The morning of Greg's eleventh birthday started exactly the way he expected. Someone had raided the party store of all its balloons in the middle of the night, completely ruining the decorations and leading to his party being put off for Saturday. Because Connor and Amaya had been struck with a bad cold a couple days ago, he hardly minded. Or he would have, if it didn't mean that he would have to face this nighttime villain all alone.
The moon hung low in the sky, more yellow and menacing than usual. He climbed to the top of the highest building and scanned the city. Borrowing the Owl glider would've been his best bet, but would also expose him to a surprise attack. In his situation, he planned to use his camouflage to the fullest.
Greg, or Gekko as he called himself during the night, quickly ran through the possibilities. Luna Girl is an obvious suspect. Unlike the other two, she never creates elaborate and ineffectual schemes, or causes property damage for the hell of it. She'd steal the balloons and throw her own party, because if she can't have a birthday party then no one else can.
Night Ninja did steal his birthday cake in the past, and attempted to steal his new race car bed last year, but lately his villainy has hardly been consistent. When he was younger, he would rely on his ninjalinos or prank them with his sticky splats, but in the past year he's become obsessed with trying to vandalize and destroy the town (Smashing the museum's walls in, bulldozing the houses, etc.). Even his loyal ninjalinos seem concerned over his increasingly erratic behavior.
His last suspect was Romeo, and to be honest, he'd prefer him out of the trio. Not that he liked him much, but while the other two have grown in their powers and become harder to stop, he planted his feet in the ground and never bothered to change. His plans became more predictable and even more inane. Lately, Gekko's been getting the impression that Romeo has never taken anything seriously. It felt less like he actually wanted to take over the world and more like he played the part of someone who did. Maybe he was such a fan of superheroes he realized the best way to see them all the time was to be their arch rival?
Gekko shook his head. Five years spent fighting crime, and you get bored. A year ago, he would have thought it was a waste of time to examine the mindsets of the villains they fought, but now he wonders what kind of people they are behind the crimes and theatrics. He's not even sure if Luna Girl is actually human.
He's never spoken a word about any of this to Connor or Amaya. They wouldn't understand. While he considers them his best friends, they're not the most understanding people. Connor has the habit of getting caught up in his own ego, and Amaya can get trapped in her own head. Out of the trio, he likes to think that his empathy is the best trait he has.
Realizing he's getting distracted again, he settled on the most likely culprit being Luna Girl. Gekko then activated his Super Gekko Camouflage and and climbed down as fast as he could, rushing through the streets for any type of danger. So far, he hasn't spotted any huge parties, or plans to lift the city with balloons and take over, or anything equally ridiculous. He passed by the front of the party supply store a few times, before stopping and checking to see if there were any entry points that might reveal the true culprit.
While he was checking the window panes, he heard a crash, and had only a second to react before the wooden canopy collapsed on top of him.
He woke up to the sound of familiar, high pitched voices. Small hands were shaking him with a fervour he never thought possible. With a groan, Gekko managed to lift himself to his feet.
The ninjalinos cheered, and two of them even jumped up to give him a hug. As much as he didn't like Night Ninja, he's always had a soft spot for the ninjalinos. For the most part, they weren't malicious, but loyal to Night Ninja, or anyone that's nice to them.
Gekko looked to the side to see that they cleared the rubble that landed on top of him. He was lucky that his costume protected him from hard blows like that, or Night Ninja would have killed him.
The thought unnerved him. He pushed Night Ninja out of his mind and lifted up one of the ninjalinos.
"Can you please take me to Night Ninja?" he asked. The ninjalino glanced back at his comrades in uncertainty. Gekko would usually see it as them being hesitant about the idea of betraying their master, but there was something different about them this time.
They were afraid that Night Ninja might actually try to kill him.
Gekko thought of Connor and Amaya, at home and defenseless, and said, "Please."
The ninjalino nodded to the others, and they all ticked their heads, vaulting behind Gekko for support. He put down the one he was holding, and it scurried off in the direction of Night Ninja.
He was always nervous when dealing with Night Ninja, due to his new violent streak, but tonight his heart pounded faster than it ever has before, and he feared that if he didn't get there before it was too late, it might just stop beating altogether.
Along the way, Gekko tried to convince himself that Night Ninja wouldn't do anything to them. As far as he knew, he wasn't even aware of their civilian identities. Romeo knew, but all he does is hide them in a cage somewhere when he gets the chance, so it's never anything to worry about.
Before his imagination could get ahead of him, he pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind and focused on the task at hand. He tried not to think about how Night Ninja was willing to blow a building on him, or anything remotely close to the 'k' word.
The ninjalino stopped in front of the school gates, and dashed behind a bush. Gekko and the other ninjalinos followed.
On the roof of the school, Night Ninja was facing the other direction, holding a purple splat in his hand. Unlike his annoying but harmless sticky splats, these imploded upon being chucked at something.
Gekko motioned for the ninjalinos to stay where they were, then activated his camouflage and walked down the courtyard and up the building. He crept up behind Night Ninja, planning to grab the bomb splat, when he disappeared in a puff of smoke. In an instant, he was on the top of the roof, holding the bomb splat over his head. His eyes were red and puffy, and despite the mask, Gekko could tell that he felt nothing but disdain for him.
"Go away!" he yelled, his voice slightly raw. "Or I'll blow the school to smithereens!"
"Night Ninja, calm down." Gekko said, barely able to raise his own voice. By the looks of it, he hadn't stooped so low as to threaten his friends, but blowing up the school isn't much better.
"..." He glared at Gekko like he despised him to his core. He then squeezed one of his fists and said, "I've had enough of you and your stupid friends! Am I not enough of a threat that those two couldn't even be bothered to show up!?"
He didn't know whether he should try to reassure him or fight him. Night Ninja blinked and looked away for a few seconds, staring wistfully at the courtyard. Gekko took this as his chance to tackle him, causing the both of them to tumble off the roof. He dropped the bomb splat and it landed on the outdoor tables, blowing them to pieces. Chunks of wood flew over the school gates, with one large piece barreling towards Gekko. He narrowly crawled out of the way before collapsing from exhaustion.
Night Ninja was only a little better, lifting himself off the ground and struggling to even stay standing. The ninjalinos ran over to help him up, but he swatted them away.
"Gekko," he said, clenching his fists. "I hate you!" he stumbled over to where Gekko was and kicked him in the stomach. "This isn't over! Get up and fight me!"
Gekko opened his eyes, and pulled himself up to his knees. "Stop it…." he mumbled.
Night Ninja's eyes were alight with rage. "Get up already! What are you even here for if you're gonna just sit there?"
"I said calm down!" Gekko shouted, tackling Night Ninja to the ground. As unusual as the situation was to him, he realized that, for once, the direct approach won't work.
"Fine," he grunted, "you win. Now get off."
"...Where are the balloons?" Gekko asked after a long pause.
Night Ninja's eyes widened, and he wheezed trying to hold back his laughter. "You went through all this trouble for some stupid balloons?"
"Uh, some kid needs them for his birthday party."
"I popped them. The whole thing was just so I could get you and your stupid friends to the party store. Happy?"
He felt a bit of sadness hearing that. "Listen, it might be kinda weird to hear this from your enemy, but is something wrong?" He had no idea what to say next. He knew next to nothing about the civilian lives of the villains they fought, and usually he'd rather it stay that way. "Not asking for your life story, but if you wanna let out some steam, it's fine. Luna Girl does it a lot, sometimes even Romeo-"
"Gekko." Night Ninja grunted, catching his attention. He almost never calls him that. "Out of all you PJ losers, I hate you the most. Wanna know why?" He grabbed Gekko by the wrists while he was distracted and flipped him over. "You're a coward! A pathetic, lazy coward! You can't even take me out on your own anymore! Stop pretending like nothing's changed, or reality's gonna hit and before you realize it, you'll lose everything you care about." He climbed off of Gekko, brushing the dirt off his costume.
"You'll see. There's no time to care about your enemy. If that's all you're good for, then you're worth nothing." Night Ninja finished his rant and trudged out the school gate, followed by his hesitant ninjalinos. Gekko barely registered the fact that he was putting more weight on his left leg than he normally does.
"Happy birthday, Greg!" Connor and Amaya cheered as they ate slices of triple layer chocolate cake on Greg's stoop outside his house.
"You're gonna love what I got you." Connor bragged, putting his cake down to wrap his arm around Greg's shoulder. "It took me a week to find the perfect gift."
"Sorry about your balloons." Amaya mumbled through a mouthful of cake. "Who did it, anyway? Did they give you trouble?"
Greg hesitated. "I-It was Luna Girl. She wanted to decorate her, uh, lunar base."
"I thought she didn't even like reptiles!" Amaya groaned. "Then again, she does whatever she wants."
"I like these ugly balloons, so they're all mine!" Connor said in a high pitched voice. Amaya and Connor broke into laughter, but Greg barely managed a chuckle.
Amaya noticed Greg's silence and elbowed Connor in the ribs. "Not that they were ugly or anything." Connor corrected himself. "I thought they were nice."
"Yeah." Greg muttered, squishing little chunks of cake flat on his plate. Amaya looked at him with concern.
"If you're not hungry, then do you wanna go inside and open your presents?" she asked. He gave her a slight nod, so she rushed in to tell his parents. Connor stood up, shooting a glance at Greg.
"What's up? You've been acting weird all week." Connor said, then laughed. An awkward, forced laugh. "Quit being so mysterious and spit it out."
Greg bit his lip. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he quickly spat out what was on his mind.
"I'm quitting the PJ Masks."