"Hey lizard boy, wanna play?" I threw a ball that hit Gekko on the head, rolling into the museum through the window pane open on the ceiling.
"I'd love to!" he said, then his voice dropped to a more deadpan tone. "Or you could untie us and we can all go home."
"We are going home!" I said, activating my lunar magnet and forming a translucent pink sphere around them so they can survive the trip, then lifted them up. Inside were the PJ Masks, who were dumb enough to get caught in my trap. It's what they get for running off to patrol the city without a single word to me for a week! What am I, chopped liver?
I flew off into the night sky, followed by my luna moths and the disgruntled heroes. Next stop: the moon! There's really no other place I'd like to be, other than earth when something exciting is happening. I then increased the speed on my luna board, trying to get there as fast as possible so I can mess around with them, before they get antsy about the time, beat me, and return to boring old earth.
After a long period of silence, we broke the atmosphere, and at that point we could all see the millions of stars that speckled the sky. Back on earth, the light pollution from the big city an hour over had completely drowned out the beautiful night sky, but here it was allowed to sparkle as much as it wanted.
I picked up the speed even faster, to the protests of Catboy. "Hey, slow down!" he cried, pressed up to the wall of the sphere.
"Luna Girl!" Owlette yelled, trying to fight against the force. Gekko activated his super strength, snapping the ropes, and tried to break the sphere open, before realizing they were already in space and gave up.
I slowed down once I got close enough to the moon, then approached the biggest crater that could be seen. I landed in the very center of it, and it slowly descended into the center of the moon, like a secret elevator. Once we were inside, I dropped the sphere, and it popped.
They landed in a clump, and groaned in pain.
"What a ride…." Catboy mumbled. "Owlette, get off my tail."
"I'm not on your tail." Owlette said.
"Sorry, Catboy." Gekko crawled off of Catboy, and Catboy lifted himself off of Owlette. After a little adjustment, they snapped into combat poses.
"What're you up to this time, Luna Girl?" Catboy said. "And where did you take us?"
"How can we breathe?" Owlette wondered, relaxing in her stance before the other two.
"Uh," I started to say. There's no way I'd tell them that I wanted them to see that I remodeled my moon base. "I heard a legend that, deep within this moon base, is a rock that will power my luna magnet to godly proportions!"
"Really?" Owlette said. "Don't you live here? How did you not know about that?"
"Do you expect me to know every old legend around here?" you said. Owlette shrugged.
"I'm hoping you're not expecting us to get it for you." Catboy said. "We might be friends now, but a luna magnet that powerful only spells trouble."
"And that's why you're here!" I said, jumping on my luna board again and floating above them. "It wouldn't be very fun if I grabbed the rock without any competition, so now it'll be a race."
"A race to this legendary rock, huh?" Catboy said. His stripes began to glow blue as he started some warm-up stretches. "Hope you know what you're up against!"
"Ha!" I laughed. "First one to make it to the rock gets to keep it!"
Owlette and Gekko lined up next to Catboy, while Luna Girl hovered next to them.
"Three….Two….One-go!" I yelled, managing to get a head start against the PJ Masks.
"No fair!" Catboy whined as he managed to get right behind me.
"Well, duh, I'm a villain."
For the first time in a few weeks, the lunar moths started to get antsy again, so I tagged along with whatever they wanted to do that night. While wandering aimlessly in front of the museum, I barely managed to fly out of the way of a car barreling towards the museum.
It crashed into the front door, demolishing that along with creating cracks in the wall. Upon closer inspection, it was actually Romeo's mobile lab. Following him were Owlette and Catboy, who stood ready to fight.
"Stop running!" Owlette yelled. "What kind of trouble are you trying to cause?"
The door popped open, and he shot out on a high speed scooter. "You'll have to catch me and find out, PJ Pests!"
"I got him!" Gekko yelled, intercepting his path and grabbing the scooter with his lizard grip. Romeo then pressed a button on the handlebar, which caused a metal hand to extend from its base, grab Gekko, and throw him into the bushes.
After he escaped, Catboy and Owlette took off after him, while Gekko's head peaked out of the bush.
"You'll get 'em next time, lizard boy." I said, and he pouted and looked away from me.
The time of day I hate most is 12 pm. If I'm ever up at that hour, I'm too tired to do anything, and all the kids at the schools get to play in their dumb playgrounds without me. If I needed something done during the daytime, I'd rather get my moths to do it instead.
But this-this was special. Last week, I missed Greg's birthday. Not that I care that much, but he gave me a piece of cake he saved so I figured a friend would do something back.
Friend. Referring to them that way still made me feel kinda off. I guess technically I'm their friend. I still mess with them, but I really only do it to have fun with stuff I couldn't normally. And they don't seem to hate it, so I assume that's what being friends is like. I doubt Greg's gonna be upset about a surprise birthday gift, anyway.
I walked a good while of the way, earning odd stares from random people.
"Is that a costume?" A lady wearing a big feather hat whispered to the other lady she was with. Hey, look in the mirror, lady!
"Is that a child?" A man in a blue uniform looked right at me, and reached over for his walkie talkie. In a panic, I ran by the nearest corner, and hid in an alleyway. He ran by me, and I ducked back out and cut through a broken fence to get to the school.
The gates were locked during school hours to stop trespassers. Instead, I decided to go around, cutting through the forest and going to the old playground. None of the older kids were at the lunch tables because they were demolished, blown up, or whatever. I don't care.
The playground was nearly deserted, but I spotted Greg and Connor leaning on the jungle gym and talking.
"I think someone threw up over there." Connor said, pointing at one of the swings.
"That's why only the lower grades play here anymore." Greg said.
"At least you can't smell it." Connor laughed.
With a lull in their conversation, I planned to step out from behind a tree when I heard something that made me stop.
"Greg, you can't quit the PJ Masks." Connor said. Greg's natural smile faded and was replaced by a forced one.
"But I did. I quit."
"Why?" Connor put his hand on Greg's shoulder, and he yanked himself away.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Greg!"
"You're fine without me, aren't you?" he said, his voice trembling slightly.
"No, we really do need you." Connor insisted.
"Really?"
"Yeah! Last night would've been a lot easier with you around." Connor began.
"But you won, right?"
"I-I mean, we did, but it was hard!"
Greg bit his lip.
"Actually, I almost got my tail blown off, uh, and Amaya had a hard time rescuing me-and it was way too hard! We need you back!"
"Connor." Greg said.
"What?"
"Can't you see? There hasn't been a single time that you've ever needed me to stop a villain. Not since a long time ago." With that, Greg ran away.
Connor stood there speechless. When I tried to leave, I accidentally slipped on a pile of leaves and fell onto the pavement.
"Luna Girl!?" Connor exclaimed. Before he could react, I jumped on my luna board and flew over the fence.
I didn't stop flying until I reached the suburban area, making sure I avoided the city and sticking to the forests on the outskirts. After landing nearby, I walked down the rows of houses until hitting a certain block.
Lined up next to each other were three houses, one blue, one green, and one red.
I stopped at the green house, but hesitated at knocking on the door. I mean, it's not that I'm scared or anything, but I doubt that Greg's parent will let in any person who knocks on the door.
I took a deep breath. All I have to is tell them that I'm a classmate or whatever, leave the gift on the table, then get out of there and back home. Piece of cake, and Greg won't have to-
"Excuse me, young lady do you-oh, my…." The door suddenly opened, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. She had long blonde hair down to her shoulders, with a white shirt and ugly khaki pants on.
"Uh, I'm a friend of Greg's." I said. It still sounds weird to say, but it's not like I have any choice.
"I see." she said. "Is today halloween? Why are you wearing a costume? Isn't it still school?"
"I don't go to school." I said. "Um, my name's Luna Girl."
"Luna...Girl?" she said, tilting her head. "Are you playing superhero?"
I had to stop myself from laughing. "Y-Yeah." I responded. "Is Greg here?"
"He's still in school." she said, her face twisting into a frown. "Well, Luna Girl, I'm sure your parents don't want you wandering around by yourself. Come inside and I'll call them."
"You can't!" I cried. Nope. Nope, this was a bad idea. Bad things always happen when I wander around during the daytime.
"Why not?" she said, putting her hands on her hips. She was starting to get annoyed, and I briefly considered taking off on my luna board and forgetting this ever happened.
"They're busy." I muttered. She raised her eyebrows.
"...I hope you're not lying to me." she said, grabbing my hand and leading me into the house. "But I can't just leave a child to run around by themselves. You can rest until Greg comes home and then you can play superhero with him, alright?" She glanced outside the window and sighed. "I thought he said he was too old to be playing pretend. I'm glad he's not trying to grow up too fast. Are you hungry? I'll make you a PB&J."
She left me alone in the living room while she hurried to the kitchen. I yawned and sat on the couch, taking in all the weird stuff that was in here. I've never seen the inside of a house, save what I could see through a window, or from TV shows I'd watch from the window of the only electronic store that stays open past midnight. Being in one felt like I was intruding somewhere I didn't belong.
I wanted to leave before she got back, but I was way too tired to do anything else but curl into the cushions and fall asleep.
Per usual, the moment I opened my eyes again, it was midnight. I never had dreams like other kids, instead I always woke up with a headache and the feeling that something was missing.
No one seemed to be awake, so I left my present on the table. It was then that I noticed some weird food wrapped up on a plate, with a note next to it with my name on it. I opened the window and buried it in the backyard, then got on my luna board and flew back to the only place I could call home.