to point a finger at them without uttering a word. With the movement of her hand, she brought waves of water from the nearby port, washing the soldiers into the bay, but the soldiers spread the word quickly of the Painted Lady appearing because the Hinokoku acted dishonorably.

Ghosts stirred up unwanted attention.

One night, when Katara appeared in front of the Hinokoku soldiers, another appeared. Zhao, a Hinokoku general unleashed a wave of fire. The fire evaporated Katara's water which in turn alerted the soldiers to the fact she was no ghost from Hinokoku lore. She might have met her end that night, if not for the appearance of the Blue Spirit, a hero from Mizuzoku lore, but she didn't imagine she'd see him again.

Yet, Katara indeed met him again on her first mission with the team.

The day of her first mission, Katara walked out of the Zeta-Tube, hearing the computer announce her arrival. "B06 – Painted Lady."

She'd left behind the elaborate costume based on lore for an outfit that allowed her ease of movement, but from behind her mask, Katara looked around the inside of the cave, vast as it was, her jaw-dropping. Closing her mouth, Katara's eyes blinked nervously as she continued to take in every nook and cranny.

"Welcome to the Team, PL," a cheerful person standing beside her said. Katara turned her head so she might see the person.

"Robin."

"The rest of the team is being briefed for a mission, so let me introduce you." Robin turned. He waved his hand in the air, indicating she should follow. Katara followed him and looked around the lair of the team on her way to the briefing room.

Upon arriving, she found herself greeted most enthusiastically; the team Speedster shook her hand vigorously, but soon after Batman gave the details of their first mission. The mission details were simple, yet the details proved otherwise soon after they arrived at their destination.

Katara crawled her way through an air duct behind Robin, muttering under her breath. "How can a speedster manage to trip an alarm ?"

"Yes, well..." Robin glanced back at her, cheekily smiling at her. "KF is KF."

"Kid Flash you mean."

"We'll be fine," said the youngest member of the team before continuing to crawl through the air duct on their way to make the meet-up point.

What happened moments before happened quickly. Specifically, Kid Flash tripped the alarm and the members of the team quickly dashed into hiding. Robin moved over to the air duct and unscrewed the vent. He crawled in before turning around. He pulled Katara up behind him, quickly twisting around in the small space before crawling forward. Every so often he glanced at his wrist computer, looking at a map of the place before they continued on their way.

"Here. Here's a good place to drop back in," Robin laughed.

Kara's eyes blinked noting the weirdness.

The vent clanged against the wall and Robin slipped out of the air ducts. Katara didn't see him but crawled forward until she nearly fell out of the air duct herself. She landed on her bottom, twisting her wrist slightly. Katara hissed. "Ouch."

Robin lifted a finger to his mouth and motioned for her to follow. For a moment, Katara suspected Robin was the Blue Spirit, with how silently they both moved, but then she saw him—the Blue Spirit. Robin grinned. "Oh! Hello!"

"Wait. You know each other?" Katara asked. She glanced at Robin, then the Blue Spirit.

The Blue Spirit stood there, leaning against the wall. He looked right at Robin. Robin walked over as if greeting a friend. "Caught you off guard again?"

The Blue Spirit said nothing, silent as ever.

"Didn't mean for your mission to go awry as well, but care to join us in escaping?"

The Blue Spirit nodded his head but then motioned two fingers down the hallway.

Robin turned his head, examining the hall carefully. "I was thinking the same thing." He turned his head towards Katara while the Blue Spirit started down the hall. "This way PL."

The Blue Spirit stopped, then turned his head, looking at Robin.

"You Know. BS and PL?"

The Blue Spirit shook his head and continued towards the door at the other end of the hall. Katara took a deep breath. "BS? Really?"

"What?"

"Did you stop and think about what else that's short for?"

Katara watched Robin's mouth open slightly. "Oh." The Blue Spirit motioned for her and Robin to stop but placed a finger against his lips indicating silence. Robin tilted his head. "How many do you think?"

At first, the Blue Spirit didn't answer. He then held his hand out palm side down.

"Can't tell?" Robin sighed. "Well, we've got to go through there to exist, don't we."

The Blue Spirit nodded his head. He pushed the door open rather loudly. Katara gasped, watching Robin and the Blue Spirit disappear into the room.

She hurried in, her fingers lifted so she might move the water in her pouch. Instead, she paused briefly upon seeing both the Blue Spirit and Robin moving with acrobatic ease. One of the Hinokoku soldiers brought his hands up and formed flames in the palms of his hands. The Blue Spirit dived behind a stack of boxes, pushing against the stack from the wall, toppeling it over while Robin somersaulted and dodged another soldier's flames.

Katara shook her head. Quickly, she moved water out of her pouch, carefully putting out the flames the soldiers created. Sweat poured down her face as the heat in the room increased and the water in her pouch decreased. Something yellow streaked into the room. It ran around a small group of soldiers and knocked them off their feet before the other members of the team appeared.

Aqualad used his water to make his way over to a button that opened a hanger door. Katara looked around for the Blue Spirit. At first, she didn't see him, but then saw his shadowy figure disappear through the door and he headed in a different direction as the team did. She hurried along with the team to their plane, but glanced back as she did. She didn't see the Blue Spirit. "Who is he?"

"Don't know," Kid Flash said. The speedster looked over at Robin. "He might though. His mentor is after all the world's greatest detective."

"I might."

"Well, I doubt he's Hinokoku," Katara muttered. She sat down in one of the seats as the plane roared to life. She looked out the window rather than upfront at Robin, who piloted the plane. "He can't be Hinokoku. I mean, who from there would be interested in a Mizuzoku hero?"