The three superheroes considered the security camera feed. Catboy shook his head. "Can't be," he said.
"Her hair is the same, though," observed Owlette.
"Nothing else is," said Gekko.
"The board? The magnet? The moths?"
"But the outfit," said Catboy.
"Maybe," pondered Gekko, "this is someone else and the real Luna is in trouble."
Owlette folded her arms. "I'm pretty sure that's not what's going on."
"There's only one way to know. To the Gekko-Mobile!"
The ride was quick. The Gekko-Mobile halted in front of an intersection, and the PJ Masks jumped out.
The Luna Board floated overhead. Its rider faced away from them. "Stop right there!" shouted Gekko. "Whoever you are!"
"Whoever I am?" asked the woman on the board. The board descended. "Of course you know who I am. Or you thought you knew."
Catboy sucked in his breath. "Luna," he said, "what happened?"
Luna's mask and boots were familiar, but nothing else was. Her skin-tight gray undergarment was gone. All she wore now was leather. Shiny black leather, and not much of it. There was a bra; there was a thong; there was nothing else. Her arms, legs, midriff, and back were exposed. It was sensuous, revealing, and provocative.
"I've been thinking about this for a while," Luna said. "This is who I want to be."
"Really?" asked Owlette. "You look cold."
"Ask your friends. I think they'll say I'm hot."
Catboy and Gekko were staring at Luna. Their eyes wandered up and down her body, tracing the outline of her bra and thong and ogling her bare skin. Their faces had a vacant look, as if they were unable to think because all the blood in their body had rushed to some other place.
Owlette knew that look. She had caught both of them making it at her more than once. It was an uncivilized, animal look. It hinted at primal urges and made her uncomfortable. Yet it could also be exciting. Knowing that her body could trigger those instincts made her feel seductive and voluptuous. And it made her feel powerful knowing that her shape, her movements, and her voice could take control of them.
Except that this time, it wasn't her that had done it. "Both of you, stop it!" Owlette said, tapping them on their shoulders a little harder than she meant to.
"Huh? Oh," said Gekko.
"Sorry, what's going on?" said Catboy. "My mind kinda wandered."
"We were just leaving," said Owlette.
Luna said, "I hope not. Wouldn't you rather play for a while?" She locked her arms behind her head and thrust her chest forward.
Owlette got in front of Catboy and Gekko, blocking their view of Luna's chest. "She's not up to anything tonight. There's nothing to see." That was a lie, she knew. Luna's breasts were definitely bigger than her own.
"There's plenty to see. If they're interested." Luna swiveled her hips.
Owlette scowled. "We need to talk. Just girls. No boys, no moths." She grabbed Luna's arm and flew into the air, pulling Luna with her.
The girls soared over the city. "What's gotten into you?" asked Owlette. "You've never been like this before. Is it Romeo? Did he do something to you?"
Luna harrumphed. "No, it's me. This is the real me."
"It sure doesn't seem like it. You wanted to steal stuff and go to the moon. You were clever and sneaky, and you had a temper and you fought with your moths a lot. And now," said Owlette, "I don't get it. I still think it looks cold."
"It's worth it, though," said Luna. "Riding this board gives me great abs. And check these out." She cupped her breasts. "Look at 'em! Why shouldn't I show off? You saw what I did to them!"
Owlette almost fell out of the air. "That's what you were after? You wanted them to leer at you?"
"I like the attention. You'd like it, too, if you could do that to them." Luna sighed. "But I guess you can't. You're not as … attractive … as I am." She jiggled her breasts. "They'll always be looking around for someone with more to offer them."
Owlette felt her cheeks getting flushed. She was pretty sure that her breasts were average. Shouldn't average be good enough? But Catboy and Gekko had been gaping at Luna. Maybe they preferred larger breasts. She'd never heard them say one way or the other. If she was too small for them, there wasn't anything she could do about it. Maybe she would grow a little more. Or maybe Luna was right and they'd never be satisfied. She didn't want to admit that to Luna, though.
"They tell me they like this size," Owlette lied.
"Sure they do! Of course they like your flat little girl chest, that's why they were looking at mine! How about we go back there right now and ask them which they like better, hmm?" asked Luna. "I'll never understand how you got two boyfriends."
Owlette's face felt like it was on fire. "They're not my boyfriends!" she protested.
"Oh? Then why did it bother you when they looked at my boobs? That's the best thing that's happened tonight." Luna smirked and sang, "I—made—you—jealous—!" She laughed and flew into the distance.
As Owlette descended to the Gekko-Mobile, she could see Catboy and Gekko talking. But when they noticed her, they stopped. She could guess what the conversation had been about.
When Owlette landed, Catboy asked, "What's going on with Luna?"
"Let's just go," said Owlette. "I don't want to talk about it."
It was another uncomfortably silent car ride. Owlette couldn't get Luna's sing-song taunt out of her head. "I made you jealous"? Luna hadn't made her jealous! She was just trying to complete a mission. Besides which, there was nothing for her to be jealous about. Catboy and Gekko were her friends, not her boyfriends. Their relationship was innocent. No, that wasn't true. There were times when she looked a little too closely at their skin-tight bodysuits, and when they looked a little too closely at hers. But they still weren't her boyfriends.
So why did Luna's words keep echoing through her head? Owlette felt the truth rising up within her, escaping from a place she normally kept locked away. She didn't want to admit the truth. She wanted to find excuses for her behavior. She wanted to rationalize her thoughts. None of it changed the truth. The truth was: Luna was right; Owlette was jealous.
The truth made Owlette angry. She was angry at herself, because Catboy and Gekko were supposed to be just her friends. She was angry at Luna for trying to seduce them. But most of all she was angry at the boys. They should have known better. They should have kept themselves under control. They should have let her have them all to herself.
They were back inside HQ. Owlette jumped out of the Gekko-Mobile and got in front of Catboy and Gekko. "Hold on guys," she said. "I need to know something. What were you thinking when Luna went"—she locked her arms behind her head—"like this?"
The boys didn't say anything. Catboy's cheeks turned red.
"Or like this?" Owlette swiveled her hips.
The boys looked away.
Owlette felt her eyes growing damp. She sniffled. "Is this—am I—not working for you?"
"It's not that," said Catboy.
Gekko said, "You look … uh … nice."
Owlette burst into tears.
Suddenly there were two pairs of arms around her, gentle arms that caressed her and held her and wrapped her like a blanket of warmth and affection. Owlette rested her head on Gekko's shoulder and held Catboy's hand. They rocked her back and forth and whispered soothing sounds into her ears. Through her tears of terrible shame, they told her it was okay to cry. She wanted to run away and never see them again. She had just humiliated herself, in front of them and for them, and now they were comforting her, and that made her shame worse. But her legs were too weak to move her, too weak even for her to stay standing. They lifted her in their arms and carried her inside. They set her on a couch and sat next to her, one on each side, fingers entwined in hers, cuddling her and drying her tears.
When Owlette was finished crying, she told them about Luna, about being jealous and angry and possessive and all the feelings she wasn't supposed to have about her friends. They listened, nodding in silent sympathy, not speaking or judging. She was still afraid they would leave her. But when she was done telling, they stayed.
Owlette said, "You've both been so nice to me, and I still feel mad. I don't think I deserve you."
"Really? Because I think you have every right to be mad," said Catboy. "When Luna did that, I knew I should have looked away. I was looking at her at the same time I was telling myself that I should look away. I kept looking. It's hard to look away. Especially when someone's trying as hard as she was."
"Wasn't I trying hard, too?"
Gekko shook his head. "You were trying too hard. You didn't do it because you wanted to. You only did it because of Luna. It didn't look like you. Beside, I like you even without that stuff."
Owlette leaned her head back and looked at the ceiling. "Oh, I get it. You like me because of my personality. You don't like these," she said, pointing at her breasts.
"No, I do like them," sighed Gekko. "I like everything about you. But I'm not going to walk up and grope you. And I don't always know how to say it."
Catboy smiled. "I know how to say it," he said. He slid off the couch and dropped to one knee. He took one of Owlette's hands in his and asked, "Owlette, I love you. Will you go out with me?"
"Oh my gosh," she said. "Really?"
Quickly, Gekko knelt next to Catboy and held Owlette's other hand. "Um, me too?" he asked. "Both of us at the same time?"
Owlette's jaw fell open. "Are you serious?" she asked.
"Yes," they both said.
"Then yes," Owlette said. "Yes, yes, yes, a thousand, a million times yes! I'll go out with you both." She sniffled. "Oh, now I'm crying again. But they're happy tears this time!"