Harley stared at the cans, mouth open, disbelief written all over her face. "No way. No freakin' way. You cheated!"
Maureen crossed her arms with a small, triumphant smile. "How exactly does one cheat at lightning target practice?"
"You froze my mojo!" Harley pointed an accusing finger. "You did some kind of icy voodoo mind trick. That's what it was. Frosty sorcery!"
John rubbed the bridge of his nose. "It's called aim, Harley."
Harley pouted dramatically. "Aim, shm-aim. I was totally gonna win until that last soda ducked." She kicked a can still hissing with fizz and sent it flying miles away. "Even the cans are against me."
Maureen laughed softly. "Face it. I won fair and square."
Harley squinted at her. "Alright, fine, Snow Queen. You won. But spill it. What's the favor gonna be, huh? You're gonna make him buy you a castle? A polar bear? Maybe ask him to be your boyfriend and join the team?"
Maureen blushed and didn't say 'no', which Harley noticed.
She leaned over to her and whispered, "You're thinking of takin' my advice, aren't ya?" She elbowed her a little.
Maureen's eyes widened a bit, but she quickly maintained her composure as usual. She pretended to cough and said, "I'll save the favor for later."
Harley gasped. "Oh no. No no no. You don't just win a magical lightning favor and keep it in your pocket like a coupon. You gotta tell me! I'm your partner in crime-slash-heroism! We share things!"
Maureen shrugged. "You'll find out when the time's right."
Harley groaned and tugged on her pigtails. "Ugh! That's the worst kind of torture. I'd rather fight ghosts than wait for surprises!"
John clapped his hands together. "Alright, enough arguing. Next lesson. Time to learn how to fly."
Harley's pout disappeared in an instant. And as always, she was excited. "Oh, yeah. Finally."
John explained. "Flying is about focus and flow. You have to imagine it in your head, feel the lightning moving through you, and let it carry you. Don't force it. Just trust the power."
Maureen closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. Blue energy rippled around her as she focused. The air shimmered beneath her feet, and within moments she lifted gently off the ground, hovering a few feet up. Her hair floated slightly in the static.
John smiled. "Nice job, Maureen."
Then both of them turned at the sound of manic laughter.
Harley rocketed upward like a human firework, leaving a streak of gold in her wake. "WOOOOO! I'M FLYIN'! I'M FREAKIN' FLYIN'! HAHAHA!"
Maureen's eyes widened. "She's not going to fly to the moon, is she?"
John's left eye twitched as he looked up. Harley did ask about if she could fly to the Moon, and John said yes. 'Why? Harl.'
"Uh-oh," Maureen muttered as her enhanced vision caught Harley shooting straight up into the sky.
John sighed, muttering under his breath, "Shit!" He shouted, "Shazam!" Lightning crashed down, transforming him in a blinding flash. Without another word, he shot into the sky after her, the sound of his voice echoing through the clouds.
"HARLEY! DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!"
Harley's laughter came from the clouds. "Too late! I'm thinkin' about it!"
The blackness of space stretched endlessly around her. She could see the sparkling stars far away with her enhanced vision.
For a moment, Harley hovered there, suspended in the void, eyes wide as she stared down at the Earth below.
"Holy cannoli," she whispered, voice echoing strangely in her head. "I'm in freakin' space. I'm alive. I'm not breathin', but I ain't dead either. My boobs aren't floatin' away, my blood ain't boilin'. I ain't disintegrating. I'm an astronaut! Harley freakin' Quinn, the first blonde thunder goddess in orbit!"
Her laughter bubbled out, loud and wild in the silence that surrounded her. It should have been terrifying, but all she felt was awe. The stars glittered like a thousand tiny spotlights just for her. She twirled in the air, her cape rippling against the black void. "Oh my god, this is insane. I can see everything! The clouds, the ocean, the... Wait! Is that Australia or a weird potato shape?"
Before she could finish her rambling, a bright streak of gold flashed across the darkness. John appeared beside her, lightning dancing faintly over his armor. His eyes met hers, and she could tell he was not amused.
He crossed his arms and gave her that look—the kind that screamed, 'I'm gonna spank you tonight, and not in the fun way.'
Harley blinked, then grinned sheepishly. "Oh hey, big guy. Fancy meetin' you here. Beautiful view, huh? No oxygen, no gravity, and definitely no responsibility. I could totally get used to this."
John floated closer until they were face-to-face. "You could have lost control," he said calmly.
Harley looked guilty, like a kid who had just broken the TV remote. "Yeah, sorry about that. I won't do it again. Don't be angry... pretty please?"
He sighed.
Without another word, he took her hand. His grip was firm but gentle, and before Harley could make another joke, they were moving. A golden trail of lightning split across the stars as John pulled her along. The world below shrank, and in a blink, the Moon grew larger, glowing silver beneath them.
They landed softly on the surface, their boots pressing into the fine gray dust.
Harley turned slowly, taking it all in. "Okay… I take it back. This is the coolest thing ever." She stomped one foot, watching the dust rise and float. "Look at that! Moon glitter! I'm makin' moon glitter!"
John folded his arms again. "Happy now?"
She looked at him with wide eyes and a teasing grin. "Oh, more than happy. I'm thrilled, I'm ecstatic, I'm... Wait a sec." Her brow furrowed. "How the hell are we talkin'? We're in space. But I can hear you clear as day. What kinda space sorcery is this?"
John raised an eyebrow. "I think it's the Divine power. The magic sustains your body, creates a protective field, and lets you communicate through the lightning. Think of it as… energy resonance."
Harley stared at him for a long moment, then snapped her fingers. "So basically, we're like walkie-talkies made of gods!"
He rubbed his temples. "Something like that."
Harley bounced a little in place, sending another puff of gray dust floating up. "You realize what this means, right? We're probably the fourth or fifth people to stand on the Moon without a spaceship, a helmet, or a diaper. We're trendsetters, baby! NASA's gonna lose its mind!"
John gave her a flat look. "We're not telling NASA."
"Boo, buzzkill," she said, sticking out her tongue. "C'mon, you gotta admit this is kinda romantic. Just you, me, and the big shiny rock."
John blinked before her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. For a moment, both of them just stood still, looking into each other's eyes, before both leaning in with their eyes closed. Their lips met in a slow kiss.
Harley's hand slid up to the back of John's neck, her fingers brushing against the edge of his hair. The faint glow of their lightning shimmered between them, golden threads flickering across her cape and his armor.
The kiss deepened, slow and unhurried. It wasn't the kind of kiss Harley usually gave—wild, impulsive, reckless—it was steady, almost reverent. For a moment, she forgot about the gray dust under her boots and the endless space around them. All she could feel was his heartbeat and love.
When they finally parted, Harley's eyes stayed half-closed for a moment before she opened them and smiled, her breath coming out in a tiny laugh. "Well," she said softly, brushing her thumb along his jaw, "that made me feel a little giddy."
She leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose, grinning. "Giddy and floaty. Maybe it's the low gravity, maybe it's the kiss. Either way, I like it."
"You know, this isn't exactly how I pictured training," he said.
Harley giggled. "Oh come on, this beats target practice by a mile. Or by, like, two hundred thousand miles, give or take."
For a moment, they just stood together, the Earth hanging above them in a swirl of blue and white. Harley looked up at it, then back at him. "You think Maureen's gonna freak when she finds out we actually came up here?"
"She probably already knows," he said.
"Great," Harley said with a laugh. "Guess we'll be hearin' about it when we get back. But hey, worth it." She poked his chest. "Totally worth it."
John smiled again, his tone soft. "Yeah. It is."
Harley's grin turned warm as she looked at him. "So what now, Moon Man? We fly back before Sups or that Gardner guy flies up here?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Let's head home. I'm pretty sure they got us on their surveillance satellites."
"Lead the way, Sparky," she said with a wink, then reached for his hand. As their fingers intertwined, golden light began to spark around them again, and together they rose from the lunar surface, heading back toward the glowing Earth below.
...
Meanwhile...
Maureen was looking at the sky. She was thinking about Harley's offer. "I think I know what I want."
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