Another collab by Redbat132 and myself. :)
Batman: Brave And The Bold belongs to DC Comics and Warner Brothers. Lea/Midnight Hope belongs to Redbat132. :)
References and spoilers to the Batman Brave and Bold 11th episode of the 2nd season 'Chill of the Night!'.
In honor of Kevin Conroy, who passed away two years ago. He voiced Phantom Stranger in the Batman Brave and Bold Series…among his other famous roles as Batman in several animated shows.
Understanding Chilling Pasts
Located inside her house where she's on her own, Lea was sitting down worried in thought…and for once, it wasn't about school or her duties as a Blue Lantern.
She was worried about a villain actually being right about something.
Flashback...
"The Dark Knight may have done several good deeds, but deep down the man has his own skeletons in his Batcaved closet. Some that are an endanger to both villains like my mentor and heroes like you." Hatty said.
Midnight Hope couldn't believe her ears. "No, you're wrong," she said.
"Whether you believe me or not, I don't trust Batman. And neither should you," The young Hatter concluded. "He had files on a newbie like Blue Beetle that nearly got him annihilated like the others. What makes you think that he doesn't have the same with you? Or any of us?"
The heroine still refused to believe him. She was sure Batman had his reasons. "You...You don't know what you're talking about," she said firmly.
"Don't say that I didn't warn you. Still...Please, be careful."
Flashback end...
Batman being a danger? Such an idea would normally be rather absurd, but something about the encounter just made it nearly impossible for Lea to brush aside.
Batman, the legendary Crime Fighter and hero who never gave up, was responsible...for another person's death?
From what she knew from talking with Flash and her uncle, Batman didn't use guns at all. They couldn't say why, but Hal wondered if it was because of something that had happened to Batman that he wouldn't talk about.
Still, the very idea was simply just not set right with the Blue Lantern. She had seen him battle criminals and he never took it too far. He would fight the criminals into submission, but even then, he also used traps to catch criminals. Sometimes the criminals would get knocked out, but that was it. They were never hurt so bad that they didn't make it.
"Ugh! I just don't know," she said to herself as she looked at the photos that she had been given. It certainly didn't paint Batman in a good light, but at the same time, Lea's intuition was saying the pictures weren't showing the whole story. "I need to ask someone about this, but who? And I don't want this getting back to Batman."
She considered asking Spectre, but the ghostly hero was off on a mission with Wonder Woman, Superman, and Fire. She sighed. "Maybe I'm just letting this doubt cloud my judgment," she said aloud.
Little did she know, someone was listening to her and watching her curiously, but also patiently.
"I think I need some time away from the subject, for now," Lea sighed, grabbing her music player to listen to some upbeat songs to help focus better.
As she did so, her sixth sense suddenly tingled and she paused a moment; gazing around her room in having a sneaky feeling she was being watched. But after a moment of nothing looking out of place or suspicious, she shook her head.
"Okay…I'm definitely being paranoid for no reason," she said, putting on her headphones and taking a deep breath as she pressed the 'play' button on her music player, allowing the music to carry her into a state of relaxation.
She then sat down in a meditation position where Lea closed her eyes and focused on clearing her thoughts. Around doing so, Lea/Hope suddenly felt a presence where she managed to open her eyes to see everything in complete black...not to mention the music she was earlier listening to was nowhere being heard nor played.
"Huh? I must be meditating very hard again," Lea stated, standing to look around. "Although, I'd expect some more surroundings and life full of hope than a void of nothing."
"Welcome, Blue Lantern," said a mysterious voice that slightly echoed, but sounded calm.
Lea jumped when hearing that voice, getting in a fighting stance. "Who said that?! Is it you, Spectre? I thought you were busy with a mission...unless you just got back."
"I am not Spectre, young one," the voice replied. "My apologies for startling you. It was not my intent."
Just then, a mysterious figure appeared before Lea. He was tall and looked remarkably similar to the Question, but Lea was quick to note that the guy in front of her had a mouth and he wore white gloves. The top half of his face was covered in shadows and his aura was mysterious, but not threatening.
"Who are you?" Lea asked, keeping her guard up. "Are you somehow behind this void thing we're in?"
"I am," he said, his voice still calm. "I am called the Phantom Stranger." He gestured around them. "This is my realm. I have been watching you since sensing you were conflicted with a past truth revealed to you."
Lea blinked. "What are you talking about?" She asked.
"Joe Chill."
She looked at him in shock and he nodded. "I know the story well, Blue Lantern," he said. "I can answer any questions you have, but keep in mind that there are some things I cannot reveal."
"Okay, then...What can you tell me about that fateful night Batman faced Joe Chill?" Lea questioned. "The one involving a black-market auction."
"Very well," he said. "Be warned, Blue Lantern. What you are about to see is not for the faint of heart."
He waved a hand and they were soon in the very place where the fateful night took place. "Remember, nothing can be changed. These events already took place."
"Understandable. This is going to be some kind of memory flashback scene not too different from Christmas Carol or whatever," Lea stated, noticing she and Phantom Stranger were inside some kind of Hawaiian hangout place for grownups. "Uhhh, Mr. Phantom? Are you sure we're in the right place? I thought the incident took place in some warehouse...At least, that's what I was told."
"It did," Phantom Stranger answered simply. "This is the start of a few highlights before we get there. A small understanding from the somewhat beginning, middle, and end."
The young Blue Lantern didn't know what was about to happen yet felt mixed emotions inside. She had her attention to a group of people at the center of a round-clothed table.
"To Louie Moxon, a legend in his own time," a guy responded, standing up with his drink up and giving a toast. "There was never a greater force to be reckoned with."
"Then you've never reckoned with the force of justice," came a familiar voice from above.
Suddenly, Batman entered crashing the party and he looked like he was searching for a specific target. When he found it, Lea was stunned at how he was acting and took a step back. Even noticed several people running for their lives. Lea sensed and noticed something off about Batman here. His face and attacks seemed fueled with anger.
"This…This doesn't feel right. I've never seen Batman so vicious," Lea responded, sounding fearful and concerned. "That couldn't possibly be the same Gotham hero I met…could it?"
Things almost took a dark turn when Batman had the same guy giving the toast near a flaming inferno being held by the tie. It looked like Batman was about to drop him there, but he was only getting answers.
"One of you knows something…and I've got all night to find out who," Batman responded darkly.
"No," Lea said softly, her eyes full of fear. "He...He's not like that. Batman would never be like that."
"Keep in mind, young one, the Dark Knight was closing a case that has been open for many years," Phantom said, his calming voice echoing. "This case was personal, as it involved the death of his family. Deaths he had witnessed as a young boy."
Lea slowly looked at Phantom Stranger in shock. "What...did you just say?" she managed to say with her words in small horror. "You-You're saying that Batman lost his family? You mean this is all out of rage and vengeance for what happened to them?"
"Yes," he said, before gesturing to when Batman had gotten what he was looking for at the Batcave and was heading to the computer.
The Blue Lantern had a few seconds to notice her new surroundings. Judging by the high-tech bat-themed equipment and large souvenirs of past bad guy battles, Lea immediately guessed that she was in the Dark Knight's private Headquarters.
"Whoa…I'm in the Batcave," Lea muttered, still looking up and around. "Well, a memory of it, I mean."
"Pay attention, Blue Lantern," Phantom Stranger responded softly, getting the distracted heroine back to earth. "You are about to miss something very important."
The blonde teen faced forward to where Phantom Stranger was trying to show her and noticed a certain hero she'd met before. "Spectre? What's he doing here?"
"At last, I have a name to go with that face," Batman replied sternly, filing up the name 'Joe Chill'.
"So again, I ask, what will you do with this knowledge?" Spectre asked with a grin showing; as the blonde teen walked next to him.
The Dark Knight looked back halfway; as if looking at Lea. "This ends before dawn," he answered darkly.
For some reason, that comment left goosebumps all over the blonde teen with serious apprehension. It didn't take long for her and Phantom Stranger to watch Batman leave in a hurry.
"Follow him, Blue Lantern," Phantom Stranger instructed.
Although still wrapping her head around such a dark truth, Lea immediately ran after Batman to follow where she found herself on the passenger seat in the Batmobile. Despite something very cool that very few get to be in (since it is all just a flashback memory), the young teen girl had other things in her mind.
One where she just stared at Batman with deep worry and small heartbreak.
"What did you do, Bats?" Lea muttered, wanting to put a comforting hand on the Dark Knight's arm, yet it only went slightly through him like a hologram. "Was Hatty right about you? Did you murder someone responsible for annihilating your family? Do you have dirt on all heroes who see you as a friend just to blackmail and hurt? Am...Am I just a pawn weapon to take down the same way you did to Chill?"
The Dark Knight didn't answer her since it was a flashback, but she still stayed with him and they soon found themselves at a warehouse. Batman got out and Lea went to follow, seeing the scene suddenly change to one where Batman was facing Joe Chill and he seemed ready to throw the final blow. She was behind Batman and gasped when she saw he removed his cowl. She felt frozen on the spot, not daring to move as she didn't want to know the Dark Knight's true identity.
"Batman, no!" She cried out.
She felt a hand on her shoulder. "Easy, young one," Phantom's voice calmed her. "Listen close."
"To what?! Batman's final words before finishing off the lowlife thug personally!?" Lea exclaimed, looking at Phantom Stranger with tears forming in her eyes. "You said it yourself that I can never know too much about Batman's real identity through your word of sharing answers here. If he truly just revealed his identity to the man who destroyed Batman's family before delivering the final blow, then that only meant Batman is nowhere better than the enemies he faced!"
Phantom Stranger gently grabbed her shoulders and turned her to look at the scene. To her shock and also relief, Batman set down Joe Chill, putting his cowl back on as Joe Chill ran out and Lea could hear him a moment later.
"Guys, you gotta help me!" Joe Chill exclaimed. "Way back, I whacked a guy for a job and now that guy's son is back for revenge! That guy's son...is Batman!"
Lea looked back at Batman. "He...He let him go?" She asked.
"Yes," Phantom Stranger said. "The Dark Knight, despite being angry for what happened to his family, did not waver from the vow he took when he first donned his cowl."
"So...He didn't destroy Joe Chill?" Lea questioned, both relieved yet confused. "But wait...if Batman only let Joe Chill go...then how did the thug end up...you know, a goner?"
Phantom Stranger gestured in front of them. "I will warn you. What follows is not easy to see," he cautioned.
Although unsure, Lea kept a calm brave face to see what would happen next. "I understand."
She saw the other villains beating up Joe Chill after hearing his confession before Batman showed up to handle them. During the fight, after firing a weapon that took out the roof, everyone immediately evacuated. Joe Chill, however...wasn't so lucky.
Lea braced herself from the rooftops coming down near her where the dust cleared to see the answer to her question.
She watched as Batman tried to save Joe Chill, but it was too late.
"Funny, unh…because I started you off as Batman…those other mugs made me pay," Joe Chill managed to say, groaning in pain while looking at Batman. "Ugh, yeah…I..I guess you got me…after all."
And so, Lea witnessed the end of Joe Chill…the story behind all her questions.
"So... justice was served in the end?" Lea asked, looking at the ghost-like hero. "Just by coincidence?"
"It would appear so," Phantom Stranger said with a nod, keeping quiet about his theory on Chill's passing.
Just then, around the corner of her eye, Lea noticed someone in the distance shadows of the warehouse. A figure with an old-school camera was carefully taking pictures of Batman and the deceased Joe Chill.
"Wait...Is that...?" Lea asked, only to see everything fade to black again. "Hey, what's happening?! Phantom Stranger, what is going on now?"
"We are returning to our time," he said calmly. "Or in this case for you…waking up from a meditative dream. When you do, use the knowledge you have learned to determine what to do. I know you will make the right choice, Midnight Hope."
The mysterious being vanished as the realm grew darker and she felt herself coming out of her meditative state, mind swirling with what she had seen.
What will Lea do now that she knows the truth? Read on and see.
Please leave Redbat132 and myself a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418