The following day was mostly uneventful. Lincoln and his friends met up again to see the movie they wanted to see the day prior, though Lincoln could barely focus, still thinking about the fact that he has superpowers now, trying to weigh the pros and cons of the situation.
Monday came, and word had already gotten around school about Lincoln's encounter with a ninth-grader over the weekend.
Lincoln passed through the hallways, as he did, many students were whispering and chatting about him. His newly enhanced allowed him to listen in to what some of the students were saying.
"He knocked him out in one punch!"
"I heard he moved like a ninja!"
"Think he's a mutant?"
"No way, he probably just took lessons from Lynn, that girl could take an entire football team by herself."
Lincoln began to sweat a bit, word of his encounter spreading. He's learned by this point that being the talk of the school can be a good thing or a bad thing, or sometimes it can be both.
As he reached his locker, he heard yet another familiar yet unfriendly voice, "So, you go from fainting at spiders, to beating up older kids huh?"
"I didn't faint because I saw a spider, Chandler," Lincoln said, already fed up with this boy's false accusations.
"Yeah, yeah, look, if you had your feelings hurt that's one thing, but to go around beating up other kids for it? That's just cruel," Chandler said.
"Are you in any position to call anyone cruel? You constantly harass Stella over her body," Lincoln said.
"I'm not harassing her, I'm complimenting her," Chandler said. "She's got an amazing body and I feel that she should know that. Oh I would love nothing more than to press my face against her-"
Lincoln grabbed Chandler by the shirt and tossed him back, this causing a scene with everyone present, not that Lincoln cared, "Go anywhere near Stella and I'll make you regret it! She's my friend, not some bimbo for you to screw around with!"
"What's going on here!?" came the voice of Principal Ramirez.
"Lincoln pushed me, for no reason!" Chandler falsely stated.
Ramirez turned to the boy accused, "Is this true, Lincoln? Did you push Chandler?"
"Well, yeah, I did push him, but he deserved it. He was saying terrible things about my friend Stella," Lincoln said.
"All I did was compliment her on her looks, she's a pretty girl, wouldn't you agree Principal Ramirez?" Chandler said.
"Yes, I would," Ramirez said, then turned her attention to Lincoln. "This is not ok young man, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to give you detention."
"Huh?" Lincoln said. "But Chandler was saying all that terrible stuff!"
"It's true," came the voice of a familiar girl who stepped over to the scene unfolding. "I overheard everything, Chandler was saying inappropriate things about Stella and her body, including her developed features. Lincoln was just sticking up for his friend, which should be praised, not punished."
"Christina?" Lincoln said in surprise. He didn't think she would speak on his behalf.
"Hi Lincoln," Christina greeted, almost acting like if they were old friends.
"Hey! No one asked you!" Chandler shouted.
"Too bad, I'm saying something," Christina said. "I'm not gonna let you say disrespectful things about a girl's body like that, boys like you make me sick."
"Alright, that's enough," Ramirez said. "Chandler, I will be having a word with your parents about this."
"But that's bogus!" Chandler shouted.
"Enough," Ramirez turned to Lincoln. "As for you, while your intentions may have been pure, and you do deserve to be commended for standing up for your friend, you still shoved Chandler, so you still have that detention."
"Aw..." Lincoln groaned in annoyance.
"Principal, that seems unfair, Lincoln was standing up for his friend," Christina said. "If you give him detention over that, you're indirectly promoting the mistreatment of girls all over, do you really want to be responsible for something so heinous?"
"Rules are rules, I suggest you leave it at that, otherwise you'll be joining Lincoln," Ramirez said, making her exit. "Come with me Chandler."
The bully stood up, cursing under his breath as he walked off.
"Well that's a crummy way to start my week," Lincoln said. "But thanks for sticking up for me Christina."
"It's no trouble, I mostly did it out of respect for Stella, we girls gotta look out for each other," Christina said. "But I also appreciate a guy who stands up for his friends, especially a female one.
"My friends mean a lot to me, so I won't tolerate them being disrespected" Lincoln said. "Still, we haven't really spoken in a while, I know things got awkward between us a couple of years ago, with that video tape thing."
"Yeah, that was not pleasant," Christina said, still feeling embarrassed by the whole thing. "Anyway, things have changed for me lately and let's just say I have a better lease on life. So, I want to move past that whole tape thing and make a better start for us."
"Sure, I'd like that," Lincoln said. "So, I gotta get to class before things get worse for me, I'll see you around."
"See you," Christina said, making her way to her own class.
The day went on, Lincoln took his classes like normal, including a science class where he went over his experiment idea with Stella.
"Spiders? You want to do our project about spiders?" Stella asked.
"I got the idea from the zoo," Lincoln said. "Somehow, I just feel so curious about them."
"Uh-huh, this isn't just to prove to Chandler that you're not afraid, are you?" Stella asked.
"No way, forget him, I just thought this would be a neat experiment," Lincoln said. "I mean, if you don't want to that's fine, but-"
"No, I don't mind, as long as you're happy with it," Stella said.
"Great," Lincoln said. "I've already asked Lisa for some tips too, we're gonna ace this project."
"I have no doubts," Stella said.
"I'll run it by the teacher then," Lincoln said, making his way out of his seat.
Stella seemed amazed by how eager he was to do this, like he suddenly had a genuine interest in spiders. She knew he took care of a class pet once, which according to him was quite an adventure, given that both his sister and his father are arachnophobes.
Lincoln came back to his seat, giving Stella a thumbs up, "We got the approval."
"Sounds good, so should we plan out a meeting schedule?" Stella asked.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Oh but I do have detention today for shoving Chandler," Lincoln said.
"Right, I heard," Stella said. "Wish you hadn't done that, I know he's a pain in the butt, that doesn't mean you should let him get under your skin."
"He was crossing a line though, I had to do something," Lincoln said.
"It was about me, right?" Stella asked, surprising Lincoln. "Kids talk, that and I ran into Christina in the bathroom, she told me everything."
"Guess there's no point in denying it then," Lincoln said.
"Look Lincoln, I appreciate that you care that much about me, but I don't want you getting into trouble just because he's saying stupid things. It's just not worth it," Stella said.
"But you're my friend, I can't let him talk about you like you're just an object. He needs to learn to respect you, and girls in general," Lincoln said.
"This is Chandler Lincoln, he doesn't respect anyone," Stella reminded. "Look, I can handle his stupid comments, you worry about staying away from him."
Lincoln grumbled in annoyance, "Still, it's not ok for him to say stuff like that."
Stella admired this about Lincoln, he was a good friend, and he clearly cared about her a lot. She always felt comfortable around him and was the reason she never felt too ashamed of herself, because Lincoln always looked at her like his friend. Ironically, part of her wondered what he would truly think of her in regard to her physique.
She placed her hand on his shoulder, offering a kind smile, "I am so happy you're my friend, Lincoln Loud."
Lincoln blushed a bit from her kind words, "Yeah, me too."
While in detention, Lincoln had a chance to think over a lot of things regarding his newfound spider abilities. According to the side effects Lisa told him about the bite, superpowers were definitely not a possibility. He supposes that makes sense, otherwise other people would have powers.
Then again, he supposes that's how mutants were created, but that still seemed far-fetched. That would indicate that the spider that bit him wasn't a normal spider, he wishes he hadn't crushed it, he could have had Lisa experiment on it.
Of course doing so would risk her or his family finding out. On one hand, showing off his superpowers would be cool, but part of him worried how his family would react to him having superpowers. He can't tell if they would find it cool, or if they would outcast him. He's heard stories of mutants who were casted from their families due to their powers, he didn't want that happening to him.
Maybe he needs to give his family more credit than that, after all they've always loved him unconditionally, even when times got bad. He loved them too, despite their terrible flaws, specifically the time Lynn called him 'Bad Luck' and he had to camp in the backyard for two days, of course perhaps he was better off ignoring her than playing it up, but what's done is done. He moved past it and things were back to normal.
Suddenly a piece of paper hit him, the boy turning the direction to whoever threw it, that being Chandler. "This is your fault Lincoln Lame! I'll get you for this if it's the last thing I do!"
"You'll do what, McCann!?" Came the voice of Mr. Bolhofner. "Pick up that paper, I don't want littering in my classroom."
"Make me!" Chandler said. One glare from Bolhofner scared the boy into doing so. He did not want to endure the wrath of Skull-Hofner, the nickname still prevalent for some students despite Lincoln's friends attempting to debunk it.
"Alright kids, I'm obligated to show you this video," Bolhofner said, placing it in. "Make sure you pay attention if you want to avoid coming back here, or don't, really makes no difference to me if you screw up your own futures."
The video played, revealing the First Avenger, Captain America. "So, you're in detention. You screwed up and you know what you did was wrong. Question now is, how do you make things right. Were you trying to be cool or something? Take it from me, a guy who's been frozen for seventy years, the best way to be cool is to follow the rules."
"That guy's such a dork," Chandler said.
"That dork is a superhero who's been saving the world since earlier this century!" Lincoln said.
"Didn't ask you, pipe down!" Chandler said.
"Keep this up McCann, and I'll be seeing you all week," Bolhofner said. "That would be a waste of my time, and I will make you regret it."
Lincoln focused more on the Captain America video, regardless of how cheesy it was, Lincoln couldn't help but admire the hero. He's like a true to life Ace Savvy, and someone Lincoln hoped to one day meet.
"Wonder if my family would be cool with a trip to New York?"
Later on, Lincoln finally got home, and needless to say, his parents were not too happy.
"I can't believe you got detention today, what were you thinking Lincoln?" Rita asked.
"Sorry mom, I had to do something. Chandler was saying really mean things about Stella," Lincoln said.
"There's more than one way to handle it sweetie, getting into a fight is a bad way to do so," Rita said.
"Oh let's not be too hard honey. He was standing up for his friend, like a real man would," Lynn Sr said.
"Don't encourage this, Lynn," Rita said. "Lincoln needs to know better."
"No way mom, dad's got a point," Lynn said. "Lincoln had to fight, to protect his girlfriend's honor."
"Stella isn't my girlfriend though," Lincoln reminded. "She's just my friend."
"Oh, so you got detention just protecting a friend?" Lynn asked. "That doesn't sound as cool."
"It's totally cool!" Lincoln insisted.
"It is not cool!" Rita scolded.
"Hey what's this about Lincoln getting detention?" Luna asked, walking in with Lucy, Luan, Lana, Lola, Lisa and Lily.
"It's nothing sweetie," Rita insisted.
"Little Bro here got detention for beating up a kid after he was being mean to Stella," Lynn explained, much to Rita's annoyance.
"You beat up a kid for dissing Stella?" Luna asked. "Good on you bro!"
"Luna!" Rita scolded. "This is not ok."
"Come on mom, I bet if dad beat up someone for being mean to you, then you'd probably swoon over it," Lola insisted.
"I have actually, some guy came on too strong to your mother, so I had to mess him up," Lynn Sr insisted, flexing his arms.
"When was this?" Rita asked.
"Uh, you know...that one Friday afternoon," Lynn Sr nervously insisted, his wife offering a pitiful glare.
"What Lincoln did sounds really romantic," Lola said. "I would love for a guy to beat someone up for me."
"Benny tried that for me once, nearly beaten up himself," Luan said. "It's fine, I don't need him beating someone up for me, but I do appreciate the thought."
"Not gonna lie, when I saw someone dissing Sam, I nearly showed him the meaning of 'Hard Rock'," Luna said.
"Not the type of 'Punk' you would be a fan of," Luan said, chuckling to herself.
"Girls, enough please," Rita said. "Don't encourage this behavior."
"But mom, Lincoln just cares about his girlfriend," Lola said.
"Again, not my girlfriend, she's a friend, and I'd do the same for all my friends," Lincoln insisted.
"Please, I doubt you'd do something like this for Rusty," Lynn said. "Face it, you've got a soft spot for Stella."
"Which is fine, we all think you and her would look great together," Luna said.
"We're just waiting for you to make it official," Lana said.
"Well stop waiting, it's not gonna happen, she doesn't even like me that way," Lincoln said.
"Well after today, you've certainly increased your chances," Lola said.
Rita groaned in annoyance, her kids don't seem to understand how bad this was, "Girls, really enough. Lincoln's already in trouble, don't add to it."
"I only got one day of detention," Lincoln said.
"That's the school's punishment, not mine," Rita said.
"Rita, let's discuss this, I don't think Lincoln should be in more trouble, I mean it's not like he really hurt the other boy, he just shoved him," Lynn Sr said. "Lincoln's heart was in the right place."
Despite her disapproval of what Lincoln did, Rita knew that her husband had a point. In a way she's proud that Lincoln would stick up for his friends, especially a female friend. She also takes relief in knowing that Lincoln does not tolerate disrespect towards women.
"Alright look, I'll let this go then, since Lincoln doesn't normally cause trouble," Rita said. "Just try to limit the physical altercations honey, if a boy is saying or doing something he shouldn't, just ignore him, or tell a teacher."
"Pfft, teachers don't do anything, they just pretend to care while the rest of us fend for ourselves," Lynn said.
"That's not true honey, teachers are there to help," Rita said.
"More like teach us stuff we're never gonna use in life," Lynn said.
"Even as a genius, I honestly can't disagree with Lynn, public schools tend to fall short, some things are best learned on your own," Lisa said.
Lincoln did resonate with that statement, he still needed to figure out his developing powers, and that's something he had to go out into the field to do. He just needed to find the time to do so.
"Alright, enough, look let's just get ready for dinner," Rita said.
"We still have to wait for Leni," Lynn Sr said. "Weird, I thought she'd be home by now, unless her shift is running late."
"Don't have us wait too long, if Leni's really hungry she can reheat what's left," Lynn said.
"Be considerate Junior," Lynn Sr warned. "Anyway I'll get dinner ready, if Leni's late, that's fine, I'll save her something."
An hour later, dinner was done, Lynn Sr had made meatloaf for the family, all kids present for it, apart from Lori, who was at college, and Leni, who was still late.
Everyone had to make sure Lynn Jr did not attempt to steal Leni's food, which despite her insistence, they could tell the thought keeps crossing her mind, and sometimes she ends up listening to her stomach more than her head.
Eventually the second oldest child had finally gotten home, her presence first being noticed by Lola, "Leni's back!"
"Hey Leni, sorry we started dinner without you," Lincoln said.
"It's fine," Leni said, the girl seemingly distressed.
"Hey, something wrong there kiddo?" Lynn Sr asked.
"Did you have a bad day at work?" Rita asked.
"Well, sort of, but not because of something that happened to me though," Leni said. "It's Mrs. Carmichael, she's been feeling really depressed."
"Oh, is business doing poorly?" Rita asked.
"No, it's her son," Leni said. "He went missing recently."
"Missing?" Lynn Sr asked, everyone perking up upon hearing this, especially Lincoln.
"I don't know the full details, but she's been really depressed," Leni said. "I'm actually worried about him, he's such a sweet boy, I hope he's alright."
"Me too," Lynn Sr said. The man was very distraught, as a father himself, he couldn't imagine the torture if any of his children went missing. "Well, there's gotta be a way we can help."
"If anyone could keep an eye out, that would be a huge help," Leni said.
"Oh of course, we'll all do anything we can to help that poor woman," Rita said.
"I'll ask any of the families on my contact list if they know anything, maybe he ran away and is hiding at a friend's house," Luan said.
"I'll ask the band too if they can help," Luna said.
"Thanks, I really appreciate it everyone," Leni said.
Lincoln was worried for the boy, but in a way, this could be his big chance to really test his powers. This was a chance for him to put his Ace Savvy Detective Skills to good use.
The week went on and Lincoln continued to develop his abilities, while at school he would study up on spiders, and what they can do while he attempted to mimic such abilities.
Wall crawling, he had that down. Speed, almost too fast to catch on occasion, he needed much more control. Then there came the leaping, Lincoln was amazed that a spider could leap as far as it could, and from there the boy tried doing so himself, finding that he could leap across an entire football field without the need for a running start.
Lincoln almost wishes he could spin webs, but that seemed to be out of the question, which was a shame since he theorized using webs as a form of capture. Still, possibilities were endless, all he really needed aside from some practice was a cool suit, and thanks to the sewing skills he learned from Leni, he could make one with little trouble.
On Thursday, a day before his project was due, Lincoln thought to go home and work before later going to practice his powers some more when Clyde called to him. "Hey Lincoln!"
Lincoln turned to see his best friend making his way over, "Hey Clyde, what's up?"
"I just spoke to Chloe, she and Emma want to meet up with us at Gus's this weekend," Clyde explained.
"Oh, that's nice of them to invite us, little surprised by the decision," Lincoln said.
"Probably because they saw how cool we looked doing that dancing game last weekend, plus according to Chloe, it looks like Emma's fascinated with you," Clyde explained.
"Huh? Fascinated how?" Lincoln asked.
"She didn't go into details, but I think it's obvious," Clyde said. "Emma probably has a thing for you."
"You really think so?" Lincoln asked. "I mean, she seems like a nice girl."
"We both know she's a nice girl," Clyde said. "Look, Emma's great and I think you two can really hit it off. Just think about it at least."
Lincoln was quite surprised by what Clyde was saying, especially since Emma was his former crush, or one of them at least. Any other day, he would felt like it'd be a little too awkward for them, but it seems like Clyde doesn't have any hard feelings towards this and was kinda like giving him his blessing.
"Sure, you got it bud," Lincoln said. "Anyway I should be going now."
"Oh, and I've been thinking, you know how we've always wanted to make an Ace Savvy fan movie?" Clyde asked.
"Yeah, us as Ace Savvy and One-Eye Jack," Lincoln said. "Then we stopped because the real one was coming out."
"Well I was thinking we should try again," Clyde said. "Since the real one didn't do too well in the box office, I figured the two of us can try our own."
"That movie didn't do well because The Avengers showed up around the time of the movie's release," Lincoln said. "If real actors couldn't get that movie going, I don't think we can."
"Hey it's worth a shot," Clyde said. "The Avengers are pretty much settled in so Superhero movies might be coming back, plus it'll be fun, especially with these newfound reflexes of yours, must have been from that Rip Hardcore training set. Get buff enough and you'll make a great Captain America."
That's when a thought occurred to Lincoln, with his new abilities, he could definitely pull off some amazing Ace Savvy moves and make it look good for their movie. "Sounds good to me Clyde."
"Sweet, Clincoln McCloud is making it big," Clyde said.
"Got that right," Lincoln said, fist-bumping his friend.
"Lincoln!" Stella called, unintentionally interrupting the two.
"Hey Stella, what's up?" Lincoln asked.
"You know what's up, we have that project due tomorrow," Stella said.
"Oh yeah, I was gonna work on the last bit at home," Lincoln said. "We got this under control."
"Still, there's some stuff we should go over together first, this is a group project after all, we need to meet up more to have this done properly," Stella said. "It doesn't help that you haven't been around too much for us to communicate properly."
"Right, sorry, I was...researching," Lincoln said. Partially true, his researching was a field experiment. "But you're right, we should actually work on this together, so why don't you come over to my house today."
"I can come now if you'd like," Stella said.
"Sure, if you'd like," Lincoln said. "Works out better since most of my sisters are busy, this way they won't bother you."
"Oh your sisters aren't so bad," Stella insisted. Though deep down she did find them overwhelming, and she was almost certain some of them didn't really like her for whatever reason, though it could be her insecurities that made her think that way.
"Alright, well let's get going," Lincoln said, escorting Stella to the bus.
Clyde grumbled in annoyance, lately it seemed like Lincoln did seem more focused on Stella, didn't help that the two were in the same science class. Clyde and Lincoln usually only met up during lunch time, and even then, it was a group lunch.
He shouldn't feel too jealous, Stella's also a friend of his, and there was a time all the boys were enamored with her, though lately they've felt less and less that way about her. These days, his worries for Lincoln ending up with Stella was less about Clyde having a crush and more that it's less time to spend with his best friend.
In a way, that's the main reason he hopes that this double date they have with Emma and Chloe works out, best friends dating best friends. The only other good option was Ronnie Anne and Sid, but Clyde didn't feel that way about either girl much, especially Ronnie Anne.
In the end, Clyde figured he's worried over nothing, but if things do get worse, he can always talk to Doctor Lopez about it, she usually knew what to say.
Later, Lincoln and Stella arrived at the Loud House, the two entering to find it mostly quiet. With Luna practicing with her band, Luan doing a birthday party, Lynn having a lacrosse game, Lucy off at a poetry reading and Lola out for her pageant, the house wasn't too packed.
"Alright, we should head on up to my room, I'll read you my notes," Lincoln said.
"That sounds good," Stella replied.
The two made their way upstairs, approaching Lincoln's room when Lisa's door got blasted off its hinges, startling the two.
"Dang it!" Lisa came out to survey the damage. "Hopefully Lana can fix this fast, I'd rather mother and father not overreact, especially father."
"Lisa! What happened!" Lincoln shouted.
"Oh you're home," Lisa took note of Stella. "Ah, and you've brought Stella."
"Hi Lisa, another mishap?" Stella asked.
"I mixed the wrong chemicals together. My own fault, my glasses got foggy from some steam, and I did not clean them off properly," Lisa said.
"Wait, where's Lily!?" Lincoln asked.
"I'm in here!" Lily called. "I'm not hurt!"
"Oh thank goodness," Lincoln said.
"Is it any surprise, I'm always careful when Lily's around," Lisa said.
"I know but, I get kind of panicky," Lincoln said. "I worry enough when you do these experiments, I don't want Lily getting hurt too."
"Lincoln, I've been doing this since I could move my arms, I appreciate your concern but nothing bad is going to happen," Lisa insisted. "But if you're that concerned, I can put a pause on my scientific endeavors. I still have my own research to get back to regarding Doctor Stephen Strange."
"Oh I've heard of him, he disappeared after an accident that destroyed his hands," Stella said.
"I hear he spent time and research trying to get them fixed, and I believe I can figure out a way to do so," Lisa said. "Pulling this off would look great on a college resume, plus the world needs Doctor Stephen Strange, no one can perform the miracles in the operating room like he can."
"That'd be amazing if you could help him out, but how would you even reach him?" Stella asked. "He lives in New York."
"Stella, I've flown to Sweden, which is much further away," Lisa said. "I think I can find my way to New York."
"My goal is to go there myself one day, and see all the amazing things that Manhattan has to offer," Lincoln said.
"Right, and it's not just to see The Avengers in person, right brother?" Lisa sarcastically commented.
"I'll admit, that's a bonus," Lincoln sheepishly admitted. "Besides, even you would want to see them, at least for the science stuff."
"I want to see The Hulk!" Walked over to her brother, holding a picture she made. "I even made this." Lily showed off a picture of Hulk flexing his muscles, the picture also containing Lincoln with muscles. "I put you and Hulk there because you're both really cool."
Lincoln held back a tear, not wanting to show any in front of Stella, he didn't want to look less than manly in front of a girl, "Thanks Lily, you're a real sweetheart."
"Upsies," Lily said, holding out her arms while Lincoln picked her up, allowing her room to get a kiss on his cheek.
"This is so cute," Stella said, gushing at the sight. "You must really love your big brother, Lily."
"Linky wants to be a superhero too one day, and I'm gonna be his Number One Fan," Lily said.
That was another perk to Lincoln now having powers, his baby sister would look up to him even more. Things just kept working out for him. He took a moment to further examine the picture, and had to admit, it was well drawn considering it was made by a three-year-old. "This is a really nice picture Lily, you're really talented, I think you've found your Loud Sister gift."
"My what?" Lily asked.
"Each of our sisters is talented at something," Lincoln asked. "Lori has golf, Leni has clothes, Luna has music, Luan has comedy, Lynn has sports, Lucy has poetry, Lana has plumbing, Lola has her pageantry and Lisa here has science. Now you have art."
"She does have a knack for it," Lisa said.
"Yay, I feel special," Lily said. "But, what about you Linky? Don't you have something special too?"
"No, it's more of a Loud Sister thing, I'm a Loud Brother," Lincoln said.
"Don't say that, you know you're good at magic. You managed to impress us and the entire Middle School, despite our earlier concerns," Stella said. To this day she still had a little guilt about trying to prevent his performance. "Plus, you already got in a couple off first place trophies as a junior magician, after pulling your way up from third place."
"And you did create that comic book for Ace Savvy," Lily said. "So we share the same talent for drawing."
"Not to mention his singing voice that wowed the school play," Stella added.
"Plus, you were a Duke at one point, that's probably more impressive than most of our other sisters," Lisa said.
Lincoln was blushing by this amount of praise he was receiving. In truth, he did have a lot of special skills to help him stand out, there are probably just sometimes where he lacks confidence in his own abilities and just needs a reminder of it. After all, he did remember that some of his sisters had their own struggles too; such as Lori always being outmatched by her former rival Carol Pingrey, Luna not being that invested in music until she went to Mick Swagger's concert when she was younger, and Luan wasn't that good at comedy at one point until she decided to enroll in some kind of clown academy, which did inspire Lucy as well. So overall, Lincoln just needed to acknowledge his own abilities, especially with some recently new added ones that apparently nobody else possesses.
"Gotta say though, that Duke thing was probably my 'Crowning Achievement'," Lincoln joked.
"Wow, been spending time with Luan there big brother?" Lisa teased.
"I thought it was funny," Lily said.
"You know I keep forgetting you're related to Scottish Royalty," Stella said. "Sometimes I wonder if I have to start practicing my courtesies for all of you."
"No it's fine, my fays as Duke are done," Lincoln said. "Do kind of miss it though. Maybe I'll go back to the castle one day."
"If you get married, that would be an ideal place for a Honeymoon," Lisa said.
"Heh, marriage?" Lincoln asked, blushing from the thought. "That might be a long way from now."
Lily curiously turned her attention to her brother's guest, "Hey Stella, are you gonna marry my big brother?"
Lincoln immediately froze hearing his sweet, innocent little sister asking such a loaded question, Lisa didn't seem that much well either, the two just turning their attention to Stella, who also looked to be red in the face.
"Uh...well, we're too young for that Lily, besides marriage isn't something people just do, it's when they really care about each other and want to spend the rest of their lives with each other," Stella said.
"Do you care about my brother?" Lily asked.
"Well, yeah," Stella admitted.
"And you want to see him for the rest of your life, right?" Lily asked.
"I mean, ideally yes," Stella said.
"So why don't you two just get married?" Lily asked.
Stella was kind of speechless, unsure how to explain this touchy subject to a toddler, "Uh...well..."
Any other sister, Lincoln would be furious. But he knows Lily means no harm, she's just naturally curious. Of course, he somewhat blames his older sisters for constantly talking about this type of stuff, so of course Lily's curious.
Fortunately, that awkward moment was broken up once Lana made her presence known, "What happened here?"
"Oh, hey Lana, I just..." Lincoln could see that the girl was messy and dirty. "Ugh, Lana, were you rolling in mud again?"
"Well, yeah, that's kind of my thing," Lana said.
"You better not have tracked mud in the house," Lincoln said.
"Chill, I wiped my feet," Lana said, looking back and seeing there was a mud trail. "Of course, the mat was pretty dirty so I might have made it worst."
"Lana, we have a guest, clean up," Lily said, in a way that imitated her mother.
"Guest?" Lana took note of the girl beside Lincoln. "Hey, Stella, what's up? How are your bunnies?"
"Hi Lana, they're fine, thanks," Stella said.
"Hey, you don't mind a little mud, do you?" Lana asked.
"Uh...well, you do you," Stella said. She did find this gross but didn't think it was her place to say so.
"I knew you were cool like that," Lana said. "Anyway, guess I should fix this door up before dad sees it."
"Please do," Lisa said.
"While you do that, Stella and I have work to do, so try not to bother us," Lincoln said.
"Wait, is it just you and Stella alone?" Lana asked. "Oooh, better hope some of our other sisters find out."
"Uh, why shouldn't they?" Lincoln asked.
"Well, for starters, we both know a certain older sister who thinks a certain only brother should be with a certain little sister of a certain city boyfriend," Lana said.
This long-winded explanation only served to frustrate Lincoln, the boy groaning in annoyance, "I don't think that certain older sister is going to care that much who I'm with. Plus Stella and I are just doing schoolwork, nothing else."
"Right, schoolwork," Lana said, almost as if she's trying to read between some lines.
Lincoln knew not to continue this nearly one-sided topic, "Come on Stella." He turned back to his sisters, "Please don't bother us unless it's important."
"We got you bro," Lana said, giving a double gun click sound.
Lincoln closed the door behind him, sighing in frustration, "My sisters sometimes..."
"They're not so bad, I mean I don't have siblings but I imagine this type of banter is normal," Stella said.
"Doesn't make it any less frustrating," Lincoln said. "Especially when they live in a fantasy where I'm dating Ronnie Anne."
"Well she is a pretty girl, so that's a positive," Stella said.
Lincoln couldn't deny that, but he also wouldn't outright confirm it either, "We should hurry and get to work before the rest of my sisters get home and start making things worst."
"Uh, yeah, sure thing," Stella said.
Time went on, both Lincoln and Stella continued their research, gathering their notes and finalizing their project. In time the rest of the sisters had come home, none of them bothering the two, at least not yet.
The evening time came, Lincoln and Stella had finally finished, and it was time Stella started making her way home.
"Boy time flies when you're working," Stella said, making her way to the front door. "Great progress today Lincoln."
"You too, we really got some work done. Can't wait to show the teacher," Lincoln said. Of course, he also couldn't wait to use this to his personal advantage as well, everything he learned through research is another thing for him to try on his own.
"I'm still surprised you ended up choosing spiders, you seemed so fascinated with everything we learned about them," Stella said. "Are you secretly going to get a pet tarantula or something?"
"Who me? No way, my dad and Leni would flip out," Lincoln said. "I just think spiders are cool."
"They are," Lucy said, the girl appearing out of nowhere and startling the two, Stella immediately hugging onto Lincoln, getting a big blush on his face. "Sorry, did I startle you?"
"A little," Stella said, then realized she was grabbing onto Lincoln, the two immediately breaking contact and trying not to look at each other.
"When did you get home?" Lincoln asked.
"I've been home for an hour," Lucy said. "I don't think anyone's noticed me yet."
"Well you are really quiet, not that it's a bad thing," Lincoln said. "You're one less sister that gives me a headache."
"I can relate, so, Stella's been here studying with you...do our other sisters know?" Lucy asked.
"Only Lana, Lisa and Lily, to my knowledge at least," Lincoln said.
"Just prepare, once the other sisters find out, you know they're gonna pester you about it," Lucy said.
"Yeah, probably better if Stella goes home now so she doesn't have to deal with all that," Lincoln said.
"I really don't think your sisters are that bad though," Stella said. "I wouldn't mind getting to know them a bit more."
"It's better this way," Lucy said. "Plus, I'm pretty sure a couple of my sisters don't like you."
"Pardon me?" Stella asked.
"Lucy!" Lincoln scolded.
"...Yeah, I should not have said that out loud," Lucy said. "I'm not one of the sisters if that's any consolation."
"Uh...I should probably go now," Stella said, strapping her backpack on. "See you later, Lincoln."
"Stella..." Lincoln stood there in sadness as Stella made her way out of the door. He frustratingly turned to Lucy, "Well now her feelings are probably hurt."
"That wasn't my intention, I wanted to protect her, after all, we both know how Lori feels about her," Lucy said.
"Come on, Lori does not dislike Stella," Lincoln said. "None of our sisters do."
"I spend a lot of time in the vents, I hear things Lincoln, but it's not just about Stella, sometimes it's those other girls you hang out with too," Lucy said. "You and I both know that Lori in particular wishes for you to be with Ronnie Anne. Personally I'm fine with whoever you choose, though if you happened to be interested in Haiku, that could be a nice bonus."
"This is ridiculous," Lincoln said, opening the front door. "I'll be back later."
As Lincoln left, Lucy awkwardly began making her way back to her room, feeling like she goofed up. "Sigh, I really need to work on my people skills."
As Stella was moving up the block, Lincoln called over to her, "Stella, wait up!"
"Huh?" Stella could see Lincoln running over. "Oh, did you need something?"
"Stella, I'm sorry about my sisters, they really don't have much of a brain to mouth filter," Lincoln said. "Mind if I walked you home?"
"Sure, you can do that if you'd like," Stella said. "And it really is fine, I know Lucy wasn't trying to be mean. I mean she's only ten, she doesn't know any better."
"She should, Lana's one thing, anyone older than her or Lola should have a better head on their shoulders," Lincoln said.
"Still, don't be too mad, I do like your sisters, even Lucy," Stella said. "She's kind of cute in a spooky way."
"Lucy is one of the easier ones to get along with," Lincoln said. "I just wish she'd stop disappearing and reappearing, it's like she can teleport."
"Hey...there is something I've been wondering, and I hope me asking doesn't upset you," Stella said.
"Go for it," Lincoln said.
"It's about Lucy...something about her feels, unusual," Stella said. "Her being so quiet, moving without being heard. Is she...you know."
"Lucy isn't a ghost, she just acts like one," Lincoln said.
"No, not that, I was gonna ask if she's a mutant," Stella said.
"Huh?" Lincoln was surprised by that statement. "A mutant?"
"Yeah, like the ones on TV," Stella said. "Maybe she has developing powers."
"Uh, I don't think she is," Lincoln said. Truthfully he never considered any of his sisters to be mutants, maybe Lisa with her extra toe but that might be stretching it. "Would that be a bad thing?"
"No, I would never judge, I believe mutants are people like us," Stella said. "But other people might not be so nice. I'd hate to see her outcasted."
"Yeah, that would be bad," Lincoln said. "Lucy's really sensitive, if people mistreated her because of something like that, she'd never want to leave the house."
"I wouldn't blame her, being different is hard enough, to be an outcast is worst," Stella said. "But, what about your sisters? You think they would be understanding?"
"I...wish I could say but I don't know," Lincoln said. "I should have more faith in them, they're really nice despite their imperfections, but they can be judgmental. Even Lori hasn't grown out of it."
"I'd like to think they would be acceptable too," Stella said. "Even if I barely know much about them."
"Uh, say...if I was a mutant or any of our friends, would you still hang out with us?" Lincoln asked.
"Yes, of course, I care about you all too much to let something like that bother me," Stella said.
"Well, it's good to know, I mean, it's hypothetical but still, reassuring," Lincoln said.
Part of him did wonder if he should tell his friends. He had thought about at least telling Clyde, he knows he would be understanding, plus if he's gonna be a superhero, he wants Clyde as his sidekick. He was more worried about his other friends, especially Stella. He wasn't sure why but he really wanted Stella to be accepting, but he still felt unsure about telling her just yet.
Eventually, the two arrived at the Zhau residence, Lincoln walking Stella to her door, "Here we are."
"Thanks for walking me home," Stella said.
"No trouble, I'll see you at school tomorrow," Lincoln said.
"Get home safe," Stella said, Lincoln turning to leave, waving bye one more time. "He's such a nice boy, not like the others either. I could see why some of the girls at school seem fond of him." Something about that last thought made Stella feel a bit jealous, "Weird, something about that bothers me, maybe I'm just being protective."
Lincoln decided to do a little hero practicing before going home, so he took a detour through a park first. This works out great, not only are there less people, but he can also try something else he's been learning.
"A Wolf Spider is capable of sensing movement in the dark, time to see if I have any of those traits or not," Lincoln said, hopping onto a tree.
Lincoln quickly zipped around, testing not only his sight but also his senses, hoping to further perfect his mobility.
After some quick exercises, he landed near a bench, satisfied with his training. He reached into his backpack to see if he had any water when he came across something special, "My Ace Savvy costume." He pulled it out, carefully observing it. "This will so come in handy when Clyde and I resurrect this character."
"A resurrection huh?" Came the voice of an old man, Lincoln turning towards him. "Huh, I think I remember you kid, you're the one who won my Ace Savvy fan contest."
"Bill Buck?" Lincoln asked. Standing before him was the creator of Ace Savvy himself, this amazing the young comic fan.
"The one and only," Bill said. "And you're Lincoln Loud."
"I'm surprised you remember me," Lincoln said.
"Well your story stuck with me, they were even gonna those characters you made a cameo in that Ace Savvy movie," Bill said.
"Oh yeah, that should have been a better memory for me," Lincoln said. "Shame the movie got completely cancelled."
"Eh, I got an exclusive preview, and the movie wasn't that great. Too many Hollywood changes, a lousy idea to make a cat a villain, and one of the stars was a total prima donna," Bill said. "The Avengers showing up and causing that movie to be scrapped was a blessing as far as I'm concerned."
"Wow, didn't expect you hear you say that," Lincoln said. "Didn't they take any advice from you? Didn't anyone approach you?"
"Not at all. I had to go to them. I tell you the two people running that debacle had no clue what made a true Ace Savvy movie," Bill said.
"Wow, and I thought I had it bad, you're literally the guy who made Ace Savvy," Lincoln said. "It's your franchise, you should have a say."
"Ideally, but that's business sometimes kid, people climb ranks, then throw their weight around," Bill said.
"That sucks, personally I was still interested in seeing the movie, even if my sisters were gonna be cut from it," Lincoln said.
"So, you aiming to try again? Give a second chance to Ace? Your friends? Your sisters?" Bill asked.
"Well, if that's alright with you sir. Personally, I just wanted to make this film for fun," Lincoln said.
"It's fine, lots of kids make fan films, I tend to enjoy them more than a lot of the official stuff, I can see the heart and passion," Bill said. "By the way, I kind of heard you a few feet away and it kind of sounded like you're doing some parkour. Were you practicing to be Ace for your film?"
"Kind of, me and Clyde want to try to make our own spin on the film and want to try having better action scenes. Anyway, thank you for the blessing, Mr. Buck," Lincoln gave his gratitude.
"Call me 'Bill', I'm not one for formalities anyway," the older man insisted. "And I appreciate the thought, but there's plenty of capable writers, some of them have the same heart for writing I do, others like you."
"Wow, thank you, Bill," Lincoln said. "I gotta say though, I'm a little surprised to see you all the way out here."
"I have my reasons to be," Bill said. "Right now, I'm basically working on something, little different from my usual profession."
"Huh? Oh, that's interesting, I thought you were pretty much retired," Lincoln said.
"Eh, once you hit all eighteen holes, you want a little more out of life," Bill said. "You know I gotta say kid, something about your love for comics and enthusiasm does remind me of a character I once wanted to create when I was young."
"Really? Who would that be?" Lincoln asked.
"Tell you what, why don't you come with me to my place, it's only a few blocks away and we can have some hot cocoa," Bill offered.
"That's nice Bill, but I don't think I'd want to waste any of your time…" Lincoln said, despite knowing that he would do anything just to hang out with one of his childhood icons.
Oh it's no bother," Bill said. "Especially since I'm talking to my number one fan."
Lincoln was flattered, he couldn't just decline Bill's offer, so he agreed to go. While walking with him however, his senses started acting weird. He turned to the side and saw a group of guys laughing together while enjoying some drinks.
"Why am I getting a headache? Is it that danger sense I read about?" Lincoln thought. "I don't see any danger though, maybe it's nothing."
Unbeknownst to Lincoln, those men began receiving calls from their boss, it was time for some recruiting, in their own unique way. They got into a car and drove off, speeding right past Lincoln.
"Someone's in a rush," Lincoln thought, his senses still going off. "Shut up will you? I'm safe, aren't I? Man these powers are a pain in the neck sometimes, but it'll be worth it once I master it."
Bill had his own suspicions, he made sure to keep Lincoln in his sight, wanting to be sure the boy wasn't going to face any trouble.
Lincoln was now at the suite of the hotel Bill was staying tonight. After a few hours of talking, Bill then began to talk about his inspiration for Ace Savvy, "Let me start with some context. When I was a boy, I had my life saved by a real superhero when I was stuck in a burning building. Believe it or not, it was Captain America himself."
"You were rescued by Captain America?" Lincoln asked. "I mean, I can believe it, he was frozen in ice for a long time so of course he could be a hero both then and now, but wow, saved by a real-life superhero, that must be awesome."
"It sure was, that inspired me to create Ace Savvy, I wanted to show the world how amazing heroes were, especially after he just disappeared," Bill said. "But that's not the most interesting part. See years after I created Ace Savvy, I had this strange dream, I was saved by another hero, but this one was different. Actually, I still might have the design."
"You do?" Lincoln asked.
Bill began to dig through his stuff, revealing some sketches. "These were all old prototype Ace Savvy designs, whenever I traveled I had a tendency to draw the moment I had an idea, most of these never made it to the comics but they're worth holding on to."
"This is so cool! I wish my friend Clyde was here, he really likes One-Eyed Jack," Lincoln said.
"Oh yes, your friend is the young boy in glasses, right? Good kid," Bill said, rummaging through the trunk. "Anyway, here's a drawing I made years ago. He's a hero I intended to be part of the Ace Savvy Lore. I called him, Spider-Man."
"Spider-Man?" Lincoln took a look at the picture, a hero in red and black with spider-web patterns covering the red part. This really brightened Lincoln's curiosity, just this past weekend he gained spider powers, and now he's learning of a character that was intended to be in the comics. "You were going to create this hero?"
"Yeah, he would have the ability to crawl on walls and even shoot webs from his wrists" Bill said. "I would have tried to add more to his abilities as this was only a rough sketch, I just had some trouble figuring them out."
"Still a neat idea," Lincoln did think about his own powers; his ability crawl on walls just like the Spider-Man character, both of them having a Spider Sense, jumping through buildings, and even super strength. He just wishes he had the ability to shoot web from his wrists, though the bright side is that they're not coming from any other part of his body. "So what's the story behind Spider-Man? Was he like a billionaire with a bunch of gadgets or an alien from a dying planet?
"Neither," Bill stated. "I intended for him to be an average high school boy."
"Wait, really?" Lincoln found that unusual.
"Yes, really. You see, teenagers in superhero comic books were usually relegated to the role of sidekick to the protagonist. This would've broken ground by featuring a high school student as Spider-Man's secret identity, whose self-obsessions with rejection, inadequacy, and loneliness were issues to which young readers could relate," Bill explained.
"That sounds like a great idea!" Lincoln looked over the hero, he had a neat design and background that Lincoln felt like he could relate to. "He seems cool, but why didn't you ever put him in?"
"I tried to, about fifty years ago," Bill said. "But the public thought having a teenage hero was strange, plus people were really afraid of spiders, and they thought it wouldn't make for a good heroic character. So I had to scrap the idea."
"Seriously!? That's bogus! This is such a cool idea! You should totally do it!" Lincoln said.
"I'll think about it, I do miss writing, even if I feel like I may be getting too old for it," Bill said. "But maybe it can happen. My kids never had interest in continuing my legacy, which is fine, they had their own dreams that they followed. But you have potential to be a great comic book artist, maybe one day you can take over the mantle of Ace Savvy and bring Spider-Man to life."
"You really think so?" Lincoln asked.
"Yeah, if you want to at least," Bill said. "Anyway, it's starting to get late, Lincoln, you should get home before your parents start to worry. It isn't entirely safe out here, I mean I trust you know what happened to that store owner's son."
"Yeah, I heard about that," Lincoln remembered. "Don't worry, I'll be safe and hopefully the same could be said about my younger sisters. I'll personally make sure of that."
"You got a good heart kid, and a lot of gifts," Bill said as he smiled at Lincoln's optimism. "Just remember, that with Great Power, there must also come Great Responsibility."
"What does that mean?" Lincoln asked.
"That's something you have to figure out, which I believe you will," Bill said. "You're a smart boy Lincoln Loud. Most people believe heroes are about action, and beating up villains, they tend to forget that it's also about character, and being better, not just for yourself, but others around you, so they too can be better."
"Well, I'll try," Lincoln said, attempting to hand the picture back to Bill.
"Keep it, I think a true fan like you deserves an original copy," Bill said.
"Wow really? Thanks sir, this is going on my finest frame!" Lincoln said.
"I told you, call me 'Bill'," the old man said, cracking a smile at the young boy. He then watched Lincoln leave as he smiled back. After leaving, Bill's smile falters as he hopes for the Loud boy's well-being.
While being a comic book writer, Buck used to also be a Private Investigator, he still is from time to time. Especially in New York, they have a lot of crime organizations that need busting, even now they have at least three gangs trying to take over. Guys like him get the inside information so the cops and heroes can bust them.
Even if it's rare, there are still crooks in Royal Woods, rumor is that there's a gang trying to 'gain employment' through any means, even if they have to use force.
Gangs need couriers, to transport dirty money among other things, or they just need workers in general, and they usually go young too. He has to make sure they stay safe, unless he wants them working in dirty factories for power hungry gangsters.
As he left the hotel, Lincoln looked down at the picture, seeing some words written on the page, "The Amazing Spider-Man. This would have been such a cool idea."
Lincoln decided to head back home, already considering ways to implement this new look into his future aspirations, and to potentially bring this persona to life in as grand of a way as possible.