by Josh Kilen
Night after night, Walter and Billy would patrol the streets looking for criminals and law-breakers. Together they were unstoppable, no bad guy could even see what happened.
One night, Billy decided to do something different. After being stopped from mugging an old lady, the robber asked what had happened. Billy decided now was the time to give himself a name. He told the criminal, "You were changed by the Moonlight friend." The mugger smiled and walked away.
"Moonlight huh?" Walter said.
Billy became defiant, "Ya, what's wrong with that? You got something better? You don't even have a cool name."
"Nope, I don't. Don't want one either. Why call attention to yourself, you know? But I guess Moonlight fits. Kinda growin on me, Mr. Moonlight." Walter laughed.
"Shut up Walter," Billy said, then he smiled, "I like it, Moonlight. Yup, that's my superhero name."
Soon, the name of Moonlight spread. Criminal and gangs spoke of it with awe, like the boogie man was coming to get them. They said that the Moonlight will get you, make you quit the gang, and sometimes simply make you disappear. Pretty soon, only the boldest criminals would go out at night.
One gang, the Black Piranha, weren't afraid of rumors and kept up their criminal enterprises. One night they were raiding an industrial warehouse for some high end computer equipment. They were almost done loading the stolen items in their truck when the leader noticed that one person was missing.
"Where'd Leo go?" the Leader growled.
"I dunno," said another.
"Go find him, now! This ain't right."
Suddenly, two of the four men standing by the truck disappeared into the shadows. The others only heard a whizzing sound and their friends were gone. The gang-bangers immediately stood back to back, peering into the dark, trying to see their attackers. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Billy stepped into their view.
He had given himself a costume, with a hood and a long cape. Walter thought the cape was ridiculous but Billy was adamant. "All the cool superheroes have capes," he told him.
The Black Piranha leader and his thug looked at Billy with wonder, then they smiled.
"This is no place for a runt like you. Scram kid."
Billy smiled under his hood and mask, "You are feeling happy right now, and stealing feels wrong. You are feeling content and responsible. You feel like walking."
The gang members' eyes glazed over and they walked away with smiles on their faces. When they got far enough away, Billy did the same thing to the other three Black Piranha.
As they were walking home through the warehouses, Walter asked, "Hey, Billy. Are you sure you can just control emotions? Kinda sounded like you were putting thoughts in their head..."
Billy nodded his head, "All this stuff is a lot more complicated than I first thought. Emotions are linked to so many other things, I found that I can make people feel certain ways about things. I can still only read emotions though."
As Walter and Billy moved through the shadows away from the industrial park, two shadowy figures were listening to their conversation and monitoring every move. They'd been watching for weeks and now they had what they needed.
In a dark, old, abandoned house, Rick was passing the time playing cards. He heard a knock on the back door and went to open it. Standing just outside the light coming from the doorway were the two shadowy figures that had given him his powers.
Rick's face twitched in a snarl, "What do you want?" He asked.
"We have a plan to destroy Moonlight," they said, "and you will be our weapon."
Chapter 11
The night was like so many others. Billy and Walter cruised around the city, listening to the police scanner, and keeping an eye out for any wrong doing. Crime had slowed dramatically in the past few months, mainly thanks to Billy's ability to make emotional changes. He could literally give criminals a change of heart.
"Ya know, if we keep this up, ain't gonna be no scumbags left in this city." Walter said happily.
Billy scowled, "Walter, you know how I feel about that word. These guys are just like you and me, they just went wrong somewhere."
Walter sat up straight, "They ain't nothin' like you and me, ya hear? I don't care if they got feelings and everything, criminals are criminals. Plain and simple."
Billy let it drop, he could feel the anger rise in Walter and it started to affect his mind. Anger was still the one emotion that Billy couldn't fight against, the one that bled almost immediately into his brain. No matter what he did, how much he practiced, that was still a big problem.
The police scanner crackled, "Attempted robbery at 12th and Stevens, Hollander's Jewelers. All cars be advised."
Walter got excited, "That's just a couple blocks away. We can take care of them before the cops get there." He swerved the car down a side street en route to the crime scene and they parked in an alley just down from the jewelers. They travelled the rest of the way through the shadows on foot.
They saw flashlights waving around in the store's windows, and they went to the back door. Walter cautioned Billy, "This is going to be close quarters. Watch my back, I'll watch yours and be quick when you change someone. Got it?"
Billy nodded, "Got it. Let's do this!"
And they crept inside through the open door.
Just inside the door, Billy could sense something was wrong. There was none of the excitement or fear that most criminals have, instead everyone was calm. But there was something else, something lurking in the back. Something red, and angry, and growing.
All of the sudden Walter and Billy were ambushed. Four black figures attacked from all sides and they fought with more skill than the common criminal possesses. These guys were pros.
"Ambush!" Walter shouted.
It was then that Rick stepped out of the shadows and turned on his full rage. Billy fell down from the power of it, unable to control the fury bleeding into his brain. It was stronger than he felt before, and it was taking over his mind.
Rick glowed bright red and started tossing jewelery cases like they were toys. The closer he got, the more he glowed, the stronger he became, and the more Billy began to feel the fury changing him. Billy began to scream out loud and thrash violently, taking a few of Rick's minions with him.
"Hello Billy, or should I say Moonlight. I told you I would come for you. Now, I'm going to show you just what my powers can do. Have you ever been broken in half?" Rick said menacingly.
Rick stood over Billy as he writhed and screamed on the floor. Just as Rick bent down to pick Billy up, a rope shot out of nowhere and pulled Billy away. Walter grabbed him and ran out the door, Billy kicking and screaming all the way. It was everything that Walter could do to hold on to him.
Rick pointed at the door, "Get them!" and the minions ran after Walter. But Walter had been at this for too long and had a few tricks up his sleeve. He saw the minions pursuing and grabbed a couple of silver containers from his pocket, throwing them behind him. They hit the ground with an explosion and white smoke poured out. The minions ran through the smoke but only made it a few steps before dropping to the ground.
Walter chuckled to himself, "Sleep smoke works every time. Settle down Billy!" But Billy couldn't settle down. The Anger had bled into his brain and took over. Billy was in an uncontrollable state of rage.
Walter took Billy back to his house and put him in the basement. He ranted and raged all night, until finally his body collapsed from exhaustion.
When Billy woke up the next day, he had the worst headache of his life. It felt like small knives were stabbing his brain and then twisting around. He could hardly think. He got up shakily and then tried to figure out where he was. He looked over in the corner and saw Walter whittling some wood.
Billy spoke slowly, "What happened last night? And why can't I sense your emotions? What's going on Walter?"
Walter looked confused, "I was wondering that myself son. You seemed to be mighty angry and there wasn't much I could do to calm you down. Eventually you
passed out, and I've been keeping an eye on you since. How you holdin' up?"
Billy shook his head, "Not well. My head hurts so bad I can hardly walk, and I can't sense a thing." Then Billy remembered, "It was Rick!"
Walter looked interested, "Was Rick that other kid in the store? He was a strange one, never saw nobody glow red before, causin' all kinds of mischief. You know him?"
"He used to go to my school," Billy said, "But I haven't seen him a while. He obviously has powers and is somehow able to make me enraged or something. Like his anger is transferred right into me."
"Do you think you can stop it?" Walter asked.
"I don't know," Billy said, "But if I don't figure out a way, or my powers don't come back, I don't think I can fight crime anymore."
Chapter 12
Billy's powers came back slowly, and the headaches went away, but now Billy had to make sure that this never happened again.
Billy and Walter practiced everyday, all day long. Billy was exhausted but he was getting better at controlling his powers with every exercise. Unfortunately the one thing he still had trouble fighting back was anger and fury.
Walter was tired as well. He found it wasn't easy to go through so many strong emotions in one day. The worst for him was anger, just as it was the worst one for Billy. All Walter had to do was think about the gangs killing his son. It still made him so mad, and since Billy couldn't block out the anger, it made Billy mad as well.
The tests were pretty straight forward. Billy would stand at one end of the basement, and Walter at the other. Walter would focus on summoning up an emotion, something strong enough that it would come through Billy's defenses.
While Billy was getting better, he just wasn't getting good enough. Walter was still getting through half the time, and the excess emotions really had effects on Billy. By the end of each day he was worn out, nearly unable to move.
After a week of practicing, Walter decided to give the kid a break.
"Hey, Billy, why don't you go over and see Grace. She hasn't been around in a while. I bet she misses you."
Billy blushed a little, "Ya, I suppose. Sure you don't need me to hang around?"
Walter shook his head, "Naw, you need a break and I'm sure Grace would like to know what happened to you. Go on, I'll be here tinkering with something in my workshop."
Billy ran out the door and over to Grace's house. He hadn't seen her in a whole week and he realized that he really missed her. “That’s weird,” he thought.
As he ran up to her house, Grace burst through the front door, ran up to Billy, and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Billy was stunned as she also gave him a kiss on the cheek. He could sense excitement and concern all over her, as well as something else. The feeling was familiar but he couldn't quite place it.
Grace said in rush, "Where have you been? I called over to your Grandparents house and they just said you were out. They kind of sound like your Mom did, did you change them? What have you been doing? Are you okay? Where have you been?"
Billy stepped back, "Whoa, slow down there. I'm fine, just ran into a little trouble last week. My Grandparent's are fine too, I just made sure that they didn't worry about me too much. Not like my Mom but similar, makes it easier for me to train at Walter's without them asking questions."
Grace was full of concern, "What happened last week?"
Billy told her about the jewelery store, Rick and the ambush, the emotional bleeding, and how Billy had been afterward. Grace was astonished.
She gave him another hug, "I'm so sorry, do you think you can stop it next time?"
A deep worry crossed Billy's face, "I'm not sure. Walter and I have been practicing, a lot. But there are just some emotions, anger especially, that I just can't block out. They get through no matter what I do."
Grace hesitantly asked, "Can I come over and maybe watch? Just for a little while..." she quickly added.
Billy smiled, "Ya, I’d like that." Grace beamed in return and they walked back to Walter's together.
When they arrived at the house, the door was slightly ajar and there were no sounds coming from inside. Walter usually had a record playing or you could hear him banging away in his garage. But now, nothing.
Billy could hardly sense anything inside the house. It was like there was something, but it was all fuzzy. That was the only way he could describe it to himself.
Billy put Grace behind him as he went through the front door first, carefully, slowly. He was ready for an attack. Out of nowhere, the fuzziness turned into pure anger and fury. Billy fell to his knees and gripped the floor. He turned his head slightly and saw a man standing next to him.
Grace shouted, "Walter, stop it! Your really hurting him!"
The anger went away, and Billy put down the residual emotions that were building up inside of him.
Walter looked seriously at Grace, "I know honey, but you weren't there the other night. If we don't train and figure out how to beat this, Billy can't fight anymore. In fact, it wouldn't be safe for him to be in this town at all."
Grace looked shocked and surprised, "Help me get him up. He looks worn out already."
Billy looked shaken but resolved, "I'm fine, it's always like this. Hey, why couldn't I sense you right away? It was like everything was all fuzzy or something."
Walter grinned, "Guess my new helmet worked, for the most part that is." and he tapped on the top of a shiny black bowl, "It's designed to emit an electromagnetic field that interferes with the signals you get about emotions. I've been studying you and your powers and I think this helmet might help."
Billy looked at the helmet with some caution, "It looks like a biker helmet, will this help me fight the anger?"
Walter looked hopeful, "Only one way to find out..."
Billy sighed and put the helmet on, adjusted the strap, and braced himself. Walter positioned himself across the room while Grace watched from the kitchen. Walter thought about his son being killed by the gangs, and he became increasingly angry.
The helmet was working. Billy could feel the anger rising around him but he was able to keep it from overwhelming him. Then, out of nowhere, the anger found a way in and it bled throughout his brain. Once again, Billy fell to the floor. Walter calmed down and helped Billy up, setting him down on a chair.
Billy looked up with tired eyes, "Well, it almost worked. I could make it stop for just a while but eventually it got through. It's not perfect but it should help."
Walter looked doubtful, "That kid Rick is a lot more powerful than me. I don't think this'll hold him back. Here let me see it." and he took the helmet off Billy, and made some adjustments. "Okay, let's see if that helps."
Billy gravely nodded his head. He didn't want to go again so soon after but Walter was right that he wasn't safe until they figured this out. Billy put the helmet on again and set his feet. He was ready.
Walter became angry again, even madder this time. Billy held it off as long as he could but eventually the anger found a way in. Just as it was overwhelming him, he heard Grace shout out "NOOO!" and he turned his head to look at her.
Suddenly Billy was filled with other emotions, and they formed a white hot light in his head. He thought about Grace, Walter, his parents, his grandparents, and all the people he cared about. The white light in his head grew brighter and he was able to push away the anger. Anger couldn't fill his head because it was already filled with Love.
Billy straightened up and smiled at a very angry looking Walter. Walter stopped and looked curiously at Billy, "You're not on the floor. How'd you do it?"
Billy glanced over at Grace and said, "I realized that I had to feel something stronger than anger and fill my head with that so no anger could get in. I just thought about the people that I loved..." glancing over at Grace again.
Grace began to blush, "I'm, uh, glad you were able to figure that out." She stopped talking but she had a smile that just wouldn't go away.
Walter was smiling too, "Well good for you son, gl
ad you're gettin' the hang of this whole thing. You think you can fight back?"
Billy looked back at him with a grin, "Only one way to find out."
They practiced for the rest of the day and Billy didn't fall down once, he was able to fight back every time and turn Walter's anger into contentment. He was ready to get back at Rick.
Tired, but happy, at the end of the day he looked over at Walter and said, "I think I have a plan."
Chapter 13
The word got out pretty quickly that the Moonlight couldn’t hurt them anymore. Criminals all over the city had more confidence and roamed the streets without worrying about something in the shadows, waiting for them, trying to turn them away from the life of crime they were pursuing.
And Rick was their leader.
At first, many gangs couldn't believe that this kid had what it took to lead them, but when he began to toss around refrigerators like they were softballs, those gangs payed attention.
Night after night the gangs went out into the city and pillaged, terrorizing the citizens. Police were overrun, but they did their best. Unfortunately their best just wasn't good enough.
Rick led the charge each night, attacking industrial warehouses, convenience stores, banks, whatever they could get their hands on. He was causing terror all around the city.
One night, one of his lieutenants told him about a warehouse a couple miles away from the city that was supposed to have a huge stockpile of electronics. Rick seemed interested.
"And how did you find out about this little gem?" Rick asked.
"I got my sources," the lieutenant replied, "But I checked it out myself. It's legit."
Usually Rick's gang just followed his lead, they didn't bring up jobs on their own. He was suspicious of the information but he liked the initiative this man was showing.
Rick dismissed the lieutenant with a wave of his hand, "I'll think about it. Now get out of here, I need to think."
As the door closed, out of the shadows stepped a man with no face. The Shadow Man.
Rick didn't look surprised to see him, "What do you want?" He growled.
The Shadowy Man's voice was amused, "Are you enjoying your powers Rick? You seem to be making the most of them."
Rick snarled, "Look, I'm doing what you asked. Why’re you showing up now? There something else you want me to do?"