After a night of patrol, Devil dropped us off at home so we could get some sleep. "Bye, bye, Devil." Lunella said, kissing his nose. "Night, Dev." I added, following Lunella inside, heading straight to bed. "See you tomorrow, big guy."
The next morning, Mama knocked on the door to wake both of us up. "Morning, Mama." I yawned. "Good morning, my little man." Mama greeted. "Mornin', Mommy." Lunella greeted. "Uh-uh-uh, where is your silk bonnet, Lu?" Mama asked. "You mean my silk nuts and bolts holder?" Lunella corrected. "Is that where you've been putting those?" I wondered. "I thought you lost them?" "Lunella Lafayette, it's time you take proper care of your hair." Mama scolded. "But that's what I got you for." Lunella said. "You know you love doing it." "I do, baby." Mama admitted. "But don't even try it! You're 13. Old enough to know that to love your hair is to love yourself." "Oh, c'mon, Ma." Lunella said. "It's just hair." "Just hair? Just hair!" Mama gasped. "Oh, snap! You shouldn't have said that, sis." I warned, just as Mama dragged Lunella out of our bedroom. "I should probably get dressed for school."
At school, Lunella and I headed to science class for another lecture from Coach Hrbek, or rather, Lunella was going to give us the lecture. "Mama showed you the Wall Of Fame, huh?" I asked. "Don't remind me." Lunella sighed, just as we noticed Casey sitting next to us. "Case? Since when are you in this science class?" "Oh, I'm not. I just needed a consult on my picture day outfit." Casey replied, showing us two different dresses. "Sunny. Spicy. Sunny. Spicy." "Casey, baby girl, please. Always go spicy." Lunella responded. "Case, let me see those pictures." I said, looking at her phone. "Yup. I'm with, Lulu. Go with the spicy." "But I still don't get all the fuss about picture day." Lunella continued. "My mom went in on me about how my hair looked this morning." "That's ridiculous." Stacey, one of our classmates commented. "Right?" Lunella agreed. "Thank you, girl." "I mean, your hair always looks messy like that." She continued. "Uh, say what now?" Lunella scoffed. "Like how it stands on end all frizzy." Stacey explained. "But that's the look you're going for, right?" "Okay, I know you didn't just insult my sister!" I snapped. "Don't listen to her, Lu." Casey reassured her. "Yo, Clueless, after school. In my office..." "Okay, so, robots." Coach Hrbek announced. "We're building 'em." I could tell that Lunella was feeling insecure about her hair after those hurtful comments.
On the walk home from school, Lunella wasn't feeling much better. "Uh, maybe it wouldn't hurt to try a new hairstyle for picture day." Lunella said. "More fly and less frizz." "Lunella, your hair is fly as it is." Casey commented. "To be honest, her hair looks like it was repeatedly dyed." I pointed out. "Yeah, but I need picture day fly, you know." She said, just as Casey's gorgeous hair blew in the wind. "It's so beautiful!" I gasped. "I need some of that!" Lunella added. "Well, I guess I could try to help you." Casey said. "You coming, LJ?" I froze for a moment before laughing awkwardly, eventually beginning to walk backwards as well.
Once I returned home, I went to play some video games online while Lunella went over to Casey's place to try and fix her hair. As a superhero, it's not always easy to balance a double life, so it was nice to have some me time for once. I did make a few sketches for my robot prototype.
Later that night, Lunella came home with her hair looking exactly the same, but she looked like she was inspired. "Girl, what are you up to?" I asked. "You're making that scheming face again." "Well, I plan on bioengineering a mega strength hair straightening product without the harsh chemicals." Lunella explains. "Actually, could you please help me out with this? I need an extra set of hands and Devil has stubby arms." "Just so you know, as your brother and as your friend, your hair is just as beautiful as you are, Lulu." I sighed. "I may not think that this is the solution, but if this is what you want, I'll try and help you." "Did I mention that you're the best brother ever?" Lunella asked, pulling me in for a hug. "Many times, actually." I replied.
Keeping my word, I headed down to the lab with Lunella to try and help with her homemade hair product. It took about an hour to put together everything. "Sun And Moon Magic!" We exclaimed. Devil was kinda worried about Lunella's plan. To be honest, so was I. "What do you mean you have a bad feeling?" Lunella asked. "I have to do this. Give my creation juice!" "Let's juice this up!" I shouted as I powered on the machine to supercharge the components. "A little help, D?" Lunella asked. Devil sighed, but still helped Lunella by dipping her hair into the compound. Once Devil took her away from the chemicals, Lunella's product worked almost immediately. Her new hairstyle reminded me of Casey, but I wasn't sure I liked that. It didn't look like her at all. There's just something about Casey's hair that makes it more her style rather than Lunella's. Wait, why am I talking about Casey? Anyway, Lunella looked at her hair in the mirror, admiring her new look. "Yes! Look. At. That. Swang!" Lunella exclaimed, turning to face us. "Watch out, I.S. 833! Ya girl got more silk than a worm and she's gonna slay picture day! Alright. Go ahead, guys, tell me how cute I am." While Lunella was talking, her hair began falling out to the point that she was basically bald. Devil and I were speechless. "Can I give my honest opinion?" I asked, acting as normal as possible. "Of course, bro!" Lunella exclaimed, noticing the concerned look on mine and Devil's faces. "Come on, don't hold back. Wait, what's wrong?" "You look like Pops that one time he shaved off his goatee." I confessed. Long story short, Pops has had a full beard ever since that incident. Lunella looked back at the mirror and started screaming. Devil and I also freaked out. "I'm calling Casey!" I cried.
I dialed Casey's number in my phone right away. I figured if anyone could help Lunella with her hair emergency, it's Casey. "Come on, Case. Pick up!" I exclaimed as Casey answered on the other line. "Talk to me, LJ." Casey said. "Lunella needs some help with her hair." I explained. "Could you come over by any chance?" "Say no more." Casey replied. "OMW!"
About fifteen minutes later, Mama answered the door for Casey. "Lunella, Lamar, Casey's here!" Mama announced. "Hey, Casey." I greeted. "Um, could you come with me?" "Yeah, of course." Casey replied as I took her over to the bedroom door. "Okay, Case. I need you to promise not to freak out." I explained, opening the door to reveal Lunella's new look to Casey. The moment Casey saw Lunella, all she could do was scream bloody murder. "Shh! Casey! Casey! Shh!" I whispered. "My bad." Casey apologized, freaking out a lot quieter. "Okay, I'm done. Que te paso? I thought you weren't going to use harsh chemicals?" "Well, yeah. I made my all natural hair straightener but we supercharged it and somehow changed the molecular structure." Lunella explained. "Just say you used too much juice." Casey said. "I used too much doggone juice!" Lunella exclaimed. "We did." I sighed. "You guys okay?" Mama asked, knocking on the door, startling both me and Lunella, causing us to fall out of bed. "I heard yelling." "Oh, yeah. Hey, Mommy. Yeah, we're fine." Lunella lied, covering her head with a jester's hat that she got to match with Dad a few years ago on Halloween. "We're just screaming and giggling like normal teenagers who aren't hiding anything." "Ah, it's so fun being a youth!" Casey chuckled. "So fun!" I added. "Heya." Pops greeted, noticing Lunella's hat. "Who gave you that ridiculous lid?" "The hat from our matching Halloween costumes!" Dad gasped. "I knew you'd come around! Should I get mine? I'm going to get mine." "What is going on in here?" Mimi asked. "We're, uh, having a silly hat contest!" I lied, grabbing two hats for me and Casey. "See? We're fine in here. So, you just go do you. Out there." Lunella continued, slamming the door on the rest of the family. "You know, Lu, bald is not a bad look on you." Casey complimented. "Seriously, it brings out your eyes!" "Ugh! Our family cannot find out about my hair." Lunella groaned. "Not to mention picture day is coming." I added. "Mama is going to wig out if she sees you like this." "That's it!" Casey gasped. "You're a genius, LJ!" "I am?" I wondered. "Isn't that more of Lunella's thing?"
Casey took us both to her place to show us her solution. "Let's just say, I went through a wig phase." Casey explained, revealing a huge collection of wigs. "What? Were you into cosplay or something?" I asked. "Or something." Casey chuckled. "You're so weird, Casey." Lunella said. "Thank goodness! Okay, let's do this."
After trying on a few wigs, Lunella found the perfect fit, Sheba, a straight hair wig. Casey named every single one of her wigs. Impressive. "Yes! Oh, welcome home, Sheba!" Lunella exclaimed, just as both of our phones went off, reminding us of our patrol. "Lulu, duty calls." I reminded her. "Time to take my girl for a test drive." Lunella said.
We contacted Devil and got suited up to chase down this villain named Rockin' Rudy, who had just stole some money from a credit union. "You won't catch me, Moon Girl and Sun Boy!" He taunted. "I'm the baddest that's ever been, baby!" "Faster, D!" I shouted. "Rockin' Rudy is getting away in that couped up coupe!" Devil followed his car, but Lunella was struggling with her new wig. "Sorry, my helmet doesn't fit right with this slippery wig." Lunella explained. "Not that I don't love it!" "Are y'all coming for these jewels or not?" Rockin' Rudy asked. "I ain't gonna just give 'em to you. Later gator!" As soon as we turned the corner, Devil tripped over something, breaking his tail. "Devil!" Lunella and I gasped. "Rockin' Rudy is rollin' out!" Rockin' Rudy shouted, making his escape. "Oh, Devil. You're hurt." I comforted him. "Hey, what's this?" Lunella wondered, noticing a strand of hair between Devil's toes. "It looks like, hair." "Maybe it's a litter of stray cats?" I thought aloud.
The next day in class, Lunella brought the sample to analyze it. "I'm running an analysis on the hair we found as we speak." Lunella explained. "I'll know who's behind the sabotage by the time my robot takes first place." "Speaking of which, girl, why are you still in our science class?" I asked Casey. "It's fun!" Casey replied. "Don't worry, I'm not learning anything." "Hey, your hair is, pretty now." Stacey complimented. I was pretty enraged by her comment, but I didn't show it. "Oh, thanks, girly, but I prefer, "fierce."" "So fierce." Casey added, roaring like a lion. "Alright, alright. Game day, people." Coach Hrbek announced. "Let's see those robots!" The entire class grabbed their robots from their backpacks and Lunella and I did the same. However, Lunella's robot and mine had been sabotaged. "Oh, my precious!" Lunella cried. "Whoa! Is that hair?" Casey wondered. "Ooh, even I know this isn't right." Coach Hrbek said. "Someone's out to get us." Lunella explained. "And they used hair to destroy our robots." "How does that even work?" I wondered. "I just need more time to..." Lunella continued. "More time?" Coach Hrbek asked. "Can't believe I'm saying this, but, you're out!" The rest of the class jeered as the tape recorder went off. Casey showed me the results. "Uh, Lu? According to your pocket thingy, this is your hair." Casey explained. "Lulu?" I asked. "Please say something. You're scaring me."
Later that night, Lunella woke me up in the middle of the night. "Lamar, do you smell that?" Lunella asked. I was going to ignore her and go back to sleep, but the smell was getting stronger. "Ew!" I groaned, getting out of bed. "Let's check it out, then I'm going back to bed."
Lunella and I left our room to investigate the strange smell, which was coming from the kitchen. We noticed a huge pot boiling on the stove. "Did Dad leave the stove on again?" I asked. Lunella lifted the lid off the pot and found Sheba, Casey's wig that she borrowed. "Sheba!" Lunella shouted. I looked inside the pot to see the wig slowly getting destroyed. My eyes widened. "Oh, snap!" I gasped. "You cooking something, kiddos?" Pops yawned, startling us. "Pops! No, we're not really cooking anything." I replied. "Oh, it's okay." Pops said. "Midnight snacking runs in our family." "Why is that awful smell coming from my kitchen?" Mimi asked. "Mimi, don't make them feel bad." Pops replied. "Oh, that Sheba smells great, kiddos." "No, no, guys..." Lunella began. "Who's Sheba?" Dad asked. "It's that stuff they're cooking." Pops explained. "They're not cooking, they're burning." Mimi corrected. "Let me help you." "What y'all doing?" Mama yawned. "I'm getting a bowl of that Sheba, 'cause I'm hungry." Dad replied. "Everybody stop!" Lunella snapped. "We spent a lot of time on our Sheba soup, and we really want to share it with each other, just the two of us. Please?" "Okay." Mama said as we ran back to our room.
I looked the door just as Lunella called Casey. "Okay. That was too close." I sighed with relief. "Casey, so sorry to bug you this late, but you're not gonna believe what happened." Lunella explained. "Oh, I'm wide awake!" Casey snapped. "Someone trashed Coiffure de Casey and, God, they cut my wigs to shreds!" "No, they didn't!" I gasped. "Oh, it's gonna take me days to give each of them a proper send off." Casey whimpered. "I'll see you at picture day."
We headed down to the lab to inform Devil about the saboteur striking again. "Oh, I'm telling you, D, the same person that ruined our robots, made you fall, and destroyed Casey's wigs." Lunella recapped. "And we're gonna search every warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse, and doghouse in this city until we find..." "Me." We heard someone say. "What the?" I wondered. The next thing I knew, we were all tied up with a lot of hair. "Lamar! Devil!" Lunella exclaimed. "Who are you?" "Why, I'm your hair, Lunella." The hair creature replied. "I must be trippin' right now." I said. "My hair?" Lunella asked. "Well, I was your hair." Lunella's hair explained. "Your naturally curly crowning glory. Now, I'm the baddest supervillain there is. I'm Mane.
Mane. Unwittingly created when our favorite 13-year-old super-genius went all Dr Frankenstein trying to bioengineer a hair straightener. Oh, wait, you already saw that part. Anyway, she really is mad, y'all.
"My compound did this?" Lunella wondered. "Dang! I created life! Huh. Black Girl Magic!" "After you burned me and ripped at me with a tiny comb!" Mane continued. "You have to use a wide-toothed comb on naturally curly hair. Who doesn't know that?" "Well, Newton never mentioned wide-toothed combs." Lunella explains. "I'm sorry, girl." "Sorry? You tried to get rid of me." Mane argued. "Replaced me with some cheap wig that doesn't even have a lace front. You just decided out of the blue that I wasn't good enough. Why?" "Well, I..." Lunella began. "Be quiet!" Mane snapped. "Answer the question!" "That's what..." I chimed in. "I said silence!" Mane interrupted. "Well?" "I am so confused." Lunella said. "Likewise." I added. "You turned me into a monster." Mane explained. "Now, I'll take your compound and make monsters of my own. My hair minions and I will destroy the city!" "Stop! Don't do this!" I begged. "No!" Mane had tried to grab what was left of the compound, but she was struggling with how heavy the material of the metal wall was. "Your two ton vat is ruining my evil exit!" Mane complained. "You really are the worst, Moon Girl."
The night after that, I was about to play a game of cards with the family. Lunella walked in, looking upset. "What's the matter, Lu?" Mama asked, just as Lunella revealed the truth to everyone. "What in the world?!" Mimi gasped. "Oh, my baby's head! It's bald!" Dad shouted. "Lulu has no hair?" I said, trying to look surprised. "Who could've imagined?" "There was this jerk in class, and I felt unpretty, and then I supercharged the amino acids and now I look like this!" Lunella cried. "Oh, my poor baby." Mama gasped, hugging her, followed by Mimi and I.
Lunella's POV
Mimi made some tea for us on the stove. I knew I was going to have to come clean at some point. "Sweetheart, we live in a society that's never valued our natural hair." Mom said. "People tend to criticize what they don't understand." Mimi chimed in. "So they tell us our natural hair is sloppy, unkempt, unprofessional, or even ugly." "But they're wrong. Our hair is versatile, textured, beautiful, political, powerful, bold. It reflects our culture, who we are and what we've been through." Mom explained. "Someone at school said my afro puffs looked messy." I confessed. "And when we believe those lies and start to feel insecure about how we look, that's when the trouble starts." Mom said. "That's how it started with me." Mimi explained. "I wanted my hair straight so badly, but regular heat wouldn't get it straight enough. So I made that hot comb extra hot." "What I did to my hair was even worse." Mom added. "I gave myself a home relaxer, but I skipped an important step. And then... disaster." "So that's why you're afraid of relaxers!" I exclaimed. "Wait, what step did you skip?" "The neutralizer." Mom replied. "It's a liquid you put in your hair that makes the chemical in the relaxer stop working." "That's it! I didn't make a neutralizer." I said. "That was my mistake." "Your real mistake was letting other people make you feel bad about yourself." Mimi corrected. "Always be proud of who you are, little girl. No matter what the world tells you." "And remember, Lunella, if you want your hair to be good to you, you got to be good to it." Mom said. "Because to love your hair is to love yourself." Mimi added as I went under the table to grab Lamar. "Where are you going?" "I gotta go stop Mane, uh..." I replied, almost blowing cover. "Stop maintaining these hurt feelings and start taking better care of my hair. Bye!"
Lamar's POV
Back down in the lab, after getting suited up, Lunella had told me about her chat with Mama and Mimi, which would eventually tie into her plans for defeating Mane. "I did it, guys! Ah!" Lunella squealed. "I reversed the electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged ions in the original compound! In other words, I made a neutralizer 'cause I'm dope! Now, all we gotta do is find Mane's hideout, spray her with this juice, and she goes back to being a big old normal hairball." "So, how are we supposed to track down Mane?" I asked. "Well, we do have some of this leftover hair." Lunella replied. "Devil, could you sniff her out?"
Devil followed the scent of the original compound in order to find Mane. He ended up bringing us to an abandoned building. ""The Hair Lair?"" Lunella read the sign above. "That's so Mane. Remember, a sneak attack is our best chance, so Lamar and I will go through here, and you go in through the alley. Quietly."
Lunella and I snuck around the lair, primed and ready to shoot. Mane was fast asleep, which was still pretty weird. Just as we were about to shoot, Devil made a big entrance into the lair. "D! You were supposed to sneak in!" I exclaimed. Just as Mane was about to attack, I shot her with the neutralizer, returning a strand of hair to its natural curly state. "Neutralizer?!" Mane gasped. "To stop you, Mane!" Lunella exclaimed. "Devil Dryer-saur! Attack!" Mane shouted. "Devil Dryer-saur?" Lunella and I asked, turning to see a salon dryer covered in Lunella's hair. Devil roared at the dryer. "You jammed a dryer full of hair and brought it to life with my compound?" Lunella wondered. "I needed a sidekick to laugh at my jokes. Which he would if he understood them. But he's not that smart." Mane confessed. "But he is vicious! He and I together will destroy..." That's when Devil stepped on her sidekick, destroying it. "Oh, man!" Lunella and I squirted the neutralizer in Mane's direction, but she dodged our attacks and disarmed us. "Look, Mane. Your sidekick was no match for Devil." I said. "And you're no match for us." "Oh, really? How about now?" Mane asked, changing her form to a hairy human.
Mane was definitely different from our previous foes. Fighting her was like an even match for both of us. This fight was going nowhere. "Give it up, Mane!" Lunella groaned. "Don't bother, honey." She refused, kicking me towards Devil. "If there's one thing I can do, it's bob and weave!" "It's an even matchup." I said. Devil growled in agreement. "I know, guys." Lunella sighed. "Well, what did they say?" Mane asked. "That we're too evenly matched and I'm going to be here forever fighting myself." Lunella translated for her. "Wait, I'm fighting myself!" "What?" I wondered, just as Lunella took her helmet off. "I don't want to fight you anymore, Mane." Lunella said. "Because you're a part of me." "I was a part of you until you ruined it." Mane argued. "Actually, you were one of the best parts!" Lunella exclaimed. "My hair helped make me, me." "You never took care of me!" Mane snapped, kicking Lunella to the ground. "You never gave a hair flip about me!" "I know. Okay, you're right." Lunella confessed. "I took you for granted. I didn't know I could lose you until you were gone." "I'm not falling for your trickery, Moon Girl!" Mane scoffed. "It's not a trick, okay? When that girl made fun of me, I felt ashamed." Lunella explained. "That's why I made this stupid compound. But when I wore that straight hair, it just, it wasn't me. I miss my natural hair." "You do?" Mane asked. "Sure." Lunella replied. "I miss how my curls bounced, and how my hair fit perfectly inside my helmet. My signature style makes me look adorable and manages to stay on point no matter how fast I skate! I miss all of that, Mane, and I miss you." "I miss you, too, Lunella. We were a great team. And we will be again!" Mane exclaimed, returning the neutralizer spray to me and Devil. "Go ahead, Reds." "Ready? Aim. Fire!" I shouted as Devil and I sprayed Mane with neutralizer, allowing her to reattach herself to Lunella's head and return the natural curls.
We returned home to get ready for picture day at school. Once at school though, our entire class was amazed by how gorgeous Lunella was. Well, all except one person.
Back at home that night, Casey got invited for a sleepover. Mama looked at our photos and loved both of them. "Looking good, Lulu." I complimented. "I still can't believe you made an instant hair growth serum." Mama said. "Now, that's some Black Girl Magic." "Right?" Lunella questioned, putting on her bonnet before bed. "That's my girl." Mama said, kissing both me and Lunella before turning the lights off. "Goodnight, babies. Don't y'all stay up too late." "Sorry we missed all 67 of your wig funerals." Lunella apologized to Casey. "You okay?" "It was time to let them go." Casey replied. "And besides, at least I still have Sheba. Where is she, by the way?" "You didn't tell her?!" I whispered.