Chapter 3

"Let us go, you madman!" Hope cried out, struggling to get free.

"Ugh, you need a lesson it what colors go with what!" Huntress snapped at the villain.

"I don't need them to color coordinate," Crazy Quilt said, grinning. "All they need to do is hypnotize people to do as I say. They'll look at the clothes and be so mesmerized that nothing will stop me from taking over Gotham City and then the world!"

He laughed and walked off while the two heroines tried to get free, but the fabric had bound them pretty tightly. "Ugh, this is really hard to get free of!" Hope said.

"Typical. You young heroes lack the experience people like me have," Huntress remarked.

"Well, at least, I'm not making googly eyes at Batman every chance I get!" Hope snapped back, really mad right now. "Ugh! Why Batman thought it was a good idea to have us be a team, I'll never know. I never even wanted to work with you at all!"

"He didn't," Huntress said. "I asked him if we could team up."

Hope then paused when slowly looking at Huntress in disbelief. "Wait…YOU convinced Batman to have our team up in the first place? Why?!"

"I wanted to know how a young kid like you was able to get the attention of the Dark Knight and wanted to see what you knew about him, hoping I could either learn or get anything by teaming up with Batman."

"...Are you kidding me?" Hope asked softly, her anger starting to rise. "This was all another attempt to be with the Dark Knight?"

Huntress rolled her eyes. "You make it sound so dramatic," she said.

The Blue Lantern felt her face red. Not from embarrassment, but from being mad. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! I WAS SO RIGHT ABOUT YOU BEING SUPERFICIALLY SHALLOW!"

"Watch it, rookie!" Huntress said angrily. "You're just jealous of me!"

"Oh, please! What could I possibly be jealous about involving you, of all people?" Hope questioned, her anger spiking. "That you're some supermodel mercenary with no care of other people's feelings besides yourself? That it's pretty but bad girls like you who treat people like garbage? The only jealousy I once felt was when you had Blue Beetle like you and yet, despite him being blinded by how bad cool you are, you still kicked him to the curb!"

"He's not my type," the purple-clad heroine said dismissively.

"I'd be embarrassed to be anything like you! And whatever delusional or fake feelings you're trying to pull here? It's not Batman as your perfect match!" Midnight Hope remarked. "If anything, it sounds more like that Question guy I keep hearing about!"

Huntress looked like she had just been slapped at being called out and she looked away, having nothing to say to refute what the young hero said.

Hope then sighed, after letting out how she felt. "Look, Huntress…I get that we don't like each other, but we still have a mission to do. If we're going to have any luck in beating Crazy Quilt's evil plans, then the best strategy is to work together as a real team."

The purple-clad heroine looked at her. "How do you propose we do that?" She asked, but her tone was genuinely curious.

"I know you're flexible, but there is something I have that you don't, no offense," the Blue Lantern said, using her ring to summon a pair of giant scissors, which got to work on freeing her. Huntress tried to use her flexibility to get free, but the fabric was too constricting for her flexibility to work. She sighed.

"Alright, guess I need to rely on you to get free," she admitted.

"Okay, hold still," Hope said, carefully manipulating the scissors to cut the fabric holding Huntress captive. In moments, she was free and she looked at Lea, who smiled. "So trying to go after Crazy Quilt one on one won't work because he can focus on either one of us at one time."

"You got a point there, since that's how we got trapped in the first place," Huntress begrudgingly agreed.

"But maybe we can use the fabric against Crazy Quilt," the young heroine said.

The purple-clad heroine snorted. "You plan to make him a dress?" She asked a bit snarky.

"Yes!" The young heroine said with a grin.

More intrigued now than snarky as Lea answered with a straight face, Huntress was curious. "Okay, I'll bite. What's your idea, kid?" She asked.

"I can manipulate the fabrics with my ring and make it so that you can run over the fabric as if you're on the ground. I can make it trap Crazy Quilt when he goes after you. Granted it will take some concentration, but I'm sure it'll be no issue."

The purple-clad heroine's face took on a surprised look before she smiled. "Alright, I'll admit I'm impressed," she said before looking around. "If you can manipulate the fabrics to move, maybe you can use these nearby beams not just for support, but also for stretching the fabric to catch this guy so we can succeed and complete our mission."

"That could definitely work," Hope admitted, taking a deep breath and looking at her partner. "You ready to try this again?"

"Ready," Huntress said.

Using their new plan, both heroines were successful, capturing Crazy Quilt and Huntress blindfolded him. "Now stay put until Batman comes to collect you," she said.

"And don't even try to pull anything," Hope said.

Huntress motioned her to follow her and she did and when they were far enough away, the purple-clad heroine turned to the Blue Lantern. "Hope, I'm still trying to figure out how you knew about Crazy Quilt's traps from a mile away," she said, sounding concerned. "Are you...afraid?"

Hope nearly freaked when hearing Huntress' comment. "Huh?! Wha-What? Me? Afraid of something silly like hypnosis? Pffft, no," she denied, trying to stay calm.

Huntress blinked before smiling. "I didn't say anything about hypnosis," she said genlty.

The young heroine looked worried and Huntress decided on something. "Look, how about a deal?" She offered. "You tell me the truth and I won't tell anyone as long as you don't tell anyone, especially Batman, how poorly I started out on this mission with you." She held out her hand in the offer of a handshake.

"…Okay, deal," Hope sighed, shaking Huntress' hand after a moment. "I appreciate your promises. Very few people know about my little fear…which may or may not be true."

"A fear of hypnosis isn't something to be dismissed," Huntress said firmly. "It's as real as any other fear, but know this, none of the others would ever ridicule you for being afraid of that. You may still have a lot to learn, but you proved yourself to be a quick thinker and thinking outside the box." She smiled. "And that not only saved us but also helped us to succeed."

"Thanks...I guess you're not completely that bad," Midnight Hope admitted, rubbing her neck sheepishly. "Also, sorry about all the harsh stuff I said back there. I normally don't go full rage mode on anyone. And maybe I got carried away on that part about your perfect match being The Question rather than Batman."

Huntress shrugged. "Well, you're not completely wrong," she said. "Batman doesn't do dates. Question may get caught up in his work at times, but...he's a good guy, too."

"True. Not only that, but I know someone in my family who can't stop talking about your heroine costume," Midnight Hope replied. "In a good way, I mean. She would always go to me asking if her costume designs inspired by you look heroic or avant-garde enough."

"Really?" Huntress said in surprise before smiling. "Well, I'm sure your friend's designs are wonderful. Do you think I can see these costumes sometime? Or does she post them online? I'm very curious."

"She's usually private on her work so no one can steal them, but I'll be sure to send her a good word from you and let her know you're interested in seeing her designs," Midnight Hope assured with a small yet kind smile before chuckling. "I know she will never believe me when I tell her about my mission to team up with you. Even I'm still having a hard time believing it myself and it literally happened."

Huntress chuckled with a nod. "Well, we best call Batman," she said. "So that he can take Crazy Quilt to Arkham and we can give our report on the mission."

"Good idea," Midnight Hope agreed, already bringing her ring up to call Batman on a job well done.

"By the way, if the moment ever comes up again where we all need to team up, I wouldn't mind having you as my partner, kid," the purple-clad heroine said.

Hope smiled. "I wouldn't mind that either," she admitted as Batman answered.

"Report?" He asked.

"Ready and waiting for you, Batman."

Around doing this, neither of the two heroes noticed an orange fox with a mask and collar lurking in the shadows grabbing some of Crazy Quilt's tech in his fabric.

Batman soon arrived and he smirked. "Impressive how you captured Crazy Quilt," he said.

"It wasn't easy, but Huntress and I managed to figure out how to turn his own fabric traps against him," Midnight Hope explained.

"Clever," the Caped Crusader said.

"Yeah. There were a few bumps along the way," Hope admitted honestly. "Despite that, things worked out in the end where Crazy Quilt's work has been cut short."

"Good to know," he said. "You two best head up to the Watchtower to give your report. I'll get Crazy Quilt to Arkham."

"Of course. Thank you, Batman," Midnight Hope replied, already flying backwards until knocking over a mannequin by accident that startled her. "GAAHHH! I mean, I meant to do that."

The Blue Lantern forward her hoodie to cover the embarrassed red face showing before making her leave. At least, her interaction with Batman is slightly improving.

Huntress smiled, but didn't say a word as she hopped into her own vehicle and headed for the Watchtower herself.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the secret tunnels below Gotham City, the same fox from earlier was traveling through with a small box carried in the animal's mouth. It didn't take long for the fox to meet her owner/partner.

"There's my little Mad Fox. I trust that you were able to grab what Crazy Quilt was making before getting confiscated by the Batman himself?" The silhouetted figure asked, sounding male.

The fox dropped the box for the figure to see what was inside. After checking, the silhouetted figure smiled deviously before petting the fox.

"Good girl, Spade. I knew you could do it," The silhouetted figure said, petting the fox called Spade before giving her treats. "Here's some blueberries I got from my aunt's garden. She's been more than generous to share her fruits and veggies with me."

After feeding Spade, the figure then grabbed the box and led the way back to his home.

"Whatever Crazy Quilt was working on, it will be more than enough to help me with my goals," The young boy replied to his fox companion. "Hopefully, this will give me an edge to show the Dark Knight what I'm capable of. Or any heroes for that matter."

Oooh! A mystery person? Who are they? We shall see. :)

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GoldGuardian2418