Imprinting
“Haha! I got you beat!”
“What no way! I want a rematch!”
“Ugh you two.”
The team was spread out in the entertainment room. Wally and Robin were challenging each other to a racing video game while the rest lounged on the couch. Kaldur held a book in his hand and Artemis was off to side trying to finish a homework assignment.
Just then Red Tornado walked into the room. “Batman wants all of you in the main room.”
“Okay,” the team chorused. They started to follow after Red Tornado when they noticed three yellow fuzz balls trailing after their advisor/babysitter.
“Are those ducks?” Artemis whispered.
“I think so,” Wally said.
“Why are ducklings following Red Tornado?” Kaldur questioned.
“Maybe he found them?” Robin suggested.
“I think they’re cute!” Megan giggled.
“I thought this was the wrong season for ducklings,” Superboy said.
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Conner was at a nearby park waiting for Megan to finish her cheerleading practice. He was passing by the pond just in time to see three ducklings hatch from their eggs. “Huh, cute,” he said.
Then he checked his watched and saw that Megan’s practice should be over. Conner walked back onto the field just as Megan waved goodbye from her teammates.
“There you are Conner!” she said with a bright smile. “Sorry for making you wait.”
Then Megan looked down toward the ground. “Oh, ducklings!”
Conner looked down to see the same ducks he had seen at the pond had followed him back to school. “They must have followed me from the park,” he said. He scratched his head, unsure what to do.
“We’ll take them back then,” Megan said.
-Half an Hour Later-
Kaldur sighed. He looked at his two alien teammates. Megan held in her hands two little ducklings while the last one wandered around Conner’s feet.
“Can we keep them?” Megan asked.
Conner at least looked sheepish. “They kinda followed me home.”
Resisting the urge to slam his hand to his forehead, Kaldur merely sighed again. “I guess.”
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“Robin.”
“Yes?”
“What are you doing?”
“Giving the ducklings some new clothes.”
Indeed. Robin had gathered the six ducklings into a box and was dressing them. So far one had a black shirt with the s-shield on it. Another one a little cape and the Robin insignia on it. Kaldur could see a red shirt, a green mask, a white shirt with a red x and a yellow shirt with a lightning bolt.
“And those two?” Kaldur asked. He pointed to the two newest ducks standing next to the Robin duckling. One had a Batman cowl and the other was wearing a suit and a small domino mask.
“Bat!Duckling and A!Duckling.”
“A!Duckling?”
Robin waved his hand absentmindedly. “Agent A, you’ll meet him one day.”
“And where did you get those two ducklings?”
“Bought them at the store.”
“Why?”
“Because we can’t have team ducklings without a Bat!Duckling. And you don’t know it yet, but you can’t have a Bat!Duckling and Robin!Duckling without an A!Duckling.”
“… I see…”
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“When did Kid Mouth’s duckling get shoes?”
“I put them on and his new name is Speedy!”
“…”
The entire team looked at Wally. “What!” the speedster protested. “Roy gave up rights to that name!”
“…”
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Batman grumbled as he walked into a room in the Hall of Justice. It was time for the weekly meeting of the Justice League. It was more of a ‘let’s hang out!’ party though.
“Bruce, what do you have following you?” Barry asked.
Batman looked down to see two ducklings rolling in his cape. He sighed. “Ask Red Tornado,” he grumbled. Just then the red robot walked in three ducklings following after him.
Barry blinked. “Okay…”