“Goodnight sweetie, close your eyes,

Listen to my lullaby.

Look up there, in the sky, Lunar Lightning’s flying by.”

Laura looked up to the sky and saw flashes of white. She looked down and her daughter Alice was asleep. From that moment on, she knew her child would be watched over.

Years later, Laura had disappeared without a trace, and her daughter was finding her way in the world.

Monday morning, Alice waited for the subway, already late for a job interview. People around her could feel her nerves. Her energy was palpable. She noticed the empty radius around her and decided to cool down. In her ear, she listened to one of the messages her mother had left on her phone.

“Calm my darling,

Calm my love.

Listen to the soaring dove.”

 

Just then, a dove flew over the rails and heralded the train. Alice was now surrounded by people and very mellow. She got on and took it two stops down to midtown. At the base of the building of her interview, she was filled with doubt and fear. Again, she lifted her phone to hear her mother.

“Alice, baby,

Please don’t fear, your dreams are coming very near,

So be the best, like I know you are,

You’re my little superstar.”

Confidence was exploding from Alice. Stepping into the skyscraper, the door was held for her and the doorman felt grateful for the opportunity. She checked in with the front desk, though they were prepared to let her through without doing so. Her interviewer, overjoyed, ignoring the tardiness, came downstairs forty stories to escort Alice to the elevator.

“Thank you so much for coming in, you’ll be such a wonderful fit here. I’m Sasha, I was supposed to do your interview myself, but our owner, C.K. has decided to do it. Can’t blame him, you’re stunning!” 

The elevator dinged and Alice was shown to the boardroom. The office had an incredible view of the city. Behind her was a wall of glass, she could see her apartment in the distance. She was thrilled to be where she was. Then she heard the door of the boardroom open.

A large man in a very expensive suit stood in the doorway and vanished immediately.

Suddenly, he was upon her and his grin turned into a frown. 

“Where is Laura? Where is your mother?” C.K. yelled. Alice shook her head, terrified. C.K. was disappointed, so he shoved her. The force of his push was enough for her body to be launched backwards out of the window, shattering the massive strip of glass that wrapped the entire corner of the building.

 

In her shock and panic, Alice searched for her phone, only to realize she placed it on the table in the boardroom. She fell rapidly and figured if she was going to die, at least her mother’s words could soothe her. Above, she saw C.K. standing, grin back on his face.

Nearing the floor, she closed her eyes and thought of her mother. She heard her voice and then heard a ‘swoosh’ that was definitely not in her mind. Alice was caught gently by an unknown entity. It wore a black and white, full body suit and she heard crackling behind it. Looking at the markings on its hood, she knew it.

“Lunar Lightning!?” she was so confused that she was no longer in shock. Alice recalled her mother’s lullaby from when she was young.

His voice was heavy and heroic as he placed her on the sidewalk, people on the streets in awe. “You’re safe now.”

But she wasn’t. C.K. watched this all take place and descended from the office above, flashing closer and closer. People ran witnessing his menacing movement and impending arrival. 

Lunar Lightning turned to see the approaching enemy. He fired white and black lightning from his arms, his cape rising with the energy. C.K. easily dodged every attack until he had Alice’s neck in a hand, lifted above the ground.

Before ending her, the corporate-suited villain looked to Lunar Lightning, who paused so as not to incite C.K.’s action.

“Who are you? Where did you come from? Do you have knowledge of her mother?” 

“I am Lunar Lightning. I am from the moon, and I do not. Unhand this woman.”

“No… what do you mean you’re from the moon?” C.K. became bewildered.

“I live on the moon and I serve to protect it.”

“Well, shouldn’t you be there and not here?” A moment of confusion hit him hard, “Hold on… what do you mean lunar lightning? There is no lightning on the moon…” C.K. became frustrated.

“Lunar Lightning is my name. It is also my power.”

“Sure, but how did you come to wield that power?” C.K. started to yell his questions. Alice was slowly placed back down, but still held.

“My power comes from the moon.” Lunar Lightning’s tone didn’t change the entire interrogation.
“Okay, but that doesn’t really tell me anything. If there’s no lightning on the moon, how can you have gotten lightning powers from the moon?” C.K. talked to LL like he was a child.

“There is lightning on the moon.”

“There is not.”

“Then what would you call… THIS.”

Lunar Lightning had summoned an eclipse, the sky darkened and C.K. released Alice to look up. A black-cored, bright strike of lightning traveled quickly from the moon.

 

“ECLIPSE STRIKE.” Lunar Lightning announced his attack, then flew Alice away from the area before impact.

“Perhaps there is lightn-” C.K. began to contemplate, though entirely wrong. He was interrupted by the silent, yet deafening blast, which sent him flying, his body flashing uncontrollably as he was launched away. The street was obliterated and Lunar Lightning held Alice, watching the lightning dissipate.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“It is my duty.” replied Lunar Lightning, landing on the balcony of her apartment.

“But could you please tell me how you really got your power?” Alice questioned the hero, remembering her mother’s lullaby from when she was a child. She hoped he would have some knowledge of her whereabouts.

He simply replied, “I’m from the moon.”

Lunar Lightning stood on the far side of the moon, hands on his hips heroically. He stared off into space with a completely empty mind. Days passed, weeks passed, months passed. He didn’t move an inch. Occasionally, a thought would start to form, but he’d swat it away to remain concentrated. CK would strike again, LL felt it. Alice wouldn’t be safe until he got what he wanted, her mother.

Back in Big City, Alice had packed up her belongings and moved in with a good friend.

“You can stay here as long as you like. You know I’m barely ever home. This is your house too, now. Truly.”

“That’s very nice, Mundo, thank you.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Hope so.”

Mundo assured her she’d be fine and drove off, he was due for a long season of soccer overseas. Alice toured the mansion which was given to Mundo by the Big City Footies as a welcome gift when he joined the team. She actually got lost walking the halls. The rooms all looked the same and there were many turns that led into kitchens or larger areas.

To get to her room, Alice went out to the balcony and took the stairs down. She looked at the back patio of the ultra-modern home and admired the soccer fields, pools, tennis and basketball courts. A tall, thick hedge surrounded the home, opening only in the front walkway. She felt safe seeing that there was no other way in and plenty of security at the entrance.

As Alice turned her head to look towards the main patio door, her heart sank. C.K. stood with a devilish smile behind the tinted glass. His body flashed and smashed through the large glass wall, though this time, he failed to grab her.

Alice dove away and pressed play on her phone, which she had at the ready since their first encounter. C.K. was a statue, still smiling, but not unaffected by his missed grab. His arm stayed out, his hand in a choking position for just a moment before flashing again. Alice rolled to dodge another grab. Then, one of her mother’s lullabies began on her phone.

“You, my love,

You can do it all.

Remember you’re

my perfect doll.”

The lullaby always seemed strange to Alice. Her mother had recorded so many for her, but this one was one of the especially odd ones. It became apparent why she did as C.K. landed his first hit on Alice, who laid on her back still after rolling.

With a loud thud and a crack in the concrete below Alice, her chest was punched with brutal force. C.K. smiled villainously and held his fist there to see the pain in her face and to hear her scream. Instead of pain on her face, she was completely indifferent. And she didn’t scream. What C.K. heard as a result of his punch was ‘SQUEAK’.

Alice was a doll, her body too soft to damage. C.K. flashed around, throwing and slamming her, but she couldn’t feel a thing. He grew frustrated and let out a scream. Way above them, in the sky, Lunar Lightning should have been flying by. But he was being detained.

“Hold on there.” said a miniscule, crater-pocked moon rock with a big moon rock mustache, the chief of the coalition of bureaucratic moon-mites as he adorably climbed the swarm of tiny moon pebbles that gripped Lunar Lightning’s legs while he tried to fly away.

“I have to go.”

“Did you fill out the necessary paperwork?”

“There is no paperwork.”

The moon-mite chief checked a box and sighed. “Gonna be a long one, team.”

All the other moon mites copied the exact sigh the chief did.

“I’ll do the paperwork when I return.”

“We won’t need it when you return.”

“You don’t need it at all.”

The chief checked another box and sighed in harmony with his team.

“Okay give me the papers.”

“Oh so now there’s papers. Hah.” the stone whipped out a stack of paper from somewhere that was taller than Lunar Lightning.
“This is too much. I MUST GO.” he strained to escape the grasp of the millions of moon-mites holding onto him.

“Too much!? You only have to sign one page.”

“Which page?”

“One of these.” the chief motioned at the stack of paper.

“This isn’t working.”

Lunar Lightning regrettably began to pulsate with black energy. The cute little moon-mites began to let out tiny cries and turn to dust. The chief ran as fast as he could, but was caught as LL’s aura grew. As he flew down to Earth, they all reformed on the surface of the moon.

Alice was beginning to lose the effects of her mother’s lullaby. She began to feel every hit C.K. landed, though not fully.

“You’re beginning to feel more… breakable.”

“Break this!” Alice slammed her phone against the side of C.K.’s thick skull. She had no choice but to forfeit the recordings of her mother’s power so soon after realizing them. It stunned him for a moment and she ran towards the soccer fields to get away.

“Smart not to go back into this little shack. You’d only be trapping yourself in there.” C.K. said, insulting Mundo’s mansion.

The suited villain flashed towards Alice quickly as she ran, but was stopped just before reaching her. Lunar Lightning descended to float directly in front of him. In a moment, he sent projections of himself left and right, which surrounded C.K., their capes all coming together to form a full moon.

Alice was left baffled as C.K. was transported to Lunar Lightning’s home. On the far side of the moon, he flashed at the hero. Each flash, however, was another moment of breath needed. When still, he’d be impervious to the lack of air.

“I implore you to stop this hunt.” Lunar Lightning pleaded.

“Where is Lullaby? You are clearly one of her creations, you must know her whereabouts.”

“Her creations?”

“Ugh don’t tell me you’re not just playing a fool.” C.K. realized he wasn’t. “That girl’s mother can create or alter anything, with just words.”

“She didn’t create me.”

“Then explain how you came to be.”

“What do you mean? I’m from the moon. I’m Lunar Lightning.”

“Look around. Desolation. Nothing is from here.”

“I am.”

“Believe what you will. Help me locate Lullaby and find out the truth yourself.”

Lunar Lightning transported them back to Mundo’s house. Alice stood near the back door, cautious and scared as Lunar Lightning requested her help.

“We need to find your mother.”