Lincoln had gotten back to his house a bit later, relieved that he managed to stop at least one mutant. That didn't matter to him much since he still failed to stop Sabretooth. If any of the mutants got away, he'd rather the guy who was more of an annoyance than an actual monster who could cause more trouble.
Though now Lincoln knows that Sabretooth might report this to his boss, this powerful mutant that might be his enemy one day, and that's not something Lincoln looks forward too.
"I should hurry, my sisters might be spooked," Lincoln said. "I just hope that Paige and Christina are fine as well. That was a really bad scare they just had."
Using his speed to help move along, and keeping an eye out to be sure no one was looking, Lincoln quickly made it back to his house.
"I'm home!" Lincoln said, opening up the door.
"Lincoln!" Lana shouted, running over to her big brother. "Oh man, you should have been here today! Actually, maybe it's good you weren't here, since you weren't in danger, but still, it was crazy today!"
"Glad she's not freaked out, of course Lana is very brave," Lincoln recalled. "I heard Spider-Man came by here, do you remember what happened?"
"He was fighting this Toad guy, which ticks me off because the only amphibian powered person is a villain!" Lana lamented. "Still, Spider-Man came and beat him up."
"Well, that's great," Lincoln said. "Lana's still disappointed about the amphibian thing."
"Also, two of your classmates are here, Christina and Paige" Lana said. "I think one of them has something to tell you."
"Is Christina gonna actually tell me about her powers?" Lincoln wondered. "Uh, sure, that sounds good."
"Also, I told them off because neither of them wanted to be your girlfriend," Lana said.
Lincoln raised his eyebrow in confusion and mild annoyance, "You did WHAT!?"
"No need to thank me, I'm just looking out for my big brother," Lana said.
"Ugh, Lana..." Lincoln lamented. "Where are they anyway?"
"In Luna's room, come on," Lana said, leading Lincoln upstairs.
In the shared room of Luna and Luan, Lincoln had been brought inside, the boy immediately spotting not only the room's inhabitants, but also Lola, Lucy, Lily as well as the two guests, Christina and Paige.
"Linky, you're home!" Lily said, running over to hug her older brother.
"Hey Lily," Lincoln rubbed the girl's head. "Are you alright? Were you scared?"
"A little, but Spider-Man kept us safe," Lily said. "Just like he always doesn."
"As long as she's fine," Lincoln then began focusing on what was before him. "Paige, Christina, this is a surprise."
"It's a surprise for us too," Paige said. "But some really crazy stuff happened."
"That's an understatement," Lincoln said. "So...I heard mutants were in town, I don't suppose you being here has anything to do with that?"
"Wow, good guess," Paige said. "Yeah some weird frog or toad guy chased us all the way to your house."
"Well not exactly, we came here by accident and just happened to recognize Lana," Christina said.
"Ah, I see, and because of this chase, you ended up here," Lincoln said. "Now, why was he chasing you exactly?"
"That's actually a really funny story," Paige said. "One Christina would need to tell you."
Lincoln could tell the girl started feeling apprehensive the moment Paige said that, knowing full well what to expect. "Christina huh? Well, she can tell me, if she feels comfortable enough to do so. But given what happened today, I don't blame her if she doesn't feel ready to talk about it just yet."
Christina looked taken by surprise, not what she expected to hear, but not too surprised either, knowing how much of a gentleman Lincoln tended to be. "Actually, it's fine, I can tell you."
"It's pretty big though," Luna said.
"And a total secret, so don't tell anyone, not even the rest of our family," Luan said.
"Whatever it is, I think I can handle it," Lincoln said. "Mainly since I already know, but Christina doesn't know that."
"Well, the truth is..." Christina seemed hesitant to speak, though Paige physically reassured her by rubbing her back, allowing the girl motivation to speak once again. "I'm a mutant."
"Oh...what? A mutant?" Lincoln asked, trying to act surprised. "That's... really something. Like…whoa, this is mind blowing."
"You're handling this well, figured you'd freak out a bit," Lola said. "Not out of fear but just because you tend to geek out about stuff like this."
"R-right, I do but...Christina is a friend, and I am trying to be nice," Lincoln said. "So... a mutant huh? What are your powers exactly?"
"I'm basically a walking microwave," Christina said, radiating a bit of heat. "I developed these powers a few weeks ago."
"She's the one Sam mentioned," Luna said. "Sam doesn't know it's her though, and it's gonna stay like that for the time being."
"Remember Lincoln, big secret, no one else finds out," Lana said. "That includes your friends."
"Problem is Stella knows, should I tell her?" Lincoln shook his head. "It might be better if Stella admitted it herself."
"Something bugging you bro?" Luna asked.
"Huh?" Lincoln snapped back to the conversation. "Sorry, just processing this."
"Makes sense, this is a big reveal," Lucy said. "But that's also the reason that other mutant wanted her."
"Yeah, he tried enlisting her in this army of sorts," Paige said. "He wants Christina to help his boss take over the world, like we're letting that happen."
"Spider-Man at least took one guy out," Luna said. "Not sure about this other guy though."
"That other guy was really scary," Paige said. "Thank goodness Wolverine was there to help us."
"Wolverine?" Luna asked.
"He's another mutant, but he's friendly," Paige said. "He's actually got this whole tough guy with a gentle heart thing going. I mean, he says he's not a nice guy but I can tell he's just saying that, especially given how far he went to protect us."
"I hope he's not in any danger, I mean no doubt the police are cracking down on this too," Christina said. "I'm worried that this might put more people in favor of those Mutant Registration Laws."
"You should probably be more worried about anti-mutant groups rising up," Lola said.
"Hey, come on Lola!" Lana scolded.
"I'm just giving her fair warning, you know how fickle some people can be," Lola said. "Suppose that Jameson guy gets people riled up too!?
"Ugh, forgot that Jameson might have an opinion about this," Lincoln lamented. "Right now Christina shouldn't have anything to worry about, we're going to help keep this a secret for her."
"Oh totally, we got her back," Luna said.
"I really appreciate all you're doing for me," Christina said. "And thank you for not being scared."
"Sounds like this is scarier for you," Luna said. "Plus we once got attacked by a fire breathing dragon, this is nothing."
"A what?" Paige asked. "Did you say dragon?"
"Wanna hear about our Family Trip to Scotland a couple of years ago?" Luna asked.
"It's like a Fairy Tale of sorts," Lola said. "You had dragons, royalty, evil schemers, stuff like that."
"You girls do that, I have to call Stella, make sure she got home alright," Lincoln said.
"Oh, bro, did you settle that other situation?" Luna asked. "The one you wanted to settle in school?"
It took Lincoln a second to figure out what Luna meant, "Oh, that. Well I got some answers, but now I've got some new problems."
"How bad is it?" Luan asked.
"Uh, what's going on?" Lola asked.
"Nothing, just a school issue that Luna and Luan were helping me with," Lincoln said, taking his leave. "I'll talk to you later."
"Sure thing, bro," Luna said.
As Lincoln left, he had a lot on his mind, "So many things to deal with. Emma, Chloe, the mutants, Wolverine, Christina's powers. Honestly though, I'm surprised my sisters know, and they're willing to keep that secret for her. If this goes well, maybe I can consider letting them know about me being Spider-Man. But, if I do, then they'll get all overprotective."
Lincoln placed his stuff down, laying on his bed, still thinking everything over.
"Though considering I know Christina's secret, should I tell her mine? I mean, we have the commonality of being kids with powers, and it might make her feel less alone," Lincoln continued to think it over. "Then there's Logan, wonder if I'll see him again? Hope he's alright after today, I mean I know he heals but wow, that was a violent fight. Still, he really helped out today, I should do something nice for him, show my appreciation."
Eventually Lincoln did what he said he was gonna do, and began dialing Stella's number, the girl answering almost immediately. "Hey Lincoln, something up?"
"A lot," Lincoln said. "Paige and Christina are not only in my house, but some of my sisters know about Christina's powers."
"Really? Which ones?" Stella asked.
"Only Luna, Luan, Lana, Lola, Lucy and Lily," Lincoln explained. "Christina also told me, I mean I already knew but she didn't know that."
"Wow, sounds like she really trusts you," Stella said.
"My sisters probably put in a good word," Lincoln said. "Anyway, you know about her powers too, are you gonna let her know that you know or keep it a secret?"
"I don't think I need to tell her, not like it'll matter," Stella said. "I'd rather she feel comfortable enough to tell me without me going to her and trying to get answers."
"Well the option's there," Lincoln said. "What matters is that they're both safe, honestly if Christina learns to control her powers, maybe she can help me fight crime."
"Another superhero from Royal Woods?" Stella said. "That could be fun, you two can be partners."
"It could be the start of a new group," Lincoln said. "There might be others with powers, if we can get them on our side, it can be like our own mini-avengers."
"You sure dream big," Stella said. "So, that all aside, there's some other stuff we need to discuss, mostly school related."
"Right, I suppose that comes in too, what's on your mind?" Lincoln asked.
The two chatted a bit longer, with Paige and Christina going home a bit later, after trying out some of Lynn Sr.'s famous Lynn-sanga.
The following day after school, Lincoln was seen on a rooftop, having just finished stopping a car robbery. At this point he was designing a costume for Logan, creating the concept art of what it would look like.
"Lets see, what color should this suit be though?" Lincoln tapped on his chin, trying to think it over. "Maybe yellow? I think he can pull off yellow." He thought it over a bit more, sketching until he finally got something satisfying enough to begin work on. "Yeah, this is so fitting, just need the materials. Maybe I can borrow some from Leni, hopefully she doesn't ask too many questions, but she normally doesn't."
The boy then started making his way home, switching into his civilian look just before going inside his house. In the front yard, he spotted Lynn aggressively kicking a soccer ball against a tree.
"You alright there Lynn?" Lincoln asked.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Lynn said, angrily kicking the ball again.
Lincoln figured she was sore about what happened with Toad yesterday and decided not to press it, "Alright, see you later."
Lynn angrily kicked the ball again, grumbling to herself, "Stupid frog, or toad or whatever the hell that thing was. I'm not letting a villain get the better of me again! No one makes a fool out of Lynn Loud Jr!"
Inside the house, just before Lincoln could head upstairs, he heard his phone ringing, "Who could that be?" He checked his phone, immediately recognizing the caller and answered. "Yeah?"
"Hey Lincoln, it's Ronnie Anne," The girl introduced. "I'm here with Sid."
"Hi Lincoln!" Sid said from close-by.
"Hey girls, need something?" Lincoln asked.
"No, but we have something to tell you, something big!" Sid said.
"Does it have to do with mutants?" Lincoln asked. "It was a big deal in down yesterday."
"Sort of, I think," Ronnie Anne said. "Say how bad was it? I heard Spider-Man fought like two of them."
"I-He did," Lincoln said, nearly screwing up. "One of them even went near my house and startled my sisters."
"Oh right, Bobby told me after Lori found out," Ronnie Anne said. "But there might be something weird going on here too."
"Weird how?" Lincoln asked.
"There are rumors of a monster in town, he shows up at night terrorizing citizens," Ronnie Anne said. "It's actually on TV right now, if you're home, turn to the Great Lakes City newsfeed."
"It's really freaky!" Sid said. "Like a monster movie, but real!"
"I'll be the judge of that," Lincoln said, turning the TV on to the appropriate channel.
"No one knows anything about this creature, not even what it looks like, aside from the fact that it had reptilian features but there is a beast roaming around Great Lakes," the anchorman said. "Who is this beast? Is it a mutant? An alien? Or something much worse?"
"Uh, this guy just said no one knows what it looks like, but knows it's a reptile?" Lincoln asked.
"It's one of those quick moving creatures," Ronnie Anne said. "At the very least people have seen the shadows. Still, no one knows what this is."
"It's really freaking me out," Sid said.
"Look, maybe it's nothing, I mean a monster in the city? Seems kind of out there," Lincoln said.
"Uh Lincoln. Dragons, Ghosts, Superheroes, Mutants, Aliens, Literal Gods..." Ronnie Anne reminded. "You really think monsters can't exist?"
"Yeah, good point," Lincoln said.
"This sucks too! Great Lakes doesn't even have a superhero to protect us!" Sid said. "We're probably going to be snacks for that monster!"
"Well maybe we can convince our families to take off from school, I mean if this monster is real, no way we'd have to go to class," Ronnie Anne said.
"Like that'll happen, I bet our folks don't even believe this stuff," Sid said.
"Well, if things get bad, maybe a hero will show up," Lincoln said. "I should probably look into this myself."
"I hope so, honestly deep down, really hoping this is just a prank," Ronnie Anne said. "It wouldn't be funny...well maybe a little, but it would be safer."
"Well keep me updated," Lincoln said, hanging up the phone. "Gotta tell Stella."
Not too long later, the boy had gone over to Stella's house, talking to her in her room as he explained the situation.
"There's a what!?" Stella asked.
"Some giant lizard creature or something," Lincoln said. "Ronnie Anne said it's been terrorizing Great Lakes."
"And I take it that you're going to look into this creature," Stella said.
"I want to, but Great Lakes is Three Hours away by car," Lincoln said. "Even with my speed I'd still be gone for a long time, and by the time I get there I'd probably be too out of breath to do much about the situation."
"Yeah, and you don't have a car, not that you're old enough to drive one anyway," Stella said. "You could take a bike, but it's still a long trip and the wheels might not last the whole way."
"Too bad I couldn't bring Lela with me, but there's no place to house a dragon in Royal Woods," Lincoln said.
"You might need to take a bus route then," Stella said. "I can find one for you, not sure how much it would cost though."
"Even if I could get there though, the problem is how long I'm away," Lincoln said. "A round trip alone is six hours, not counting all the bus stops. Plus there's also how long it would take to find that creature. How would I explain such a long absence to my family?"
"Yeah, good point," Stella said. "Has Lisa invented some type of teleportation device?"
"Not that I know of, though even if she did, it might have weird side effects," Lincoln said. "I'd rather not risk my butt being in front."
"...I'm not even going to comment on that," Stella said, a little weirded out. "Maybe I could come up with something, like we tell our families that we went camping for the weekend."
"Would they even be alright with that?" Lincoln asked. "They might want to come, especially my sisters."
"We'll say it's a school assignment for science class," Stella said. "This gives you a chance to go all the way down to Great Lakes and look into this monster."
"I guess that can work," Lincoln said. "What about you though? Are you coming as well?"
"Uh..." Stella was not eager to go somewhere that would place her life at risk, especially not after what happened with Sabretooth. "Actually, I think it would be better if I stayed behind, I wouldn't be of much use to you and I don't want to end up as a liability."
"Yeah, that's better, I'd hate it if you got hurt," Lincoln said. "But if you stay here, then how do we make this whole camping thing work? You'd need to be away from home for anyone to believe that."
"I have an idea, it's actually something I wanted to run by you," Stella said. "If we're going to discuss Spider-Man stuff, we should probably do it somewhere more private. Like a secret base."
"A secret base? You mean like Ace Savvy's Fortress of Solitaire?" Lincoln asked.
"Yeah, somewhere we can talk about this stuff without our families catching on to anything," Stella said. "It'd be easier to keep taps on our operations there too and not worry about my parents finding anything in my room, or your family finding anything in yours."
"I actually like this plan," Lincoln said. "We can have so many neat things, like maybe a bunker for all my costumes, or a supercomputer with access to everything happening in Royal Woods, and a Butler to keep everything neat!"
"Or, we can use stuff within our budget because neither of us are billionaires," Stella pointed out, with a bit of sass in her voice. "Also you only have one costume."
"Well two, I have my prototype costume as well," Lincoln said. "But yeah, I see your point. Guess we should get to work building this place."
"I also should modify your costume too," Stella said. "If this creature mostly appears at night, you're gonna need some night vision, plus whatever else might be handy."
"Good idea," Lincoln said. "Well let's get planning."
Meanwhile in Great Lakes, as the Casagrande family was eating dinner, Carl was seen playing with a dinosaur toy on the table.
"Carl, please put that away, dinner time is not play time," Frieda said.
"Why can't I do both?" Carl asked.
"Listen to your mother, young man," Carlos scolded.
"Oh fine," Carl said, placing his toy down. "I'm more interested in the real thing anyway."
"Uh, what real thing?" Carlota asked.
"You know, that monster that's out there in the streets," Carl said.
"Ay, that's all I've been hearing about lately," Frieda said. "People are really scared."
"Yeah, Sid's been worried all day," Ronnie Anne said. "A little interested but mostly worried."
"I doubt it's anything big, with luck the police will get to the bottom of this real soon" Carlos said.
"Can the police do anything, we don't even know anything about this monster," Ronnie Anne said.
"Maybe it's a mutant," Carl theorized. "Or an alien. Or a dinosaur from Jurassic."
"I highly doubt that last part," Carlos said.
"Oooh! Oooh! Maybe it's all three!" Carl said. "A mutant, alien dinosaur!"
"You mean like Reptar?" Carota teased.
"Reptar isn't an alien!" Carl said. "He barely counts as mutant either."
"He breathes fire, he's a mutant," Carlota said.
"Can we move on to something different, por favor?" Rosa said. "Honestly all this talk of aliens and mutants, feels like I'm in a science fiction movie."
"At this point mama, it's no longer science fiction, it's science fact," Carlos said.
"Yeah, I think we could figure that out without some fancy professor degree," Maria teased, earning a glare from her brother.
"Well whatever it is, I just hope someone's able to stop it," Ronnie Anne said.
Suddenly Carlos's phone started ringing, "Pardon me, I should take this." The man answered, "You have Carlos Casagrande."
"Carlos, it's Martha, Curt's wife," the woman said, a hint of worry in her voice.
"Oh hello Mrs. Conners, is something the matter?" Carlos asked.
"My husband's missing," Martha said, confusing the man she was speaking with.
"Missing, but how?" Carlos asked, his family getting intrigued.
"I don't know, someone, or something broke into our home and destroyed my husband's gear, and now he's gone!" Martha cried. "It must have been that monster everyone was talking about."
"Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this," Carlos said. "Have you called the police?"
"Yes, but I'm still worried," Martha said. "I don't want anything bad happening to my husband!"
"Neither do I," Carlos said. "We'll get through this, just have a little faith."
"I'll try," Martha said.
"Talk to you soon," Carlos said, hanging up. "My colleague Curt Connors was kidnapped."
"Was it that monster?" Carl asked.
"We don't know for sure," Carlos said, standing up. "I'm going over to their living quarters, I want to check on Martha and Curt's son, Billy."
"Can we come too?" Carl asked.
"No, if that monster is out there, it might be dangerous," Carlos said, grabbing his jacket.
"At least let me come, mi amore," Frieda said.
"No dear, you stay with the family," Carlos said, grabbing his keys. "I won't be gone long."
Carlos had left, leaving the rest of the Casagrande family worried for his safety, along with Curt's.
"That poor woman, I can only imagine how scared she must be," Rosa said. "Maybe I should make something for her, I can't imagine she'd be able to cook with all this stress."
"Think we should let Sid and her family know as well? I mean Mr. Connor was working at their zoo," Ronnie Anne said.
"Good idea, mija," Rosa said, getting up from her seat. "I'll go tell them in person."
"Can I come too? Just so I can comfort Sid if she gets worried?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"Of course you can, it's so nice of you to think of others, especially your friend," Rosa said. "Vamos, to the Changs' apartment."
The following day in Royal Woods, Lincoln was making his way to his lunch table, spotting Christina and Paige sitting together as usual. It was strange for Lincoln, knowing that Christina had powers, ones she was very nervous about. Given that she was a target the other day because of those powers, he couldn't blame her.
"Hey Lincoln! Over here!" Rusty called.
Lincoln had an idea, and quickly went over to his friends' table, "Hey, are you cool with two more kids joining us?"
"Well, sure, who you got in mind?" Liam asked.
While Paige ate her lunch, Christina had taken a quick look around before grabbing her drink and warming it up.
"Christina, what are you doing?" Paige asked. "Someone might see you."
"It'll be quick, my Hot Chocolate got too cold." Christina said.
"I know it's Fall but it feels too early to be drinking Hot Chocolate," Paige said. "Also since when do you take chances like this?"
"I don't know, maybe just telling others about my powers makes me feel a little more normal about them," Christina said. "Plus, I want to practice control, it might come in handy."
"Just be careful, I don't want to risk you getting taken away," Paige said.
"I'll be fine Paige, have a little faith," Christina said. "Maybe I should dial it back though, Paige tends to worry a lot about me and I shouldn't needlessly stress her out."
"Hey girls," Lincoln said, getting their attention.
"Hi Lincoln, what brings you here?" Paige asked.
"Me and my friends were wonder if you'd like to sit with us," Lincoln said.
"With you?" Paige turned to Christina, the girl nodding her head, then back to Lincoln. "If you're really alright with it."
"We all are, come on," Lincoln said, leading the two girls to their seats.
"Hey Paige, Christina, welcome to our little club," Stella said.
"We're always happy to have more ladies join us," Rusty said.
"Thanks," Paige said, taking a seat next to Stella, while Christina sat between her friend and Lincoln. "So, what'chu all up to?"
"Talking superhero stuff," Rusty said. "Did you two hear about the mutants that attacked the other day?"
"Uh...yeah, we heard plenty," Paige said. "At least no one really knows it was actually us, aside from Lincoln and his family."
"Spider-Man showed up and cleaned house pretty fast," Rusty said. "With him around, our worries are over."
"He is very talented," Christina said. "Though I do hope he's not too burdened. Having to protect a town alone seems tough, especially with supervillains around."
"He can take it," Rusty said.
"Glad Rusty has faith but it's still a lot of pressure," Lincoln felt.
"What if Spider-Man got a sidekick?" Paige said, surprising everyone around the table. "Like, imagine if someone decided to join him and help fight crime?"
"Having more superheroes would be nice," Liam said.
"Interesting thing for them to suggest, is Christina considering being a superhero?" Lincoln wondered. "I could use a sidekick, just like Ace Savvy has One-Eyed Jack. Funny, I always figured if I did become a superhero, that Clyde would be my sidekick, but he doesn't have any powers, he doesn't even know I have them, which is fine, it keeps him safe. I'm worried enough about Stella as is."
"You know who needs a superhero?" Mollie began. "Great Lakes City. I hear there's a monster out there. No one knows what it is."
"I know what it is," Zach said. "It's an alien."
"That's your response to everything," Rusty said. "We saw one alien invasion, that's all, doesn't mean everything is alien related."
"It's a green, scaly monster! It totally sounds like an alien!" Zach said.
"I'm still not sure, might just be a mutant who's out to take over or something," Rusty said.
"Maybe it's a mutant turtle trained in the art of ninjutsu," Girl Jordan said in a joking manner.
"Puh-lease, that's so not likely," Zach said. "Everyone knows Turtles like that only live New York."
Jordan curiously raised her eyebrow to that statement but brushed it off, "No use fretting, not much we can do here."
"By the way, Jordan, how have things been since that Vulture guy attacked?" Clyde asked. "Like how have your parents taken that."
"They're boasting about how brave they had to be in the face of adversity," Jordan said. "Meanwhile I'm the one it tried to kidnap. I mean, imagine being in the clutches of a villain, you can't know how scary that was."
"I can," Stella recalled her encounter with Sabretooth, the viscous look in his eyes as he was ready to strike her down is not something that's left her mind. "Jordan, how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, Spider-Man saved me so I'm not gonna fret over it," Jordan said. "I mean, Lincoln's sister bounced back pretty well after that Shocker guy tried ruining that Block Party and even threatening her and her father."
"That reminds me, Lincoln," Liam began. "How has Lana been holding up since she got kidnapped? Same with Lily."
"Well Lily's been scared more than Lana," Lincoln said. "Lily's just about over it, but she doesn't like being by herself too long because of it. Lana still shows no fear, can't tell if I should admire her bravery, or condemn it."
"There's a fine line between being brave and being foolish," Christina said. "Lana should be fine as long as she doesn't intentionally do anything reckless."
"Which she kind of did when Toad attacked," Paige said. "Incredible bravery that girl has."
"Well, I hope Great Lakes will be fine," Christina said. "Ronnie Anne lives out there, doesn't she?"
"Yeah, she said she's keeping an eye out," Lincoln said. "She's a tough girl so I'm not too worried, but it is in the back of my mind. She's got Sid with her too, they always watch out for each other, just like you and Paige."
"Speaking of girl duos, where are Emma and Chloe?" Rusty asked. "I haven't seen them around too much, did you get into a fight Lincoln? Or you Clyde?"
"Chloe and I are fine, just yesterday she came over, telling me how much she appreciates my company, and would hate if we broke apart," Clyde said.
"I swear if she's just buttering him up in her plan to downplay that underwear pic," Lincoln angrily lamented. "I can't help but feel like she did that on purpose, I just wish I knew what she was up to.Did she get jealous just because Emma and I got as close as we did?"
"What about you Lincoln?" Rusty asked, snapping the boy out of his daze. "Are you and Emma doing alright?"
"We're fine, don't worry about us," Lincoln said. "They just like their alone time together. Chloe and Emma are really close after all."
Rusty began rubbing his chin in a smug manner, "Hope they're not cheating on you, with each other. If they are though, mind getting some pics?" Lincoln's response was throwing some spaghetti in Rusty's face, everyone laughing at a result. "I guess I deserved that one."
Meanwhile in Great Lakes Chavez Academy, an annoyed Ronnie Anne was trying to enjoy her lunch but to little success, "What a stupid, annoying day. Three tests! Like how do they expect anyone to prepare for that? We're humans, not supercomputers."
"Like the school cares," Sid said, messing with her own food. "Honestly I could barely study, I kept staying up late worried about that stupid reptile."
"You mean that monster that's out there?" Casey asked. "My pops said he heard what sounded like hissing the other day, he bailed out of there in a heartbeat."
"Who wouldn't? It's an actual monster," Sid said. "We shouldn't even be in school."
"This school would make us come even if aliens attacked," Nikki said.
"To think, just last week, the worst that could happen was some robber showing up at my family's bodega," Ronnie Anne said. "Now we gotta worry about this crap."
"Hey it's better than Royal Woods," Sameer said. "They had multiple villains."
"I know, I was there for one of them," Ronnie Anne said. "So was Sid."
"What's it like seeing a supervillain up close?" Sameer asked.
"Well, it's not fun, villains usually tend to hurt civilians after all," Ronnie Anne said. "This guy was ready to hurt Luna, then not too long later, another old classmate of mine got taken hostage by a flying bird man."
"What about those mutants, has Lincoln mentioned anything?" Nikki asked.
"One of them showed up in front of his house and kicked his sister," Ronnie Anne said. "She's fine though, so is the rest of his family, since Royal Woods has a superhero protecting it."
"Yeah, that's so unfair" Casey said. "Where's our superhero."
"Well, I might have an idea as to who can come," Laird said.
"Oh really? Who might that be?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"Well, he's no superhero, but maybe we can call upon the legendary Hunter from Russia, Kraven," Laird said.
"Kraven?" Nikki asked. "Is he like Rip Hardcore?"
"Well, he's kind of rivaled to him, but he's considered a fierce hunter who always captures his prey," Laird said. "He's gone against the savage beasts of Africa. He can be the one to take down this reptile."
"Well, if you get his phone number, definitely call him," Ronnie Anne said, somewhat sarcastically. "I'm sure he'd be cool coming to some random city to fight a giant lizard."
"Pfft, I don't see you coming up with any better ideas," Laird said. "Not like Spider-Man can come."
"I wish," Sid said. "But we're not that lucky."
Later at the Loud House, Lincoln was organizing his stuff, just about ready to go on his trip to Great Lakes, but first he still had one final thing to do.
"I gotta let my parents know..." Lincoln signed in worry as he looked over a fake permission slip that he made in school. "I hope they buy it."
The boy had gone downstairs where his father was cooking and his mother was washing some dishes. The patriarch took note of his son, "Hey kiddo, looking for a snack?"
"No, I just need you to sign this," Lincoln said, holding out a piece of paper.
"What's this?" Lynn Sr asked.
"A permission slip, Stella and I have to go on a camping trip for science class this weekend," Lincoln said.
"That sounds fun," Lynn Sr said. "Where to?"
"Uh..." Lincoln had to think of something quick. "Somewhere out in Flint..."
"Oh, so you're off to Flint are you?" Lynn Sr asked, signing the paper. "Well, have fun sport."
"Just make sure you bring everything you need, and make sure you call frequently," Rita said. "Hopefully there's no supervillains in Flint to worry about, or any type of crime."
"Actually, it seems pretty safe there, Royal Woods seems to be the unlucky one," Lynn Sr said. "At the very least, this will be a good experience for Lincoln and Stella."
"What would be?" Lynn asked, coming into the kitchen.
"Hey Junior, your brother's going on a camping trip with Stella," Lynn Sr said.
"Uh, just Stella?" Lynn asked. "Does Emma know about this?"
"It's for science, plus there's no rule that says I can't hang out with a female friend," Lincoln said. "Plus Emma knows Stella, she's not gonna get jealous."
"Whatever you say bro," Lynn said, grabbing a drink and leaving.
Lincoln turned to his parents, "It's not weird that I hang out alone with Stella, is it?"
"No son, having a female friend is perfectly fine, you can be close to someone without it being romantic," Lynn Sr said.
"So if you hung out with a girl, mom wouldn't get jealous?" Lincoln asked.
"Of course, she wouldn't," Lynn Sr said, then turned to Rita. "Right dear?"
"Well, of course I would," Rita said. "But remember Lincoln, your father and I have been together a long time to earn that trust. Now I'm not saying you can't hang out with Stella, I do believe Emma should trust you because you're a good kid and you wouldn't do anything you shouldn't. But it is hard for some girls to feel comfortable with this. The right thing to do is to let Emma know, it shows responsibility and helps build trust."
"Alright, that works, thanks mom," Lincoln said, making his leave.
"Our son, he's growing up fast," Lynn Sr said.
"Sometimes it feels too fast, he seems so independent lately," Rita said.
"That's a good thing, it shows he'll be ready for the real world when the day comes," Lynn Sr said. "Especially when he graduates High School and goes to New York. Assuming he still wants to, that's five years away."
"Well at least he's thinking hard about what he wants out of his future," Rita said.
"Like a true Loud," Lynn Sr said.
Meanwhile Lana was seen talking on the phone in her room, "So tell me again, what type of monster was this? A Green one? Like The Hulk?"
"No, more of a reptile thing," Adelaide said.
"A reptile!? For real!?" Lana asked in disbelief. "Is it a snake? Or a lizard? Maybe Turtle!"
"I think it's a lizard," Adelaide said. "No one's actually gotten a good glimpse of it though, but it's somewhere out there in the streets, mostly striking at night."
"Wow, that'd be cool if it wasn't hurting other people," Lana said. "But what could it be?"
"No one knows, I do know it kidnapped a friend of Ronnie Anne's uncle," Adelaide said. "Probably for some evil, insidious plot."
"Might be a mutant, could be working for some guys that came into town the other day," Lana said.
"Oh yeah, Royal Woods encountered some evil mutants, right?" Adelaide asked. "One of them got away, this tiger guy."
"Yeah, the other one was caught," Lana said. "Get this, he's an amphibian, calls himself 'Toad'."
"Wow, someone with amphibian powers?" Adelaide asked.
"Yeah, should have been so cool, but he had to go and be a villain," Lana said. "Totally sucks, you know what I would give to see a superhero with amphibian powers?"
"Well, toads are usually the grumpier of the amphibians," Adelaide said. "You might be better off looking for someone with frog powers."
"Oh totally, a frog-based superhero would be really awesome," Lana said.
"But anyway, you didn't get hurt when that happened, did you?" Adelaide asked.
"No, I mean he did try trapping me on my roof," Lana said. "Luckily it's not hard getting back into my house from up there, and I didn't get kicked through a window like Lynn did."
"Lynn got hurt!?" Adelaide asked.
"Yeah but she walked it off, I swear that girl isn't human sometimes, maybe she is a mutant," Lana said. "That or her workouts just make her that much more durable."
"Just be careful, that's two close calls, actually no, three," Adelaide said. "Remember that Shocker guy?"
"Oh yeah, we got stuck on Spider-Man's webs," Lana said. "It was really comfortable, destroyed my overalls though."
"Oh yeah, you had a cute pair of undies too," Adelaide said. "So did Lola."
"I will give her credit, she sacrificed her dress to find Lincoln," Lana said. "Of course he is our only brother, and clothes are a minimal sacrifice since Lola has like a bajillion pink dresses, and I have plenty of overalls. But still, Lincoln just brings out the caring side to Lola."
"Your brother's really cute, and a sweet guy so I'm not surprised," Adelaide said. "Is he still dating that girl?"
"Yeah, last I heard he was," Lana said. "Why? Hoping to have him for yourself one day?"
"I know it's not likely, but I do like to imagine what it would be like to be his girlfriend," Adelaide said, her racing thoughts of romance sending her heart aflutter. "I want a boy who treats me like a princess. Lincoln does that a lot for Lola, and that's his sister. Imagine how he'd treat a girlfriend."
"Well that's why we get excited when he shows interest in a girl, we envy that girl," Lana said. "I mean, don't get us wrong, we don't mean we want Lincoln as our guy. I love Lincoln, but not that way, and I hope none of my sisters love him that way either."
"Tell that to Carl, he had his suspicions once," Adelaide said.
"Remind me to deck him in the jaw then," Lana said. "Point is that personally, I want a boyfriend who treats me the way Lincoln would, only on a more romantic level. I mean...I'm not itching for a boyfriend right now, but I wouldn't turn one away if he was a sweet guy like Lincoln."
"Same, even if I don't get Lincoln, a guy like him is the next best thing," Adelaide said.
"Oh man, do you hear us?" Lana asked. "We're both eight years old and talking about boys and romance. That's so weird."
"Yeah, it is," Adelaide said. "Well just be careful, try not to get hurt."
"I'm more worried about you, I mean you're the one in town with a lizard creature," Lana said.
"I know, but it's fine," Adelaide said. "Worse comes to worse, I hide in the zoo with my animal friends. They'll keep me safe."
"You're so lucky your mom's a zookeeper," Lana said. "Speaking of animals though, wanna know what Hops was up to the other day?"
"You bet I do," Adelaide said.
Meanwhile in his room, Lincoln was making his own phone call. However instead of getting Emma, he instead got a voice mail. "Weird, she usually answers. Maybe she's busy." Lincoln cleared his throat, "Hey Emma, it's Lincoln. I was hoping to talk to you and let you know that I will be going on a camping trip with Stella this weekend. Hopefully you can call me back before then, so I can go over it in more detail. But when I get back, I'd like to take you a on a date, we'll go to a really nice restaurant, my treat of course. See you soon."
As Lincoln hung up, Emma's phone had vibrated, signaling that she had a message. The girl was not away from her phone however, she was sitting on her bed, nervously glancing at the device, and still unable to properly speak to Lincoln since the underwear pic was messaged to him.
There was a lot for the girl to process at this moment, thoughts of Lincoln, thoughts of her feelings, thoughts of their desires and thoughts of their future. In time, she will have the courage to face Lincoln after all this, she just hopes it's sooner rather than later.
The next day after school Lincoln had gone on his usual patrols, stopping some crooks. Once things seemed quiet enough, he went to find Stella, the girl organizing their secret location.
The two opted to build a base in the woods, the same woods Lincoln went on a camping trip with Clyde to prove his masculinity. Granted he kept it as close to civilization as possible, even if he could protect himself from bears and wild animals, Stella could not. But this place still felt fitting for Lincoln, as it's where he truly began to feel like a man, ironically by remembering all the lessons he learned from his sisters. Regardless, the woods reminded him to be confident in himself.
Stella had some unique memories of these woods as well, specifically the time she had to dress like an alien to help Zach convince the town of an invasion, just to prove that aliens were indeed real. Funny enough that they would eventually prove themselves real once the Chitauri invaded New York. To Stella, this place represents one of the first time she had to keep a secret, just like she's doing now for Lincoln.
"Oh, hey Lincoln," Stella greeted upon the boy's arrival. "Done fighting crime?"
"For now, it's been less busy," Lincoln said. "Guess the crooks are learning not to mess with me. Did you tell your family about our 'Camping Trip'? Did they believe the fake permission slip?"
"Yeah, they're a little cautious but I told them I'd give them constant phone calls and texts," Stella said. "What about you?"
"My parents were cool about it, I told them it was in Flint," Lincoln said.
"Really? I said 'Lake Michigan'," Stella said.
"Ugh, probably should have coordinated that better," Lincoln said. "By the way, have you heard anymore updates about this monster?"
"Yeah...I heard a report about it earlier on the radio," Stella said. "Eighteen people got attacked last night."
"Oh no, are they hurt?" Lincoln asked.
"Twelve of them are injured," Stella said. "The remaining six however, they're...gone."
"Oh...OH!" Lincoln's eyes widened in worry. "So six people, this monster...it ended them?"
"I'm getting worried Lincoln, it sounds like you're going against a really dangerous creature, you don't even know what it can do," Stella said. "I mean, for all you know, it's that same mutant that escaped the other day. You and that Wolverine guy couldn't stop him, what makes you think you can do it alone?"
"I mean, the reports said a lizard," Lincoln said. "That guy is a sabretooth tiger."
"They might be allies," Stella said. "When that sabretooth tiger guy was about to kill me, he made it seem like he's done way worse than that. His boss, this Magneto guy, whoever he is he plans to wipe out all non-mutants. This could be the start of that, plus that tiger guy might return to Royal Woods and finish what he started!"
"Stella, you're worried about what-ifs, no real facts," Lincoln said.
"I have reason to believe that could happen, Lincoln!" Stella shouted. "I nearly died the other day; do you know how scary that is!?"
"Stella, I've faced near death situations a lot," Lincoln said. "I fell off a cliff, twice. Once looking for pirate treasure, and once fighting a woman trying to take over my ancestors' castle. This was before I got my powers too. Now I'm fighting supervillains like Shocker, Vulture and Sabretooth, so I know what it's like to almost die!"
Feeling guilty, Stella lowered her head and sighed, "Sorry, I shouldn't be mad at you, it's not your fault. Having that near-death experience, it makes me more worried about you." Stella glanced up at Lincoln, the girl getting a bit teary eyed. "I'm afraid to lose you. Since moving here, you made me feel less alone, and yeah we had that awkward moment where you though I had a crush on you but it happens, you meant no harm. It didn't change the fact that we still became best friends."
"Stella, if this is scaring you, then you don't have to help," Lincoln said. "When I heard that Sabretooth nearly killed you, it worried me. It reminded me of why heroes have secret identities, to protect those they care about."
"I know I can back out, but I don't want to," Stella said. "I'm in this deep, plus I would be way too worried if I didn't try to help. If something happened to you and I could have prevented it with my assistance, that's just worse than nearly getting killed."
Lincoln wasn't sure what to say at the moment, clearly Stella was still bothered by what happened, and he didn't blame her. He recalled trying to comfort her afterwards, it was such a strange sensation for him, like he wasn't just protecting his friend, he was protecting someone he loved. Even if Stella wasn't his girlfriend, she's still a girl he cares deeply about.
"Stella," Lincoln took her hand in his own, "I promise, I will defeat this monster and come back to you. I know this is scary, not just for you, but also for me. I mean, I'm going against a monster, I'd be crazy not to be a little scared. But I have to go, those people need me. Plus I have people out there I want to protect. I want to protect Ronnie Anne and her family. I want to protect Sid, her sister and her parents. Plus Lori goes out there a lot since it's not far from her college, I don't want to risk this monster getting to her as well."
"Yeah, I know, I want to help you protect everyone," Stella said. "I want to help you protect Ronnie, and Sid, and Lori and Bobby."
"That's great, so long as it's at your own pace," Lincoln said. "We'll pull this off, together."
"Yeah, together," Stella said.
The time finally came, Lincoln's so called 'Camping Trip Weekend' was upon us, and the boy was ready to go while Stella stayed back in her base.
"You have the bus fare?" Stella asked over the radio.
"Yeah but...I feel silly about doing this," Lincoln responded.
"I know it's unorthodox, but do you want people to potentially recognize you and blow our cover?" Stella asked.
"I guess not," Lincoln said.
"It's only for three hours...plus additional stops, it'll be fine," Stella said. "Now get to it."
"Yeah...sure," Lincoln said.
It was a long ride to Great Lakes, Lincoln, dressed in his Spider-Man gear, was just sitting on the bus, minding his own business, or trying to given that he got occasional stares from others. Many of course recognized him, but a few were too intimidated to actually talk to him, ironically given his Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man thing.
"So..." a man next to him said. "You normally take the bus?"
"Only when I need to travel," Lincoln replied. "I'm not old enough to have my license."
"Ah, yeah, of course," the man said.
"Do your parents know you're taking the bus?" a woman asked.
"Uh...sort of?" Lincoln said.
"Is it true that under your mask you look like an actual spider?" a little girl asked.
"Huh? No, I'm a person!" Lincoln said.
"Oh, can you show me?" the girl asked.
"I can't do that, I have a secret identity to keep," Lincoln said.
"Hey, were you born naturally like a mammal or hatched out of an egg like a real spider?" a guy asked.
"Literally just said that I'm a person, does no one listen?" Lincoln mentally lamented.
"Are you a mutant or an alien?" a woman asked.
"Can you shoot webs from any other part of your body?" a boy asked.
"Have you ever met Captain America?" another boy asked.
People continued to pester him until he snapped, "Bus Driver, is it alright if I sat on the second floor?"
"What second floor?" the driver asked.
Minutes later, Lincoln was seen sitting on the roof of the bus, away from the other civilians, "Geez, talk about twenty questions."
"Bothered by your adoring public?" Stella asked over an intercom.
"You heard all that?" Lincoln asked.
"Every word...so can you shoot webs from other parts of your body?" Stella asked.
"You know I make my webs in my lab, Stella!" Lincoln shouted, the girl giggling in response.
"I know, I'm just pulling your leg you grouch," Stella said. "Just a couple more hours to Great Lakes, hang in there Web Head."
"Don't call me that," Lincoln said, focused on the trial ahead. "I'll be there soon Ronnie Anne, please stay safe until I get there."
Next stop for the hero, Great Lakes City.