Every hero has their own story to tell. Each starts out as a beginner and then gets better each day. However, no one said that being a hero would be easy. Especially when you're a Lantern like me.
My name is Lea Thompson. About almost a week in a half ago, I went to space and earned the Blue Lantern ring of Hope under the identity name Midnight Hope where I'm now protecting Coast City...in secret.
Now, I know what you're thinking: Why keep Midnight Hope under the radar and not have her introduced to the public? Well, I'm still pretty new with all this Lantern stuff. Not to mention it's rare to have a human Blue Lantern around Earth that isn't a Green Lantern.
I'll reveal myself when I'm ready. Until then, I'm still enjoying my Summer vacation during the day and doing secret patrols with GL at night. But who knows what sort of threats or alien conspiracies are waiting to be thrown at us?
It was another typical night at Coast City. Blue Lantern Midnight Hope was already patrolling on her own to check for any danger. Green Lantern Hal Jordan was at the east and south while she was checking the north and west.
"Hmmm...Nothing yet," Midnight Hope stated, sighing a bit. "Man, I can't believe it's only been a week since my first and last space adventure. I thought this whole hero thing would include some more alien excitement or baddies to face."
Just then, her ring started beeping. "So, nothing on your side then, huh?" Green Lantern asked.
"No, nothing yet. You'd think there'd be some sort of action happening within a week when we got back," Midnight Hope remarked.
"Yeah, it's gotten quiet lately." Green Lantern said. "Crime must be taking a break."
Just then, Midnight Hope spotted something shady going on in an abandoned factory.
"Or maybe it's trying to keep out of our sight by hiding in the shadows," Midnight Hope stated, getting a closer look. "I think I got something."
"What is it?" Green Lantern asked.
"There's something or someone at some abandoned factory," Midnight Hope stated, looking for a hole or window to see through. "Although, maybe it's a false alarm and I'm just itchy for some action."
"Go check it out, just in case," Green Lantern said. "If it's nothing, then just leave. But if it's something bad, then investigate more."
"Copy that," Midnight Hope said, carefully going inside the factory.
Midnight Hope made her way into the factory and looked around to find anything. She shines her blue light to look around.
'Huh...looks like one of those old factories where they scrap metal and make it something else,' Midnight Hope thought to herself, noticing the equipment that hasn't been touched in years. 'Wonder why anyone would be here?'
Suddenly, Midnight Hope not only had the feeling of being watched but also started to feel the temperature drop suddenly where her breath was showing in the atmosphere. Which is odd since it's still the Middle of Summer.
"Midnight Hope, come in. Is there anything in there?" Hal asked from the ring communication.
"Other than the temperature dropping so suddenly, I don't see anyone...or anything...else," Midnight Hope said, her sentence slowing down when hearing what sounded like loud munching. Along with seeing cold mist growing at that source. "GL...I think I spoke too soon. Something very cold is in here."
"I'll try to catch up as fast as I can." Green Lantern said. "Be careful. If it's some kind of nitrogen incident, then that could be it."
"Let's hope you're right and what I'm thinking of as an alternative is wrong," Midnight Hope stated, using her ring as a flashlight to see what was responsible for this mess.
As she feels the cold temperature getting stronger, she sees some scrap metal.
"There's the metal...But no nitrogen canisters leaking," Midnight Hope said, still having her ring on while looking at the metal more closely. "What the...Wait...this metal was eaten! And these bite marks aren't human!"
Midnight Hope was starting to get a little scared. Whatever was in the old factory wasn't human. It could be a monster.
"Okay...Nothing to panic about," Midnight Hope assured herself, still looking around on high alert. "I'm sure it's not as bad as I think."
Midnight Hope goes closer to the cold temperature, and she sees more metal scraps on the floor. She then sees claw marks on the walls and some ice that looks like drool.
"Scram..." A whispered voice warned.
"Huh?! Who said that?" Midnight Hope asked, bringing her guard plus ring up.
"Scram..." The voice said, getting stronger. "Get out..."
Suddenly, Midnight Hope felt something cold breathing down her neck where she slowly turned in being face to face with something scary. It looked like an insect-like Grim Reaper in blue glaring at her soul.
The insect creature roared in anger. It scared Midnight Hope. "Get out!" It spoke.
The sudden scare made the Blue Lantern girl scream and collapsed backward landing on her butt. She crawled back a bit and stared at the creature in horror yet small curiosity until she found her voice. She noticed how his cloak had some odd patterns as if they were wings folded.
"...Just who...or what are you?" Midnight Hope asked, sounding sincere.
"Something beyond your understanding. Now...go away!" The creature said as he unraveled his cloak where it became large moth wings and flew off.
Midnight Hope just stared before getting back up to follow.
"Wait! Come back!" She called out, only to see the creature disappear. "...Where did he go?"
It didn't take long for Green Lantern to show up.
"Okay, I'm here," Green Lantern said. "What happened?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Midnight Hope said, looking over at GL in sudden surprise.
I couldn't stop thinking about what happened last night. That moth creature was not human at all. He was like a mix between a moth and a grim reaper with ice powers...with an appetite for metal. Despite scary and intimidating at first meeting him, I have this feeling he's not bad. Don't ask me how nor why. I just do. Even so, I can't jump to conclusions without getting all the facts first. And the best way to learn more about this 'Mothman' is to look back on his recent hits that happened beyond Coast City I found this morning. Something I plan to share with Hal at the Rabbit Café at this very moment.
The next day, Hal and Lea were discussing the events of last night at one spot: the Rabbit Café. Inside was like a nice, welcoming setup for people to hang out. The decorations were simple yet beautiful/different. Even played Electric Swing music for people to enjoy. It's also not too far from Lea's school, Midtown High.
"So...let me get this straight. You were attacked by a giant, Mothman reaper who eats metal?" Hal recapped, trying to understand.
"He didn't attack me, Hal. Just told me to get out before ghosting me," Lea corrected, already sketching out what she saw in her drawing book. "There's something about him that we don't know yet."
"That's true. He could either be a mutant or an alien creature," Hal said.
"Maybe this could help," Lea said, finishing her drawing and showing it to Hal. "Does he look familiar to you?"
Lea's drawing was a rough sketch of what she witnessed. Although it was a short time encounter, she got the bug eyes, cloak, and chilling vibes accurately.
Hal looked closer at the drawing of the creature carefully. "No, not really. I don't think I've ever seen someone like this before."
"Well, we need to get to the bottom of this," Lea stated, getting her phone to look up something. "If it's an innocent creature trying to survive and or escape, then we got to help him."
"You're right. Otherwise, people here would get obsessed and try to dissect it for money." Hal said. "We should go back there tonight."
"Before we do...Let's see if we can check something out of town," Lea said, coming across a website that brought a new post.
"What does it say?" Hal asked.
"Looks like Coast City wasn't the only place he's been to," Lea said, showing Hal what she found.
"There's been reports of an 'Icy Moth Demon Causing Destruction At Demolished Diner' around the evening. Along with 'Freeze Ghost Moth Mayhem At Local Car Wash'. Both took place in one town."
Lea then pointed at the name of the town where the supposed moth creature has attacked.
"Bellwood...So, that must be where it's held up right now," Hal suggested.
"Let's check those places out and see if we can find more to the story behind our Mystery Moth," Lea said, putting her phone away while getting up. "We can check around Bellwood and head back before it gets dark."
"Good thinking. Come on." Hal said as he was about to leave.
Less than an hour later, Hal and Lea arrived at Bellwood to investigate the following areas where the creature had been to. It helps when being Green Lantern and Midnight Hope to travel to places faster. First, they stopped at the old Burger Boy shack. There was nothing much except for the same leftover metal munching marks.
"Yep. He was definitely here all right," Lea stated, crouching down to take picture evidence of the eaten metal parts. "I recognize those markings anywhere."
"We better find his hiding spot," Hal said. "Or, at least, if things are getting colder."
"Well played," Lea chuckled, getting up to look up the next place to investigate. "Next stop: the local Car Wash. Maybe we'll have better luck finding a clue that will lead us to him."
"Let's go, then," Hal said.
Despite being on the right track, there weren't many clues that helped understand who that moth creature is nor why he was going to those places besides devouring metal. From the looks of things, GL and I were going nowhere in retracing the Mothman's steps...Or so we thought.
Soon, as their hero alter egos again, they flew towards the car wash before carefully de-transforming in private to further their investigation.
"Hmmm...There seems to be some kind of pattern," Lea noted, looking around the place. "The creature's been going to places that aren't inhabited by people."
"True. In Coast City, the factory was abandoned," Hal said. "So, maybe it's hiding out somewhere that is either abandoned or renovated."
"More proof that this Ice Moth is not here to harm anyone," Lea added, walking around until seeing something weird. "Hey, Hal? What do you make of this?"
Hal looked at what looked like a certain footprint. It didn't seem human. "Interesting. This print looks unusual," he said.
"Can our rings make out what made these prints?" Lea questioned, bringing out her phone to take a picture of this.
"Possibly," Hal said, looking around to see no one was around first. "Let's give it a try."
Lea followed Hal's lead to scan the print.
As they scanned the print, the rings showed the analysis. "It says...it's a high percentage of an earth-based animal, but nothing else. It's unreadable." Hal said.
"Weird. That couldn't be the Mothman... right?" Lea questioned, looking at Hal.
"No. I don't think so." Hal said. "The data shows it's an animal-based print here on earth."
"And the one I met didn't seem human at all," Lea added, putting her phone away after taking another quick picture of the print. "We still got time before we head back. Can we check out the park here?"
"Sure thing, Lea," Hal said, walking down the street. "Let's go."
As they left, neither of them noticed something around the corner just seeing the two before disappearing in the shadows...
To Be Continued…
Another collab story with my pal, Alvaxerox. We thought about GL version Lea's universe being parallel to another Ben's universe.
Also, this is my first time doing narrations with Lea. Should I use it more often for future stories or go without it? Leave a comment and share what you think.
Hope you all enjoy. And no flames, please.