A collab done with Redbat132, who owns Lea/Midnight Hope.
Batman: The Brave And The Bold belongs to DC Comics and Warner Brothers. I own nothing.
Counting Bunnies
Lea looked at her English assignment as she walked with Hal, who had picked her up from school. "Okay, so the theme is Redemption," she said.
"You have to write about someone who is working on redemption or has been redeemed?" Hal asked.
"Yes," she said. "And I know just the person I want to interview."
"Who?"
She grinned. "Plastic Man," she said. "I read a bit about him being an ex-thief, but he's a hero now."
"That he is," Hal said.
"I know I could just read about him online, but what better way to do my paper than talking to the actual hero himself?"
The Green Lantern smiled. "Let me give him a call," he said.
Neil was watching over his son when the phone rang and he answered it. "Hello?" He said.
"Neil, it's Hal," said the person on the other end.
"Hey, Hal," the stretchy hero said. "What's up?"
"Well, my niece has an English assignment where she's writing a paper about someone who is looking for redemption or being redeemed," Hal explained. "She'd like to interview you, if that's okay."
Neil's jaw hit the floor, quite literally. His son giggled and his wife came out. "Neil, what is it?" She asked.
The hero snapped out of his shock. "Hal, did I hear you right?" He asked. "Your niece wants to interview me for an English assignment for school?"
"Yes," Hal said, smiling. "She knows she could read about you online, but she really wants to interview you instead. Would that be okay?"
Neil was still stunned, but smiled. "Hold on, let me ask my wife," he said, turning to his wife. "Hey, honey. Hal's niece is working on an English paper for school and it's about redemption. She wants to interview me for it."
Mrs. O'Brain smiled. "She's welcome to come over," she said.
Neil relayed the message to Hal, who nodded. "I'll drop her off tomorrow afternoon after school," he said.
"That's fine," the stretchy hero said. "I have watch duty at the Watchtower in the morning, but I'll be home after two p.m."
Hal nodded, signing off before turning to Lea, smiling. "He agreed, kiddo," he said.
"Yes!" She cheered happily before looking embarrassed as the cheer echoed, but Hal chuckled, ruffling her hair.
"I'll drop you off at Neil's house tomorrow after school," he said. "We better let your parents know too."
Lea's folks were a bit unsure, but agreed when Hal vouched for Neil. "He's a good guy who's working on redemption," he said. "Plus he's got a wife and a kid. Lea will be safe there."
"Alright," Lea's father agreed and her mother nodded.
"Just make sure to mind your manners and be polite, honey," she gently reminded her daughter.
"Yes, Mom," Lea said.
The next day passed quickly for Lea as she not only went to school, but also helped Hal fight some crime. She felt tired by the time Hal was ready to take her to Neil's house, but she decided to push through, wanting to get her paper done.
Neil opened the door. "Come on in," he said.
Hal smiled. "Call me when you're done with the interview, kiddo," he said.
"I will, Uncle Hal," she promised.
Plastic Man led her to the living room. "Have a seat and we can begin your questions," he said.
Grinning, Lea sat down and got out her paper with questions she had prepared the night before. "Okay, I'm ready," she said. "But if you're not comfortable answering a question, just let me know."
"Will do," he said. "What's your first question?"
"How did you first meet Batman?"
Neil bit his lip a bit before taking a deep breath. "Well, our first meeting wasn't on the best of terms," he said. "I was a thief then, but on that night when Batman came to stop us, I fell into the vat of chemicals. Kite Man, who was my 'boss' at the time, left me there. Batman managed to save me, but by the time he got me out of there...well, I had new powers."
Lea felt sympathy for him. "I can imagine that was a shock when you found that out," she said.
"It was," he said with a nod. "Batman stuck by me until I was stable enough."
She wrote that down. "Okay, next question, what made you decide to become a hero?"
He smiled. "Bats had a lot to do with that," he said, making Lea realize he was referring to Batman. "He spoke up at my parole meeting and convinced the parole board to give me a second chance. I owe him a lot for doing that. Not sure why he did that, but I'm glad he did."
Lea smiled, writing down his answer as she started to feel sleepy, but forced herself to stay awake. "What has been your toughest mission so far?" She asked, managing to hide a yawn in her hand.
"That's a good question," he said as he fell into thought, thinking back on what mission had been tough for him to do. As he was thinking, Lea was having a hard time keeping her eyes open, though she tried hard. But she soon lost the battle, her eyes closing as she fell asleep.
Plastic Man was about to speak up when he noticed the girl had fallen asleep and he smiled, gently picking her up and carrying her to the couch, not offended that she fell asleep. His wife came in and she smiled as she saw her husband use one arm to hold the sleeping teen and the other to pull out the couch bed. "She fell asleep?" She asked gently.
"Yeah," he said. "She's exhausted from school and other stuff."
"Let me get some pillows and a blanket for her."
Plastic Man smiled at his wife as she went to get the items while he sent a text to Hal that Lea had fallen asleep and he and his wife were letting her stay the night and if he could let Lea's folks know so that they weren't worried about their daughter.
Around sending the message, Plastic Man was unaware of Lea's Blue Lantern ring started to faintly glow from the sleeping Lantern herself. As if her stressful thoughts were coming in yet trying to block them out through hopeful thoughts.
Just then, their pet dog, Schnitzel, went over to the sleeping young girl and gave a small kiss lick that made her smile.
"Not now...So much...to do...," Lea muttered sleepily, shifting her sleep position. "Can't...be late...,"
All of a sudden, her ring glowed again until she was constructing something while still asleep.
Plastic Man blinked as he saw a glowing blue rabbit appear and he looked at Lea, noticing the ring on her hand and he gasped in surprise, recognizing the ring to be of the Lantern Corp. "She's a Lantern?" He asked himself.
Schnitzel the dog then barked at the blue rabbit before chasing it all over the room. To matters more interesting, more bunnies big and small continued appearing out of thin air.
"Wow," Plastic Man said in awe before looking at the girl, wondering if he should wake her. He knew Lanterns were serious about keeping their identities hidden and though his wife knew of his alter ego, he didn't want Lea's secret exposed.
A baby bunny went over to the sleeping teen. Carefully sniffing her before cuddling next to her cheek and snuggle sleep there...making the blonde teen smile.
Plastic Man, seeing the teen's face becoming more peaceful, didn't have the heart to wake her then. He just smiled and when his wife came in, she smiled too, seemingly not surprised. "I had a feeling she was a hero," she said softly as her husband carefully tucked a pillow under Lea's head and she placed a blanket over the sleeping teen. "There. Now she's comfortable."
"Thanks for letting her stay the night, Sweetie," the hero said, kissing his wife lovingly.
"Well, it wouldn't have been right to send her on her way while she was tired," she said with a smile. "Besides, what kind of a hostess would I be if I didn't let a tired guest spend the night and get some good sleep?"
He smiled. "You're the most amazing lady, my love," he said.
"Better get your sweet-talking self to bed if you want more kisses," she said teasingly.
He gave her a goofy grin and followed her while Lea continued to sleep on peacefully, not waking up once until it was morning.
Little did they know, Plastic Man's old enemy boss was stalking outside the house, eager for his revenge. "You'll not escape this time, Eel," he said sinisterly.
Hearing something outside, a few of the construct bunnies quickly checked the window to see an intruder coming. The bunnies' noses twitched while glaring, looking at each other with a nod before getting the rest of the fluffle.
A silent communication passed through them all before they got ready to tackle the intruder who dared to disturb the family inside and the teen who they were quite fond of.
One bunny construct had one ear up as if telling the fluffle to wait for the leader's signal to take down the intruder once in sight. Once the door slowly opened with Kite Man showing his face...the ear went down in saying 'NOW!'.
Kite Man was taken aback when he was suddenly tackled by several bunnies. "ARGH!" He cried out.
Turns out, the small commotion caught the attention of Plastic Man. He decided to check it out...especially when seeing one of the baby bunnies getting his attention by seeing something. "What's up?" He asked the small creature.
"Get these things off me!" cried a voice. The familiar tone was mixed with frustration, fear...and small laughter?
Plastic Man felt fear fill him. "Kite Man," he said.
His wife woke up. "Honey?" She asked.
"Sweetie, take the baby and hide. Kite Man's here. I'm going to go get Lea."
Fear filled her and she got up, running to her son's room and grabbing him, running to a nearby closet and hiding. Seeing his wife and baby were safe, Plastic Man raced to the living room, stopping in shock to see Kite Man on the floor, buried under a pile of blue bunnies. And there were more than last time. Possibly around more or less than a hundred…and growing.
He blinked. "Wow, guess her ring guards her even when she sleeps," he said to himself, about to scoop Lea up and get her to safety, but one of the rabbits lightly landed on his hand, shaking its head and gesturing to Kite Man. He nodded. "You're right. Take care of the intruder first."
He went up to Kite Man, crossing his arms. "Well, well. Looks like your idea to ambush me failed," he said in amusement.
"Not one...single...word, O'Brian!" Kite Man managed to say, still muffled with a bunch of bunnies on top of his whole body.
"I don't know," Plastic Man said, unable to hide a smile. "I'm almost tempted to record this and send it to the Justice League."
Kite Man growled underneath the giant fluffle pile, as he was really wishing he wasn't trapped by these adorable blue creatures...with more still piling and coming on top of him.
Just then, the front door opened and Woozy Winks, the loyal sidekick of Plastic Man, came running in. "Plastic Man! I'm so glad you're awake," he said, a bit out of breath. "Kite Man is-,"
"It's okay, Woozy," Plastic Man said, smiling. "He's covered."
The petite man turned around and blinked in surprise at seeing the bunny constructs piling on top of Kite Man, who was struggling to get up.
"Whoa! How did that happen?!" Woozy asked, looking down to see a few bunnies staring at him curiously. "And should I be worried or dare ask where did these blue see-through bunnies came from?"
"They came from a special friend," Plastic Man said, not wanting to expose Lea's secret in front of his enemy.
"Special friend?" Woozy asked, still a bit lost here.
"I'll tell you more later," Plastic Man promised.
"Okay. If you say so," Woozy shrugged, seeing a few more bunnies looking at him. "Uh...hello?"
One bunny hopped over to the rotund man, carefully sniffing him until going over to his foot and rubbed itself on it.
He squeaked and giggled. "Um...I think it likes me?"
"I think so, too," Plastic Man said, chuckling.
In response, the bunny nodded and let a few of its friends know that Woozy is safe. This made a small group come over to cuddle around him from below. Even letting the guy carefully hold one of them in his hands and arms.
"Wow, they're so soft," Woozy said, petting the bunny he was holding. "Wonder how they knew Kite Man was an enemy."
"Probably because Kite Man broke in," his friend said.
"Oh, yeah...," Woozy said, only to notice something up with some of the bunnies. "Uh, Plas? Are they supposed to go invisible?"
Confused, Plastic Man saw a few bunnies start to fade away. Which can only mean one thing...Lea is starting to wake up.
"Oh, no," Plastic Man said, stretching his neck over to see the blonde teen slowly getting up drowsily. "Can't let Kite Man escape just yet."
Quickly, the hero grabbed a portable CD player with headphones, turned on a CD of soothing lullabies, and carefully placed the headphones on the teen's ears. After a bit, the teen settled down, going back to sleep, which made more bunnies appear.
"Phew," the hero sighed in relief.
Woozy saw this and he realized the rabbits were coming from the girl. He looked at Plastic Man curiously as the stretchy hero pulled out his phone. "Keep an eye on our prisoner, Woozy. I'm going to call Batman," he said.
"You got it," the petite man said, leaving to do his assignment.
Plastic Man dialed up the Dark Knight's number, relieved when the call went through. "Plastic Man? What's going on?" Batman asked.
"Hey, Bats. Kite Man came back and he broke in, but we've got him subdued and waiting for you," Plastic Man said. "Woozy and I got a bit of help from a friend."
"Are you okay? What about your wife and child?"
"They're safe," the stretchy hero said. "Kite Man wasn't able to do anything after he broke in."
"Why is that?" Batman asked.
"Well...you'll have to come to see for yourself," Plastic Man said. "Trust me, you're not going to believe it until you see it."
"Very well. I'm on my way."
Just then, Kite Man jumped up, freeing himself. "I'll stomp on you all!" He yelled, trying to stomp on the bunny constructs.
The bunnies, as if sensing the danger was now much greater, began to gather together and before everyone's eyes, they began to merge. In mere moments, a giant blue bunny construct was glaring down at Kite Man, who wasn't looking so brave right then.
"Uh...Nice bunny?" Kite Man muttered, chuckling nervously.
In response, the giant bunny tried to chomp on the villain. He dodged in time and started fleeing out of the house...but not for long. The giant bunny construct carefully went out the door without breaking anything and started chasing after that mean man.
Plastic Man and Woozy just stared in shock at what happened.
"Um, did that really happen?" Woozy asked.
"It did," Plastic Man said before going to find his wife, who had come out to see if it was safe.
"What happened?" She asked. "Where's Kite Man?"
"He escaped and our allies are after him," Plastic Man said. "Woozy and I are going to go help. You guys stay here. We'll be back soon."
She kissed him lovingly. "Be careful out there, honey," she said before hugging Woozy. "You be careful too, Woozy."
"We will, ma'am," the petite man said with a nod.
Plastic Man morphed into a car and Woozy got behind the wheel as they took off after Kite Man and the giant bunny construct.
With the heroes out, more blue bunny constructs continued forming by the sleeping Lantern girl and kept the house and residents within protected. Something Ramona noticed with her child cooing at the blue fur balls.
Meanwhile, Kite Man attempted to use his giant Kite feature on his back to fly out. Unfortunately for him, the giant bunny was capable of jumping high enough to tackle and scratch a hole in the kite glider that forced them both to crash.
"Whoa, easy there, big guy!" Plastic Man said. "There are innocents nearby!"
"There's a park not far from here!" Woozy said. "It's more open and safer for you to battle Kite Man!"
The giant blue bunny heard that, nodding to the two as if understanding/agreeing with their suggestions. The bunny then steered Kite Man to the park before tackling him.
"Do you think that construct can defeat Kite Man, Plastic?" Woozy asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Plastic Man said. "A Lantern's constructs are pretty powerful, especially if powered by the one thing the Lantern stands for. Blue means hope, so if we keep being hopeful...,"
"We can give it an energy boost?" His sidekick said, sounding hopeful.
"Something like that," the hero said.
Plastic Man didn't realize that his sidekick was still holding the same bunny he first held in Plastic Man's until looking at him.
"You're still holding on to that bunny, Woozy?" Plastic Man asked.
"Sure am, Plas. It's just so soft, cuddly, and adorable!" Woozy answered, feeling the rabbit snuggle its face near Woozy's.
Plastic Man gave it some thought. "Hey, you can send thoughts and feelings to your companions, right?" He asked, getting an idea.
"Uh, I'm not sure if I can do that, Plas," Woozy answered. "I'm not a telepath."
"Not you, Woozy! I was talking to the bunny you're holding," Plastic Man specified.
"Ohhhhh...That makes much more sense," Woozy replied, looking at the construct bunny. "Can you do that?"
The bunny gave a nod to the question as if saying, 'Yes, that is right.'.
"Okay," Plastic Man said. "Woozy, I want you to focus on this bunny. I bet it would love an ear scratch."
"Uh, sure, Plas. Not sure how that will help, but I was already going to do that anyway," Woozy said, following Plastic Man's instructions.
Plastic Man looked at the small rabbit and smiled. "Who's a good bunny?" He cooed. "Who's going to take down that mean old Kite Man, huh?"
The little bunny melted in Woozy's arms happily. The construct loved the ear scratches/tickles. It even got the bunny to thump on its right foot to show appreciation.
Plastic Man grinned. "Who's a cute bunny?" He asked.
"Who's the most adorable bunny I've seen?" Woozy asked, still keeping up with the gentle ear scratches.
The bunny being scratched/tickled silently giggled. So much so, that the other hundreds of bunnies felt that where a large group of them went to the source.
Plastic and Woozy didn't see them at first, still focused on the bunny Woozy was holding.
Just then, the boys felt a rumble that was getting louder.
"Uhhh...Was that you?" Woozy asked his partner.
"No, not me," Plastic Man said before seeing something out of the corner of his eye and his eyes widened at seeing a large group of construct bunnies looking at them curiously. "Um...I think they may want ear scratches, too."
Woozy blinked in surprise. "Oh, my," he said, pausing in his task of giving the rabbit in his arms an ear scratch.
The construct was curious as to why he stopped and saw its companions. It waved its ears happily, communicating that Woozy and Plastic Man had been very kind to it and giving it ear scratches, which it loved.
Just then, Kite Man was getting annoyed with dealing with this giant blue rabbit. "UGH! You're really getting on my nerves, you mangy furball! The last thing I wanted was some giant ball of fluff ruining my revenge plans! Now, I'm gonna end this!"
"Um…I don't suppose you all want to help us stop Kite Man?" Plastic Man asked the bunnies, overhearing Kite Man's threat. "We'll totally owe you for a job well done."
The construct nodded and Plastic Man looked at Woozy. "Keep that hope up, Woozy. It's time to wrap this up," he said.
"Sure thing, Plas," Woozy replied, keeping the bunny in his arms close.
As Kite Man tried to get up to his feet, Plastic Man quickly wrapped around him, tying him up to keep him from getting away. "I thought I was clear the last time we met up," he said, looking angry. "Stay away from my family, Kite Man."
"As if I'd give up getting revenge on you, Eel O'Brian!" Kite Man argued. "You betrayed me; ruined everything! Once a thief, always a thief! I didn't think you'd stoop this low to have these weird blue things as your ridiculous army!"
The bunny construct roared right then, making Kite Man shrink back and Plastic Man decided to give him a piece of his mind. "No, you betrayed me, Kite Man," he said. "You left me behind. Batman saved me and I got a second chance, one I didn't deserve, but I'm a hero now and I want you to stay away from my family."
He then gestured to the bunny construct. "See, my bunny pal here is very protective of his creator and my family and if you don't heed my warning, then this big guy's going to come after you and chase you all over this Earth until you stop your evil plans."
"Fat chance…," Kite Man snarled in annoyance, as he carefully reached for something from his suit that electrocuted Plastic Man to let go and made the giant rabbit back off. He had a small taser device before switching to a snowflake design that shot a freezing beam at the hero where he froze in place.
"PLAS!" Woozy shouted in horror, holding the rabbit for comfort. "Oh, no…,"
"Scram, you blue fur-ball nuisances! Make one more false move, instead, and I blast Eel to bits!" Kite Man threatened, aiming his portable device at the frozen hero.
The rabbit construct paused and began to shrink down and it looked like some began to flee, which made Kite Man grin, thinking he had won.
Woozy grew worried. "No, we can't give up now," he said, petting the rabbit in his arms and hugging it close. "We're going to win. I just know it."
Kite Man went up to his former friend. "You lose, Eel," he said.
Plastic Man, though frozen, saw something behind Kite Man. "What's that?" He asked no one in particular.
The frozen hero saw the bunnies coming together and forming a different shape.
Just when Kite Man was about to pull the trigger, someone or something fast kicked the device away from him before getting rammed down. To both Woozy and Plastic Man's surprise, the one responsible was what looked like an anthropomorphic rabbit warrioress with her floppy ear ends curled in and small accessories.
"Whoa," Woozy said in shock. "Who is that?"
The rabbit warrior girl didn't respond. Instead, she quickly grabbed the device Kite Man used earlier, set it on reverse, and aimed at Plastic Man to get out of his frozen state.
Plastic Man let out a sigh of relief, shivering a little, to which Woozy quickly gave him a blanket. "Thanks, Woozy," he said before looking at the warrior rabbit. "And thank you...whomever you are."
A smile came to the rabbit girl, still not making a sound. Instead, she whistled to signal the group of bunnies still around to help warm up the still-chilly hero.
He was surprised, but grateful, feeling a lot better as the chills went away.
The Rabbit Girl then had her ears twitch. She heard Kite Man trying to escape again and brought Plastic Man's attention about it.
He looked and quickly moved, stretching his arms out and tying up Kite Man. "Not this time," he said. "I hope Bats arrives soon."
Woozy saw a familiar plane in the sky. "There he is!" He said.
The Rabbit Girl smirked, knowing Kite Man was done.
Batman hopped out of the plane and landed, arching an eyebrow at seeing the rabbit warrior construct. "Who's this?" He asked.
"Don't know, but she helped us take down Kite Man," Woozy said.
"Might want to cuff him, Bats. He's almost as slippery as me," Plastic Man said.
Knowing her work there was done, the Rabbit Warrior took her leave and decided to head back to Plastic Man's place. Something Woozy noticed.
"Hmm," he hummed, but decided to talk to Plastic Man about it later.
Batman tied up Kite Man and nodded. "I'll take him to the police station," he said. "You best get home to your wife and son, Plastic Man."
"Will do, Bats. Thanks again for the assistance," the stretchy hero said.
"Ugh! It's official...I hate rabbits as much as I hate O'Brian," Kite Man remarked, not amused.
Batman gave Plastic Man a confused look, to which the hero just shrugged and indicated that Kite Man was crazy, using the universal 'they're crazy' sign, which made Woozy barely hold back a giggle.
Just then, the bunny in Woozy's arms wiggled around as if saying it wants to go home or be free.
He smiled. "Let's get back, Plas," he said.
"You got it, Woozy," said the hero as he lifted Woozy onto his back and they quickly headed home.
Back at Plastic Man's home, the Rabbit Warrior girl construct made her way back inside to see the stretchy hero's wife asleep on an armchair with her baby awake while cooing at the new face. This made the Rabbit Warrior walk close to the infant until her smiling face was close enough to let the baby feel her soft her. Along with cuddling her furry cheeks next to his.
The baby giggled happily just as Plastic Man and Woozy entered and the hero smiled. "Okay, whoever that is, she's definitely an ally," he said. "Babies can tell if someone is good or not."
"Looks like he's become one of her fans," Woozy said, chuckling.
The Rabbit Warrior girl smiled at those words, gently nuzzling the baby's head, making him giggle happily.
It didn't take long for the rabbit in Woozy's arms to jump off and go inside the sleeping blonde teen's backpack to get something.
"Whatcha looking for, little one?" Woozy asked curiously.
The rabbit construct was trying to pull something from the bag but was having a hard time. Woozy decided to help the little bunny out by grabbing whatever object his friend wanted to share.
"Oh, wow...this feels heavy," Woozy stated, now using both hands to get the object he was pulling. "What's in here?"
Plastic Man noticed his partner near Lea's backpack and nearly panicked. "Woozy, no! You don't rummage around a teen girl's school bag!" he whispered out loud.
It didn't take long for Woozy to pull out the object where he tumbled backward to reveal a Blue Lantern Charger in his hands...with the bunny construct presenting the actual object to share in its mouth: a drawing book.
"She really is a Blue Lantern," the petite man said in surprise before seeing the page in the drawing book and his eyes widened as he saw it was a picture of the Rabbit Warrior girl standing before them. He turned it around so that Plastic Man and the construct could see. "Is this you?" He asked the construct.
She nodded, smiling and pointing to Lea. "She drew you?" Plastic Man asked in awe. "Wow, she's got real talent."
The Rabbit Warrior nodded again as if agreeing with Plastic Man's statement. She then noticed her form slowly start to fade. Same with the other construct rabbits.
"What's going on?" Woozy asked.
"Well, guess since the danger's gone, they're going back to where they came from," Plastic Man said. "Maybe they only come out when they are needed?"
Knowing this was goodbye, the tall Rabbit Warrioress and a bunch of other blue bunny constructs hugged Plastic Man and Woozy before disappearing back into Lea's ring.
Seeing all was peaceful now, Plastic Man had made sure Lea was tucked in snugly and he used some plywood to place over the hole in the wall, deciding to fix it in the morning. Woozy helped him brace the plywood firmly so that no one could get into the house without them knowing.
The hero scooped up his wife and the baby and turned to Woozy. "Spare room's open for you, Woozy," he said.
"Thanks, Plas," the petite man said as they all turned in for the night.
Before leaving, Plastic Man carefully took off the headset he left on the blonde teen from waking up by the commotion. Along with carrying his wife and child back to their own respected rooms.
When it became morning, Lea was the first to wake up with a small stretch and yawn.
"Oh, man...What a wild dream," Lea muttered to herself, soon realizing she wasn't in her room. "Oh, no! Did I doze off during my interview? I must have been exhausted."
She then noticed her ring at very low energy. "Oh, what? How do I keep losing that much ring energy in one night? I literally charged it before leaving here last night. Oh, well. Good thing I brought my portable charger for it."
She went to look for her backpack, but didn't see it. "Where is it?" She asked herself.
Lea started to worry. She knew she packed it somewhere.
Plastic Man came out then and smiled. "Hey, Lea," he said before noticing she was looking for something. "Did you lose something, kiddo?"
"Uhhh...No," Lea lied, turning to Plastic Man to respond "It's nothing. I'm just really sorry for falling asleep during our little interview so suddenly. I must have been really beat the other day doing... sports stuff."
"You sure, kiddo?" He asked. "Maybe you're looking for a light?"
This made the blonde teen stiff when hearing that. "Uh...What makes you say that?"
Plas smiled. "Well...last night, Kite Man tried to break in and your Blue Lantern ring sensed danger and constructed a bunch of rabbits to protect you and the rest of us," he said. "They actually took down Kite Man and when he tried to fight, some of the bunnies constructed into this cool-looking rabbit warrior who took down Kite Man." He then pointed to the table where Lea's sketchbook was. "One of the bunnies pulled this out of your bag."
Lea blinked when hearing this, trying not to panic...yet a bit confused. "Okay...you are totally making this up. I don't know what odd dream you had, but I'm not a superheroine. I'm too lame to be one."
"Lea," Plastic Man said with a 'you're-not-fooling-me' look as he held up the Blue Lantern battery. "If you're not a superheroine, then why do you have this?"
This left the blonde teen speechless. She had to think of something fast. "Uh, that?! That's...a collectible Lantern battery toy that I won from a contest during the Summer! And my ring is part of the set!"
Seeing Lea wasn't going to confess straightaway, Neil thought for a moment and got an idea. "Are you sure?" He asked playfully, his arms stretching out and around the room.
"Um, yes, I'm sure," Lea stated with a nervous laugh, not liking what Plastic Man was up to. "I should probably take my toy back and be in my way now."
"Not so fast, kiddo," he said. "My wife's making pancakes and muffins and she and I both insist you stay for breakfast."
One of his hands came up behind Lea and playfully poked her side.
"EEEK!" Lea squeaked, jumping forward to turn around and seeing Plastic Man's stretchy hands responsible. "N-No thanks! I'm not that hungry." She managed to say, swallowing down a formed giggle caught in her throat.
The hero was quicker though and shot his hands out, quickly ensnaring Lea in a stretchy trap. "I'm not just stretchy, but I've got good hearing," he said, smirking as he playfully poked Lea's side again. "And that tummy of yours is growling louder than an angry wolf."
"No, it's nahahahat!" Lea argued, a giggle coming out from the side teasing. "Seriously, let me go!"
"Nope," he said, hovering his hands over her stomach and wiggling his fingers playfully. "It's tickle time!"
With that, he began wiggling his fingers into Lea's stomach and sides.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" Lea laughed, wiggling around from the tickling. "NAHAHAHAHAHAHAT TICKLE TIME! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!"
"Cootchie, cootchie, coo!" He cooed with a smile. "Who's got a hungry, ticklish tummy?"
"IHIHIHIHIHIHI told you! I'm NAHAHAHAHAT hungry!" Lea argued in giggling fits.
"Then why is your tummy growling?" Neil asked before getting a sneaky idea and moving his hands towards Lea's feet. "My son always laughs when I do this."
He wiggled his fingers rapidly into the soles of the girl's feet.
This sent Lea into hysterics, throwing her head back from laughing so much. Even squirming from ticklish agony.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHAHAHAP IT! DON'T TIHIHIHIHICKLE MY FEEHEEHEEHEET!" Lea begged through her laughter.
"Oh? I think I just hit the jackpot," he said, grinning. "Your feet are your tickle spot, huh?"
With that, he tickled her feet all over, not missing an inch of her feet.
"PLAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAS! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, MAKE IT STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!" Lea shouted, starting to lose her strength in struggling. "NO, NO MOHOHOHOHORE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
He grinned. "You gonna tell me the truth then?" He asked, now tickling her sides. "Or do I need to give you some raspberries?"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FORGEHEHEHEHET IT!" Lea shook her head, still in stitches. "I'M NAHAHAHAHAHAHAT A HERO! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Okay, then."
Neil moved the girl's shirt up just a little to expose her stomach and he took a deep breath, blowing a giant raspberry right over Lea's bellybutton.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Lea squealed before dissolving into laughter once again. She felt ticklish tears forming in her eyes. "PLASTIC MAHAHAHAHAHAN! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Sorry, kid, but unless you confess, your tummy is getting more raspberries," he said, blowing another giant raspberry into her bellybutton while he tickled her feet again with one hand and tickled her underarms with another hand.
The blonde teen couldn't take it anymore. She was near her limit and had to make this torture end.
"ALL RIGHT, YOU WIN! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I LIHIHIHIHIED!" Lea confessed, ticklish tears coming down her cheeks. "I'M A SUPER HEROINE!"
Chuckling, Neil let her up, catching the tired teen in his arms and holding her as if he was her own father. "I wouldn't call it lying, but rather just protecting yourself," he said, giving her a playful boop on the nose. "But you can trust me, Lea. My wife, Woozy, and I won't go spilling your secret to anyone. I promise."
Lea sighed in relief. "Okay...I'll be honest now...I am a superheroine Blue Lantern. And I'm partnered with Green Lantern. But I swear I don't recall stopping Kite Man and the fact that it involved one of my favorite animals. I honestly thought you were making that up just to trick me to expose my secret."
He smiled and shook his head. "Nope, I'm not making that up," he said. "I think your ring was protecting you and formed the projections as a means to defend yourself. One rabbit even let Woozy hold it and the warrior girl rabbit even was gentle with my son."
This made the blonde teen blink in realization. "Wait a minute...Is that why my ring keeps running low on power very occasional night? Because I'm constructing in my sleep without realizing?"
"I think so," he said with a nod before looking worried. "Have you...been in danger recently, Lea? Like more so than usual?"
"By 'in danger', you mean kidnapped or hunted by villains during my sleep-constructing nights?" Lea specified. "No, not really. Maybe it has something to do with my stress levels in balancing school, sports, family time, Blue Lantern training, Blue Lantern crime-stopping, and time for myself. I know I was very exhausted yesterday when doing my homework interview with you."
He nodded. "That's not good, you being stressed out," he said. "Maybe you should talk to Hal about easing up on the training and missions. You can still be a hero and jump in when needed, but it sounds like you really need a break, kiddo. What happens if you get too exhausted to even do missions?"
Lea sighed, as she got her Lantern battery back. "You might have a point. I definitely need to work on that. Speaking of recharging, I got to recharge my Lantern ring so it will be fully charged and ready."
"No worries," he said, having handed her the Lantern battery. "Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes. I'm not about to have you go back home on an empty stomach." He playfully poked her stomach, which growled in reply. "Wow and I thought my son's tummy was a growler."
"Hey!" Lea exclaimed, unable to stop giggling. "Okay, I'll stay for breakfast. It would be rude not to accept anyway."
"And I'd tickle you if you tried to skip breakfast," he said teasingly. "Guess now that I'm a dad, I'm concerned about any kid along with my own."
"So, I've noticed. Not too different from another hero I know," Lea stated, as she took a seat on the couch to charge her ring. "I don't suppose you're familiar with the Green Lantern oath?"
"Yeah. I've heard Hal and Guy recite it several times," he said. "Is the Blue Lantern oath the same?"
"Well, not exactly. It's a bit different for me. Watch," Lea stated, placing her ringed hand at the center battery before closing her eyes to focus. "In fearful day, in raging night, With strong hearts full, our souls ignite, When all seems lost in the War of Light, Look to the stars, For hope burns bright!"
The light grew bright and Plastic Man shielded his eyes until the glare died down and he smiled. "That's a cool oath," he said. "I can see why the Blue Lantern Ring chose you. You have a lot of hope in you, kiddo, more than you realize."
"Thanks," Lea replied, rubbing the back of her head in a bashful way. "If you think the oath is neat, then wait until you see my Lantern alter ego."
He looked surprised and then smiled. "I promise, if you do show me, I will keep your secret," he promised.
Nodding, Lea took a few steps back and brought her ring up to show her Blue Lantern form.
He blinked and smiled. "Huh, the rabbit warrior last night had a suit similar to yours," he said. "And blue really suits you, kid."
"Thanks," Hope/Lea said, blushing a bit. "I go by Midnight Hope in this form. Saves confusion in being called Blue Lantern instead of Green Lantern."
"Midnight Hope? That's an interesting name," Plastic Man said. "And I agree."
"Thanks," Lea/Hope said, blushing a bit from the compliment before detransforming. "So...We still on for breakfast?"
"You better believe it," he said. "Or I'll tickle you again." He wiggled his fingers at her playfully.
Lea squealed, taking a step back and covering her tickle spots. "Don't even dare!"
He chuckled before moving and scooping her up, putting her on his back to give her a piggy-back ride. "Come on. Let's go get the little guy and Woozy and then we're off to breakfast," he said.
Lea chuckled. "Fair enough. I can only imagine the crazy night you all had to deal with involving my blue constructs while I was sleeping."
"Eh, no crazier than usual stuff," he said, smiling. "I'm just glad you got a good night's sleep. You needed it."
They found Woozy coming out with Baby Plas and the group headed to the dining room, where Neil's wife was dishing out breakfast. She smiled. "Come eat it while it's nice and hot," she said.
Neil extended his neck and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. "It looks and smells wonderful, honey," he said. "How did I get so lucky?"
Lea smiled when seeing Plastic Man and his lovely wife. "Thank you, Mrs. O'Brian. I feel very honored that you took the trouble to make all of this."
"Oh, it was no trouble at all, honey," the lady said, smiling. "I often make large breakfasts just in case we have a friend show up."
"You mean besides Mr. Winks?" Lea asked, thumbing the gentleman feeding Baby Plas. "Also, nice to meet you in person. Lea Thompson."
"It's nice to meet you too, dear," the lady said. "And yes, there have been times when the other heroes have shown up. Blue Beetle himself stopped by for breakfast on his way to wherever he was going."
Lea nearly choked on drinking water when hearing this, almost doing a spit take. She coughed to get it out of her system. "Blue Beetle...had breakfast here?!"
"Sure has, along with Bats and several others," Plastic Man said. "You okay, kiddo?"
"Yeah...Just drank from the wrong pipe in my throat," Lea assured, coughing again to get the water out. "I'm fine."
He chuckled. "Good. Wouldn't want your uncle Hal coming after me if you were hurt," he joked.
Lea looked away bashfully. "Right...I take it you've had a couple team-ups with Green Lantern?"
"Just a few," he admitted. "None as impressive as you've had though. You and Flash took out Scarecrow and you've helped the Lanterns out so much. You even got Batman to give you a compliment. Do you know how hard it is to get a compliment from him?" He grinned. "I'm so jealous of you, girl," he said, but his tone was playful, so she knew he was just joking.
"Oh...You heard about that?" Lea asked, blushing. "It wasn't much. Just trying to help. And we weren't the only ones there. Spectre was helping in the shadows."
"Yeah, but from what Spectre told us, you took down Scarecrow with his own fear gas. He simply guided you on what to do. Spectre usually doesn't do that, so for him to guide you, you definitely caught his attention," Plastic Man said.
"Yeah. He's all about justice and the guilty paying for their crimes," Woozy said. "I wonder what made him decide to help you out."
"...I have no idea," Lea admitted, rubbing her own neck. "I was only doing my part and standing my ground to help Flash. Even use my heal mantra to cure the fear poison out of his system."
Plastic Man's wife smiled. "A selfless hero," she said. "I'm glad one of the rings chose you, Lea."
"Thanks, Mrs. O'Brian. Just doing what any Lantern would do," Lea stated. "And I didn't give up hope."
"Make sure you never do, even when things seem bleak," Plastic Man said as they finished eating. "Come on. I'll take you up to the Watchtower. GL should be up there."
"Okay. Thank you for the delicious breakfast, Mrs. O'Brian," Lea said, standing up from her seat. "I better get my stuff and double check I didn't forget anything else."
"Good idea. Don't want to not have a light if you lose your way," Neil said teasingly.
"Neil!" His wife scolded with a laugh.
Chuckling, Lea did one more check on her backpack to verify she had everything. She then got out her journal to notice a bookmark in it. Curious, Lea opened it to see her interview notes were completed. Some not written in her hand writing.
"Hey, Plas? Did you finish answering my questions for me last night after I passed out suddenly?" Lea asked.
"Yes," he said. "Hope you don't mind."
The blonde teen smiled gently. "Not at all. I'll be sure to use what you wrote and try to put it all together for my assignment. I definitely made the right choice to have you as part of my redemption-themed topic."
"I'm honored you picked me to interview, kid," he said. "If you have any more questions, just let me know."
"Will do," she promised as they headed up to the Watchtower.
A week later, Lea received her paper back after having turned it in on Monday and her eyes widened as she saw that she got an A+ on her paper.
She ran home to show her parents, who were ecstatic and Lea called Hal with her ring, and he was proud of her. "I didn't doubt you'd get a good grade on it," he said.
"Is Plastic Man at the Watchtower?" She asked. "I want to show him my grade and thank him in person."
"Yeah, he's up here," Hal said. "Hold on, I'll teleport you in."
She transformed into Midnight Hope and was soon beamed up into the Watchtower, seeing Hal watching the cameras while Plastic Man greeted her. "Hey, kiddo," he said, grunting in surprise as she glomped him in a hug. "What's this for?" He asked.
She showed him her graded assignment and he was stunned before grinning. "Great job," he said. "You earned it."
"Thank you for helping me to get that grade," she said.
"You're welcome, kid."
Just then, an alert came on screen and Martian Manhunter came up from the floor. "We've got multiple bank heists going on," he said.
"Sounds like a mission for us," Plastic Man said.
Hal nodded. "Hope, you up to teaming up with Plastic Man to take care of the crooks?" He asked.
"Yes, sir," she said.
"Good luck then," he said as he beamed both her and the stretchy hero down to Earth. Plastic Man smiled.
"Come on, Hope," he said. "Let's take them down."
"Right with you, Plas," she said with a grin as they swooped into the battle together.
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