Another collab with Redbat132, who owns Lea, Tina, Macy, Amy, and Dana. :)
Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Green Lantern Animated belong to DC Comics. I only own Rachel, Taurus, and Sasha.
A Hopeful Fright to Remember
It was a breezy Autumn in Coast City. In a house around the suburb neighborhood, a blonde teen named Lea was in the living room finishing another drawing while listening to music with her headset…unaware of someone coming in and watching from behind.
Lea was excited about Halloween to the point where she wanted to do some vampire-themed fan art before going.
"And…done! My Halloween-themed drawing is finished!" Lea said happily, looking at her masterpiece of what looked like Razer in a futuristic vampire-like suit. "Now, to get dressed. I can't wait to show Hal my costume."
Just as she was about to get her costume while getting up from the couch, Lea felt someone poke her sides playfully and she jumped with a startled squeak, turning to find Hal behind her and he was smiling.
"Hal!" Lea exclaimed, happily.
"Hey, Lea. Looks like someone's excited for Halloween, huh?" He spoke.
"How can I not be, Hal? This is our first Halloween together as honorary Lanterns!" Lea squealed, hugging the test pilot.
He chuckled and hugged her back. "True, but I'm not dressing up in some silly bunny costume. I do have a reputation after all," he said.
"I'm okay with that," Lea said, finishing the hug to really get her costume. "I prefer you going as whatever you like plus feel comfortable as much as me."
"Thanks for understanding, kid," he said, putting some thought into what he should be tonight. "Hmm, I think I might go as a zombie. What do you think?"
"I like the idea! How about a zombie who is also...a baseball player?" Lea questioned, bringing out a baseball bat and cap while still putting her costume on.
"Now, you're talking," Hal said, ruffling the girl's hair playfully.
Giggling, Lea went back to completely changing into her costume. "Let's hope the costume my cousin made for me looks good."
She eventually came out with a dark blue-ribbon bow on her head that resemble rabbit ears, an Alice-like dress accustomed to snowflakes, short fingerless gloves that matched her leggings, and old-fashioned black and white shoes. She even still kept the Lantern ring on her finger.
"So...what do you think?" Lea asked shyly, rubbing her left arm.
Hal smiled. "You look cute, kiddo," he said. "Are you supposed to be Alice from Alice in Wonderland?"
"Yes. Somehow, I can relate to her curiosity in coming across other worlds and new faces beyond the ordinary," Lea explained, her cheeks blushing a little. "My cousin helped create it. Along with adding a few minor details that describe me. Like my love of Winter, for example. Or rabbits."
Hal smiled. "Hey, don't be embarrassed, kiddo," he said, hugging her. "Your costume reflects you in a way and that's what you should aim for, right?"
"Right. Thanks, Hal," Lea said, hugging back in comfort before letting go. "Now, hurry up with your costume so we can check out the scariest place in Coast City before getting some sweet treats already! I am more than ready for it!"
He chuckled and went into the changing room to get ready while Lea waited patiently. Soon Hal came out in his zombie baseball player costume. "How do I look, kiddo?" He asked. His costume was an old shirt and jeans that looked a bit muddy while he had on zombie face paint and his hair was messy.
"Oooooo! Like a real-life zombie baseball player!" Lea exclaimed with a squeal. "You look so spooky cool! We are so ready for this!"
He chuckled. "Okay, so where is the scariest place is Coast City?" He asked.
"It's the old Dark Fortress rumored to be haunted and cursed by a wicked sorceress," Lea said, leading the way. "People go in...few have come out. And this year, I am more than ready to go through the whole house without feeling afraid. Are you?"
Hal cocked an eyebrow at her. "That's not scary for you?" He asked.
"Come on, Hal. After what I went through on space and dealing with Sinestro, I can handle some fake ghost props being set up there," Lea assured. "It still would have been nice to come across an alien vampire around my first mission, but I don't mind waiting."
Hal chuckled. "All right, let's get going, but make sure to keep in sight, Lea. There can be a lot of dangerous people on Halloween and I don't mean monsters," he said cautiously.
"You got it, Hal," Lea said, already walking to the street leading to Dark Fortress.
Soon, they arrived at the so-called haunted place.
"Looks pretty spooky," Hal said. "You sure you're up for this, kid?"
"I am," Lea answered, not backing down while stepping forward. "I can handle Dark Fortress Manor. It will be a piece of cake."
He nodded and noticed a few more people go in before he and Lea went in. At first, it looked like just an ordinary house that was decorated up for Halloween.
That was, until the duo heard sounds of wailing and cackling.
"Pfffft, fake," Lea muttered, folding her arms while hearing screams after the horrific sounds. "I can't believe it took me this long to step here."
Hal smiled. "Well, you're wiser now," he said.
Just then, a witch animatronic popped out and he jumped, his ring glowing for a moment. "Okay, wasn't quite expecting that," he admitted.
"Don't worry, Hal. Dark Fortress is just another spooky attraction with zero real monsters and ghosts," Lea assured, going in the house with Hal following. "Lots of these things are fake."
To prove a point, Lea came across three jars labeled 'eyeballs', 'snakes', and 'intestines' where she stuck her hand in each one.
"Grapes...leather from a shoe or coat...and I'm gonna say spaghetti," Lea said, still calm.
Hal chuckled. "Clever, though I do have to give the creators of this place credit, those 'ingredients' do look realistic," he said.
"For sure. They had to make it good for the people coming over here," Lea said, still walking forward until stopping with what looked like bats flying over her head. "And these are just rubber props on strings moved by electric fears. Not the kind of vampires I was hoping to see."
Little did Lea and Hal know that something was glowing at the next entrance door up ahead. As if it just appeared out of nowhere.
"What sort of vampires were you looking forward to?" Hal asked curiously as they came upon the glowing door and he reached out to open it.
"I already told you before. It would be nice to see some sort of alien vampires who might have been close to how I pictured Razer all those years," Lea said, noticing the glow behind the door in front of here. "Huh, this looks interesting. Probably used a lot of lights for behind."
"Let's check it out," he said and pulled the door open.
When doing so, there was a large opening with the lights were so bright that it was blinding. Hal and Lea carefully covered their eyes from the brightness yet could hear faint music from the other side.
"Whoa! Now, this is an improvement!" Lea stated, getting closer yet still shading her eyes from the blinding lights. "I don't know how they're doing this, but it's remarkably realistic."
"I agree," Hal said as they continued to move through the door, not realizing that they were actually leaving the haunted house and heading directly into an unknown location.
After crossing the glowing door, Lea felt a little dizzy and she almost collapsed to the floor. The music she heard was a lot clearer and slightly louder than before.
"Uhhhhh...What sort of ride was that?" Lea questioned, almost wanting to barf...not yet realizing that Hal Jordan wasn't at her side anymore.
"It worked! I can't believe I got it right the first time!" A female voice exclaimed with excitement.
Looking up, Lea noticed a girl around her age with black hair, violet eyes, and pale.
"Um...Hello?" Lea said, a little confused yet amazed with the costume this girl had on.
"Hi! I'm Dana!" She introduced herself happily, shaking Lea's hand vigorously. "It is such an honor to finally meet THE Lea Thompson in person!"
"In person?" Lea questioned, getting her hand back and growing cautious. "How do you know my name? Do I know you from school or something?"
"Not exactly. We never formally met," Dana admitted. "But I have heard so much about you from my family where I thought of summoning you here as a surprise to be part of our fashion show.
This confused the blonde teen more. "I'm sorry, what?!"
"No time to explain. We got to get you prepped in hair, makeup, and dress right now!" Dana said, already grabbing Lea's wrist and moving in full speed.
"Whoa! Wait! Where are you taking me?!" Lea exclaimed with different questions on her mind. "What kind of horror house Manor is this? And where's Hal?!"
In a different area of where Lea was, Hal found himself in an unfamiliar hallway that didn't look nor feel like Dark Fortress Manor. "Okay, something's up," he said to himself, using his ring to track Lea when he noticed she wasn't with him. He was worried and he now felt that the glowing door hadn't been a cheap trick after all. He moved forward, unaware of some aliens waiting in every corner, watching his every move.
Meanwhile, Lea was brought to what looked like the backside of a curtain with a room not too far. This was definitely where the music was playing. Look behind the curtain, she could see a large crowd of people and what looked like different creatures from a horror film. Lea didn't have time to think if they were just people in costume or not because she got pulled back again by Dana to go inside the room.
"Your outfit is at the corner. My mom and sisters will be here soon to help with hair and makeup very soon," Dana explained. "I look forward to seeing you out there with many eyes focusing on how awesome you'll look! Hang tight! Bye~!"
After seeing the black-haired girl leave, Lea looked over to see the outfit she was assigned to wear was some kind of fancy yet spooky ghost-themed dress. She went closer to feel it and admire the details.
"Huh...This does look nice to wear," Lea admitted until she felt her heart racing in realization. "Wait...I'm going to model in a dress. In front of a large crowd? Judging me and possibly laughing at me for messing up?" She asked herself, starting to panic. "Oh, Odym, I got to get out of here! But first..."
Lea quickly got out her ring to contact Hal Jordan. "Hal? Can you read me?"
Hearing her voice, Hal answered fast. "Lea? You okay, kiddo?" He asked.
"Hal! Thank Odym!" Lea sighed in relief when seeing him in holo-projector mode. "I was afraid I wasn't going to get a signal to reach you or worse."
"Glad you got through," he said. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay...but I'm not sure for how long," Lea admitted, placing a nervous left hand on her cheek. "Some girl I just ran into claimed that she and her family know me whom I never met before until today. And they expect me to be part of some spooky fashion show party where I have to go out there will a million eyes watching my every move!"
"What?" Hal asked in surprise. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but it's true!" Lea nearly yelled, starting to freak out. "Hal, I can't be a model walking down in a large crowd! You know I have stage fright where I might blow it! I don't know what to do! I can't...I never..."
Lea started hyperventilating to the point where she needed to sit down by a mirror dresser.
"Lea, calm down," Hal instructed, seeing his kid start to panic. "I need you to relax, take a deep breath, and stay where you are until I reach you. I think we're still in the same haunted house but on different levels. I can hear the same music you're at yet coming from below. I'll be right there as soon as I find a way down from whatever floor level I'm in."
"...Okay," the blonde teen responded, lowering her heartbeat.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door that Lea heard.
"Someone's coming! I'll call you back, Hal. Hope you find me before I get on stage," Lea said quietly, before ending the call and covering her ring. "Come in!"
Two girls came in, one dressed as a skeleton and the other like a black cat. "Hey, Lea," the cat one said. "Ready?"
"Um, for what?" Lea asked.
"For the show," the skeleton one said, gently having Lea take a seat. "Now, hold still while I do your makeup and Sasha does your hair."
"Um, I'm not sure about this," the misplaced girl said.
"Don't worry," said Sasha. "With me doing your hair and Rachel doing your makeup, you're going to shine, honey. We promise."
Lea gulped, giggling as the makeup brushes tickled as Rachel worked and the young woman chuckled. "I knew you were ticklish, but I didn't know you'd be this ticklish," she said, giving Lea's stomach a playful, yet gentle poke, making the girl jump and giggle.
"Makeup and runway first, then tickles," Sasha said.
Lea just hoped Hal would find her soon.
After ending the call, Hal looked around, to notice the decor. "Hmm, not as intense as I was thinking," he said to himself.
As he continued to walk, he didn't see a purple eye watching him. Or the green eyes that tracked his every move.
"There's got to be a way to get downstairs without causing damage," Hal muttered to himself, planning to use his ring to scan the house and find an exit strategy to locate Lea.
He then turned a corner and jumped when he came face to face with a vampire, who hissed and bared its fangs. Hal stood there for a moment before scoffing lightly. "Definitely fake, but the artists did a good job making it look real," he said.
"He is real," came a disembodied voice as a ghost faded into view. "As am I."
Hal scoffed again. "Yeah, right," he said, before deciding to try and make his hand pass through the 'ghost'.
Only, his hand met something solid like flesh, but cold like frozen meat.
"Okay...This is either a really good costume or a very real monster," Hal stated, still feeling the ghost for any zipper or signs of a costume to take off.
"I'm not sure if I should feel offended or very offended," the ghost said, moving back from Hal and grabbing the center of his chest where the seam was and he split his skin open, tentacles writhing outwards as a hissing sound echoed in the hallway.
"I think this intruder needs to be schooled in manners," the vampire said, hissing now.
That definitely caught Hal by surprise to the point where he jumped back. "Whoa! Definitely too authentic to be fake. Which means...this is all real," he realized, stepping back until getting away.
Hal also thought to himself, 'Which also means Lea must be in deeper trouble as I am.'
Something long shot out and lassoed him around the waist, pulling him back. "Don't let him get away, Bullfrag!" Said a voice that made Hal turn and he saw a wolf snarling at him.
A mummy with purple eyes came out. "A trick-or-treater?" He asked.
"Nah, more like a nosy intruder," said an alien that looked like a gas suit.
Something else that was white in color wrapped around Hal. "I got him, Bullfrag," said a new voice and Hal saw a monkey with four arms, which he thought was very unusual. Along with the white stuff wrapped around him was web goo coming from that said creature. And the first lasso around his waist was a long tongue.
"This is becoming weirder by the second," Hal admitted, struggling to break free. "Yet also a little familiar."
"Familiar, you say?" The frog asked curiously before he noticed something. "Hey, wait a minute."
He took hold of Hal's arm and noticed the ring on his hand before retracting his tongue back in his mouth. "Hey, guys," he said. "Look at this."
They gathered closer to look and the vampire looked intrigued. "The Green Lanterns?" He asked. "Haven't run across one of them in a long while."
Realizing that the jig is up plus didn't have time to chat, not to mention coming to the conclusion that these weren't human people, Hal used his ring to create a charge to blast everyone back, construct some scissors to cut himself free, and start running again.
'I got to find Lea right now! There's a chance she's already gotten herself in danger already!' Hal thought, looking at his ring to create a map of how to find his missing Lantern by tracking her ring signal. 'But let's hope she's not getting tortured or threatened.'
In another part of the Mansion...
It didn't take long for Dana to come out wearing what looked like a vampire costume accustomed with white and black web prints on her headband, wings, and skirt. Even had a red mask. "How's it going?" She asked.
"And...done!" Rachel said as she and Sasha stepped back to admire their work after Lea had reluctantly gone behind the changing curtain and changed into the dress laid out for her. She had full face paint makeup, a beret, dress with see-through sleeves, black and white stripped leggings, and purple flats.
"Holy spooks! You look amazing, Lea!" Dana squealed happily. "You look just like a fashionable Ectonurite!"
"Um...thank you," Lea said, deciding to go along with it for now.
"Oh, it's almost time," Rachel said. "We better make sure all is ready."
With the others gone to get everything ready for the launch in a few moments, Lea started to feel nervous again. She just closed the door and stayed at the corner of the room petrified before bringing up her ring.
"Hey, Hal. Not to rush you or anything, but when do you think you'll show up again?" Lea questioned, calling her partner. "Because there's no way I'm going out at all! I'm freaking out!"
She got no response from Hal and decided she couldn't wait any longer. She opened the door and ran to get out, but she tripped, unable to correct herself and she fell down. "Oh, man. Are you okay?" A young man's voice asked.
Lea looked up and was surprised to see a young man dressed like a futuristic vampire, tuxedo and all. He kneeled down and held a hand out to her. "You alright?" He asked again.
"Um...yes," she said, slowly taking his hand and letting him help her up, blushing a bit and looking away shyly.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked in concern before it clicked. "Stage fright?"
She looked at him. "How did you know?" She asked.
"I've seen that look before," he admitted. "But don't worry, no one in that audience will laugh."
"Maybe not at you, but at me they will," she said. "I'll get laughed at. I'm not even good at being a model."
"Have faith in yourself," Ben assured, encouraging Lea while lending his hand to her. "Take a deep breath and walk on that aisle with passion."
Lea blinked when hearing that, her eyes staring at Ben in awe while having a small tint of blush on her cheeks. She slowly reached her right hand to grab Ben's before feeling herself walk out of the room to be closer to the runway stage. Her ring even glowed in a rhythmic beat faintly.
Ben opened the curtain, seeing the people ready for Lea "Good luck," Ben said.
Although a little nervous, Lea took a deep breath and nodded before walking through the opened curtain.
"Okay...You got this, Lea," she muttered to herself, keeping her eyes focused forward to present the dress she was wearing.
The blue chain accessories went well with the dress, making them add to the spooky theme and the eye jewel she had on was naturally attached to the dress collar, yet the illusion was that it was being held by chains. As she walked down the walkway, she got the courage to keep going, especially how they all watched her and cheered.
"She's good," someone said and Lea heard them, gaining more confidence as she made a ghostly effect that made the chains around her move on their own, giving it more flair and wowing the audience.
Hal suddenly came down during the Spooky runway with the aliens that had been after him following him. Without thinking twice, even though she was in the middle of modeling, Lea used her ring to construct objects to defend Hal and she undid the chain accessories around her, which enlarged and tied up the aliens, who looked shocked.
"Lea? Since when can you do that?" Big Chill asked.
"Wait," Ultimate Big Chill said. "There's something different about her."
Taurus came forward and he nodded. "She's not from our time era," he said.
"Time era?" Lea repeated.
"In other words, you and your friend here must have come through the portal that my sister was working on," Rachel said.
"Then...I didn't bring the right Lea?" Dana asked, looking downhearted.
"I don't understand," Lea said, confused.
"There's someone we know who looks like you that we know," Rachel said. "We were hoping to get her to participate in the contest, but she was busy with finals. We were going to help her take a break."
Dana looked saddened. "I'm sorry," she said to Lea. "I meant to bring your counterpart, but because I had never met you before now, I thought I had gotten the portal right."
"It's okay," the girl said.
Hal stood up and the aliens helped. "We don't often gets visitors like you guys," Snare-Oh said.
Sasha smiled gently. "Well, if you'd like, you and Hal can join us in the party," she said. "After that, we can see about making you guys a portal back to your timeline."
"Really?" Lea asked. "You can do that?"
Rachel smiled. "Yes, we can," she said.
Hal looked at Lea. "What do you think, kid?" He asked.
"Well...if the hosts are okay with it...I wouldn't mind staying for the party," she said.
"Then it's settled," said Snare-Oh with a nod. "Come on. Let's get the party going."
The party was awesome and Lea got to be part of the Galactic Monster Chic picture with Macy, Dana, Tina, and Amy. Tina was dressed as a Thep Khufan with her main color being pink. Dana was a Vladat ballerina with her main color being red. Macy was a Loboan and her main color scheme was blue while Amy was a Transylvanian and her main color scheme was purple.
A Vladat took the picture and made sure to get five copies of it for each girl to keep and Lea was fangirling out about meeting an actual alien vampire she had been doing fanart of. She had totally called it and Hal thought she had made it up. Whampire smiled at Lea. "First time someone's actually been amazed by me instead of running in fear," he said.
"Really?" Lea asked in surprise.
"Well, yes," the alien said. "I am a vampire after all, albeit an alien one."
"And a cool-looking one at that," the girl said, making him look at her in surprise before he smiled.
Lea took note of the Vladat-themed costumes Ben and Dana wore and she knew what she was going to dress up for the next year. But for then, she excused herself to go get changed back into her Alice costume. As she was doing so, Hal went up to Rachel and decided to talk to her.
"You're very calm for someone who just had two strangers enter her home uninvited," he said.
"Not the first time it's happened," she said. "But I'll take a visit over friendly allies to the snoops that come around her looking for trouble."
He nodded. "I was really concerned for Lea when we got separated," he said, his tone quiet. "I have on fear that has developed over the last few months."
"What fear is that?" Rachel asked gently.
"I'm afraid something bad may happen to my kid," the hero said. "Ever since the incident with Sinestro, our enemy, I promised someone that I'd look after Lea and I don't want her gone under my watch." He looked sad. "I already lost that person during that promise I made and I'm never going to break it. Not now or ever."
A scream came from Lea. "AAAAHHH! Oh, my Odym, that guy stole that giant dog's eyes!" She exclaimed.
They looked to see it was actually Wildmutt and Eye Guy Lea was looking at and Sasha chuckled. "Lea, it's okay," she said. "Wildmutt doesn't have eyes and Eye Guy, like his name, has many eyes."
"Though I guess I do look like I steal people's/creature's eyes for my own, huh?" Eye Guy asked.
Lea bit her lip, but nodded a little. "I guess," she said. "Sorry about freaking out."
"No worries, kid," he said.
"Hey, guys! Check this out!" Came Macy's voice as she did some wicked moves on the dance floor and howled like a wolf.
"Cool!" Amy said, forming electricity along her boots and gauntlets.
Tina began to dance, some of her tendrils moving about as she danced while Dana hung upside down and began to fall towards the floor, but she caught herself and began dancing on air as if she was standing on a stage.
"Come on, Lea," Snare-Oh said. "Do something neat."
She paused and took a deep breath before walking out in her Alice costume and looking around. "Now where did that white rabbit go?" She asked aloud, making the others laugh.
One person, No Watch Ben, looked at Lea and blinked. "Wow, she looks cool," he said as he began developing a crush on Lea.
Dana saw this and giggled. "Guess my accidentally bringing them here wasn't so bad after all," she said. "But I think I better stick with more training until I can for a portal that isn't unstable."
"A good idea, my sister," said Kuphulu as he went up to her. "Still, you are getting better at it."
Lea smiled as she and Hal continued to enjoy the party, knowing she'd never forget this night.
Please leave Redbat132 and myself a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418
