Chapter 1: Survive
Royal Woods City, Daylight.
It's an early Monday morning, and a cloudy blue sky accentuates the way a golden yellow sun shines down on the metropolis. For some, it is just another business-as-usual day as they head to their jobs, markets, places of worship, or schools. But for the citizens of Royal Woods City, it would soon become something out of a summer blockbuster in the heart of the city.
Again…
Katherine Mulligan slyly sneaks her way through scared pedestrians and alarmed policemen as she orders her cameraman to stay on her heels, all for the sake of getting her money shot. Soon enough, she gets into a well enough position, right on the border of safety and action as she and her loyal cameraman are able to watch on with clarity at the events unfolding.
Without a word, he knows to start rolling, and she is quick to begin reporting. "This is Katherine Mulligan with Channel 11 news. I'm coming to you live from Downtown Royal Woods," she begins with a sense of urgency in her voice. "As you'll first hear from me, a shocking turn of events has taken place here in the heart of the city, as the local anti-mutant group known as the Friends of Humanity have gathered up groups of presumed mutant citizens, and are holding them hostage and threatening to take action!"
She looks back to the scene occurring just a couple hundred feet away…
"It's alright, little one. We'll be okay," a father tells his his daughter, a little girl with green skin and yellow eyes, as they fret on their knees over fear for their lives.
One of the militiamen, a gruff man with a skeevy mustache, sees this. "Hey, shut up over there!" he barks at them.
The father quiets down, cowering his head as his daughter clutches tightly to him, whimpering with sorrow. It only serves to bother the soldier more, and he scoffs with hate. "You're the worst type of mutant, you know that?" he is sure to say to her directly, unfazed by her tears. "It's one thing to just have powers, but freaks like you make it obvious with your disgusting skin, and your sick hair, and your yellow teeth, and your-"
"Enough!" the father shouts in a momentary outburst, but his anger is soon subjugated by fear again as he remembers where he kneels. "Just… please leave us alone…"
Katherine Mulligan is helpless to only watch on and cover this exclusive story from the safety of the sidelines, something she takes great comfort in as she continues her investigative journalism for the camera. "It truly is a travesty that such a thing could even happen here in our fair city. The only thing this award winning reporter could possibly hope for in this dark hour is for some sort of miracle to happen; for someone or something to take mercy on these poor mutant citizens before it's too late!" she cries with desperation. Some of it ebbs as she looks to her cameraman. "You're still rolling right?" she discreetly asks him.
The horrible scene taking place only grows to be more dangerous as the gruff militiaman reacts to the father's outburst. "How dare you talk to me that way?! That's it! I don't think I can take it anymore!" he declares as he raises his firearm to aim it at the two victims.
"Roy, come on man!" another militiaman tells him in an attempt to coax him, but Roy doesn't falter.
"Screw it. The boss is all talk. I'm gonna take matters into my own hands," he threatens as he steadies his aim, slowly placing his finger on the trigger of his rifle, ready to rear aim and make a move most final at the expense of the poor family's lives. The father's eyes widen with dread and terror as his sobbing daughter squeezes him tighter than she ever has before, and he can only watch with paralyzing awareness as the barrel of the gun locks with his line of sight…
Shocked by how quickly and terribly the situation could escalate, Katherine looks on with bewilderment, "I can't believe my eyes!", before seeing her cameraman doing the same. "Don't you dare stop recording!" she shouts at him, being sure to assertively steady his camera before gluing her eyes back to the conflict.
Her heart races just as the cameraman, just as the father of poor little girl with green skin and crying yellow eyes, just as the callous man readying to fire away on them just for being different…
And just as the father is about to make a desperate attempt to fight back against his aggressor, he can only barely budge as the man with the gun is almost magically made to vanish before his eyes in a blur. He's absolutely astounded that he could disappear so quickly, just as the other militiaman, and just as Katherine Mulligan and her loyal cameraman.
"Did you see that?!" she hollers at him, hardly believing it herself.
Meanwhile, the man called Roy finds himself actually flying up into the air at the speed of a fighter jet, screaming at the top of his lungs as he feels his organs almost sinking down with the way he hurdles towards the sky. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Suddenly, he stops in mid air, and the one thing he is able to truly understand in this moment is the way he feels what seems like a firm hand tightly grasping his shirt. He opens his eyes, and looks to find that this is indeed the case.
A woman with long blonde hair, a purple headband, and glowing golden eyes sternly bores a fiery stare into his very soul. All the bravery he could project into his rifle has faded, and the only thing hard enough to be taken seriously about him is the lump he has to swallow down with a hardy gulp. It makes the woman grin…
Until she tosses him up into the air, and perfectly times a spike at him that sends him soaring like a volleyball into the ocean miles away. She visors her eyes with her hand as she watches him land somewhat safely in the body of cold water, and then she smirks again before turning her attention to the city streets once more.
It appears her arrival has triggered a panic of sorts, and while it works in her favor in that her opposition has no idea who they're dealing with, it also gives her limited time to plan an attack. She realizes the way the militiamen all begin to take formation, readying themselves to defend each other, but more importantly, to act on their hostages…
So she comes up with a plan… Attack.
Strong as the steel she carries, she rises like the sun before darting like a bullet down to the horizon once again, crash landing down on the asphalt and sending shockwaves all around her. It earns her the awe of every bystander good or bad, mutant or human as she rises up and balls her fists with the same firm force she showed her last opponent. Her glowing eyes, swirling hair, and colorful garments are irresistible to the little mutant girl watching on, and while there is still very real fear coursing through her veins, something about this woman and the shining star on her chest gives her hope.
Katherine Mulligan is the first to act as she faces her window to a live audience. "I can't believe what I am seeing. It's actually her… It's- It's…"
"Captain Carol," the commander of the militia states as he makes his presence known. He stands at an impressive six feet tall, and has a snarl that could scare anyone into obeying his order. To the common man, he was no one to be trifled with.
But to Carol? She says nothing as another haughty smile comes to her lips.
The commander growls. "Ugh! Get her!" he shouts at his cohorts, and while they're clearly hesitant, they do as they are told and ready their weapons to attack. It does little to intimidate her though, and she only takes one deep breath before steadying her resolve…
Then systematically tearing into each and every one of them.
All that the bystanders can do is watch with amazement as the woman touted as the superhero Captain Carol flies like a butterfly over to one of the henchman, stinging like a bee as she lays him out with one quick punch to his sternum. The force of even her controlled blows is enough to send them reeling, and she proves it again as she strikes another goon with an elbow uppercut that sends him flipping backwards and landing on his face. But she's only getting started, and she makes that evident with the way she almost arrogantly smiles at the rest of the soldiers aiming their rifles at her.
Only one of them is brave (or crazy) enough to actually begin shooting at her, but it proves to be moot as she flies in circles around the bullets. And the ones she doesn't dodge, she simply deflects with rays of photon energy that conjure from her hands like light from a candlewick. Her evasions are effective in getting her close enough to the armed thug, and she's able to grab his rifle and snap it in two with only her hands before delivering a debilitating headbutt to him.
She notices another henchman getting ready to burst fire on her, but he isn't even able to put his finger to the trigger before she simply fires at him with a photon ray, sending him on his keister and out of commission. For good measure, she does the same to two other dumbfounded cronies, then takes a second to regain her composure and relay her surroundings. She sees Katherine Mulligan, who can only say "This is gold!" instead of containing her excitement. She disregards it to focus on the other innocent bystanders cheering her on and recording her with their smartphones, but only shakes her head with amusement at that. What's most important to her are the hostages that were once on their knees and helpless to submission.
Carefully, she keeps her eyes peeled as she paces over to them, gesturing them all to stand to their feet and escape to safety. And all the while, a certain little girl and her loving father watch on with overwhelming relief as she makes her way to kneel down beside them.
"Are you alright?" she asks the little girl, who only nods with affirmation as she holds on dearly to her father. She studies the two of them to be sure this is true, and when she's convinced it is, she offers them these words of assurance. "You're safe now. I promise."
Finally mustering the wherewithal to get back up again, the man rises up with his daughter before meeting Carol's eyes with a powerful sense of appreciation in them. "Thank you," he tells her.
She only nods before feeling the little girl rush over to wrap her little arms around her, squeezing her tight with a loving hug. Carol smiles down upon her and pats her back, letting her know that the feeling is very much mutual.
However, their happy embrace is soon perturbed by the sensation of intrusion, and Carol looks back up to see the militia commander aiming his rifle at them. "I don't know who you think you are coming here and trying to play the hero for these disgusting freaks, but I can tell you now, you'll be sorry one day," he tells her. "They're the scum of the earth, and even though everyone tells me my cause is wrong, I know deep down that-"
Before he can finish, he is met with a brick to his forehead.
Carol looks around to see where it came from, and finds that the little girl's father wears a proud look on his face as he amusedly huffs. This makes her smile too, and with the battle seemingly won… everyone races over to applaud her. The policemen, the pedestrians who were on their way to their jobs and churches, Katherine Mulligan and her dutiful cameraman…
"Carol! Carol!" she cries as she frantically shuffles her way through them all to get to the front of the line, going as far as to ignore a barking police officer. She catches her breath as she makes it there and catches Carol's attention, then straightens herself up to resume reporting. "Where did you come from? What was that? Who are you?" she hurriedly questions.
Carol only smiles as she raises a single dismissing finger, then turns her attention to the little girl whose life she helped save. "Hey," she begins as she kneels down, pulling something out of the pocket of her brown leather jacket. "How about a selfie?"
And the little girl can only smile as she huddles close to her hero, who offers a smile just as bright and wide as she looks into the lense with her new friend…
Meanwhile, a remarkable white and blue van pulls up to the scene of the action, and its headlights dim as the engine is shut off. Inside, another blonde haired woman with a colorful leotard scans the environment, trying to make sense of the situation.
Another girl at her side with chestnut brown hair and white face paint raises an inquisitive brow as she does the same. "What do you see, Lori?" she asks the woman in the driver's seat.
She keeps trying to find something noteworthy, and when she finds it, she relaxes and grins as she softly shakes her head. "Looks like we showed up a little too late to the party," she comments.
The other girl says nothing in response as she does her best to discover for herself just what makes her say this, and when she sees it, she utters: "Is that-?"
"Yup," Lori answers, and then there is a flash of a light from the warrior's cell phone camera. "Carol Pingrey."
JamesSunderlandsPillow proudly presents:
CAPTAIN CAROL AND THE NIGHT CLUB
With the lights and cameras taking halt, Lori and her companion make their way out of the van and into the gaggle of fans fawning over Captain Carol. They have to avoid ducking, dodging, pushing, and shoving in their beeline there, but thankfully it goes without issue as they finally make it to the front of the line. "Is that the High Card?" "Is that the Night Club?" they hear some of them ask, realizing it's probably their colorful spandex that convinces people to let them through so easily.
In an expected turn of events, they find Katherine Mulligan giving herself precedence to finally interview the city's resident superwoman, and they simply stand and watch as they allow it to happen. The sooner it gets out of the way, the sooner they can tend to business.
"Miss Carol, it is an honor to finally meet face to face," Mulligan begins, and Carol is sure to smile at her.
"Thank you kindly, Miss Mulligan. I'm not sure how much time I'll have," she admits as she checks her phone, "but I'll try to stick around long enough to maybe answer a few-"
"Yes, I get that a lot. 'The honor is all yours, thanks so much for making time for me,' hahahaha!" she laughs, earning her a little eyebrow raise from Carol. She doesn't really notice her shift in demeanor though as she proceeds to interview her. "So, this is really exciting considering I'm the first reporter in Royal Woods to get the prestigious opportunity of interviewing Miss Captain Carol, but I'll try to ask the questions that the public really want to know," she explains. "So, let's start by asking: how did you become Captain Carol? Are you a mutant?"
She finally puts the microphone to Carol's face to give her a chance to answer, and while she isn't very amused by the reporter's behavior, she keeps a level head to offer a somewhat sufficient response. "Well, I'm afraid I can't really answer that," she tells her as she gently nudges the microphone a few inches back. "But I can tell you and the citizens of Royal Woods City that as long as people like the Friends of Humanity are stinking up the place, I'll stick around to put them in check," she answers with conviction, earning her another round of applause from her adoring fans.
Seeing this, Lori can't help but roll her eyes and fold her arms. The other girl with her sees it and asks, "What?"
"Come on Luna, you can't tell me you don't know ego when you see it," she rebuts. "I love Carol, don't get me wrong. But seeing her and Katherine Mulligan together is like… literally sickening."
"I dunno, I don't think they're that bad. Or Carol isn't, at least," Luna defends.
Lori almost doesn't hear her though, as her sixth sense begins niggling in the back of her skull. She looks around in all directions, considerately watching for any disturbances that may become apparent. Luna picks up on this, and again makes it known. "What are you thinkin'?"
"Something isn't right. Valerie's telling me."
Luna rolls her eyes. "I wish you'd stop calling the van Valerie."
"I wish you'd take our rapport a little more seriously," Lori argues before focusing again. "Now hush. Keep your eyes peeled."
Luna doesn't argue any further as she too begins checking the area, only stopping for a moment to have a gander at the woman called Captain Carol. She didn't know much about her even before they all started fighting crime and evil, only that she and Lori had a rocky relationship in the past, and that she was great help in a battle with some aliens. She just knows that, somehow, she ended up getting superpowers too, and for all she knew, she wasn't a mutant like the members of her family.
And that she really does a nice smile. She shows it off enough to make it obvious.
She returns her concentration to the task at hand, peering all around for any suspicious activity. For the most part, things are pretty normal, aside from a tall handsome guy making his short geeky friend laugh really hard over an uncannily good Vince McMahon impression. It only distracts her for a moment though before her eyes wander to the other side of the street.
There, a person in a coat idles by a streetlight, gluing his eyes on the two stars of the spectacle. Luna studies him for a moment, realizing he seems intent on staying still and focused on them. So she turns to Lori, tugging on her sleeve. "Yo, High Card," she says before nodding at her to look in the same direction. Without a word, Lori looks over to see the coated figure, and stares hard at them to see if she can detect anything outstanding about them.
While she does, Luna is sure to keep vigilant, looking around for any other potential cause of concern. It doesn't take her long to find it though, as she soon sees a young sketchy looking man taking his hands out of his pockets to flare up an energetic blast.
No one seems to notice except for her. Not Lori, not the policemen, and not even Captain Carol. So without a moment to spare, Luna channels her superhuman energy, equipping her sonic guitar and readying for a preemptive strike. "Everyone look out!" she hollers, and luckily, they all are diligent enough to realize just what's about to happen.
Carol included. She looks around before noticing the man with the glowing hand and eyes, and just as it would seem he might actually be able to execute a sneak attack on her, the sound of a very loud power chord echoes in the air. And with it, a peculiar blast of purple energy expels from Night Club's guitar, tracing the villainous figure and knocking him to the ground at one fell swoop.
Carol feels a pounding in her head, almost bringing her to her knees. "Ugh!" she groans. It all happens so fast as she recovers from the discomfort. First, the crowd of people panics with the abrupt conflict. Next, she sees High Card and Night Club positioning themselves for another attack, almost as if this thug wasn't the last of his kind. Finally, and perhaps most concerning of all, is the way Katherine Mulligan falls to her knees while letting out a shriek of anguish. "Ahhhhh!"
Carol almost instinctively flares up her photon energy to scan the area once more, finding Night Club's gaze as she tries to deduce just what caused only her and Katherine to become so discomfited, and just where any new potential threat could be coming from. Something isn't right, and she knows it from the way this girl's brown eyes widen with worry. "Carol!" she shouts, and she's quick to ready herself for another power chord.
Not a moment too soon before the pick strikes the strings though, Carol quickly turns herself around, firing a photon blast at the suspicious figure in the coat from before, who was preparing to attack her with an icy blade. The blast knocks the frozen man to the ground, rendering him unconscious.
Through the excitement and cacophony, the three superheroes involved all exchange looks between each other, Katherine Mulligan, and the attacking men. The news reporter still seems very much shaken, especially when her loyal cameraman tries to help her up. "Don't touch me!" she scolds as she tries to regain composure.
Carol's gaze at her then shifts to the man from before, someone who would seem to have a grudge against her. With a balled fist and gritting teeth, she begins trudging over to him, but can't get very far before police officers quickly apprehend and detain the deviant. As he's being cuffed and carried away though, he is sure to become vocal about his actions. "You don't care about mutants! You only care about your career!"
It confuses Carol and the two sisters from the Full House Gang, but only before they realize… he wasn't aiming for her.
They all then focus on Katherine Mulligan, who has somehow managed to make it to her feet, despite her grogginess.
In the fast draining seconds that follow, the police manage to ascertain both mutant criminals, calm down the excitable crowd, and give the heroes and Katherine enough space to themselves. Taking advantage of it, High Card is first to approach the reporter. "Are you alright?" she asks with a soothing voice.
Katherine raises her head to look to all of them, but something in her eyes has changed. An almost feral anger scalds in them, and she violently swats them away before quickly rising to her feet. "I'm fine! Just- just leave me alone!" she curtly tells them before hurrying away from the scene. It only serves to leave the three heroes dumbfounded, and they have no choice but to live with it as she scurries off, all while her dutiful cameraman awkwardly tries to keep from stumbling as he follows her trail.
Despite all of the commotion, it would soon seem that the three metahumans finally have some breathing room, and once they're certain nothing is likely to disturb that, High Card breaks the ice. "Well… That went swimmingly."
Carol is only able to look back to her and Night Club for a moment before becoming a bit lightheaded, and she again stumbles, prompting the two to worry.
"Carol!" High Card, her self proclaimed BFF Lori Loud cries as she reaches out to help her.
She looks up to see her concerned expression, then looks to see Night Club's white painted face wearing a similar frown. "Yo, you okay?" she simply asks.
The blonde haired brawler dusts herself off and shakes her head before fixing her gait. "I'm fine," she asserts, blowing a stray hair out of her eyes before looking to the other two girls again. They share a glance, conveying the same dubiousness and anxiousness, but give Carol the benefit of the doubt as they say nothing further.
It's been a long time since Carol's seen either of them, especially Lori's sister… whose name actually escapes her at the moment. She just knows that when they were really little, they briefly bonded over liking purple. Not much since then, aside from well, superhero stuff.
But Lori? She's been her best friend for the better part of two years now. Even when she was hiding the High Card part of her life from everyone, they still made time to go see movies, have steak dinners, and just hang out when Carol had the house to herself, which was a lot. That all changed when Carol found the Runestone, of course… but all things considered, things worked out okay. At least as far as their friendship is concerned.
"It's a good thing you showed up when you did. I'm not so sure we could have made it on time…" she says to break the tension, trying to show nothing but composure and not that she's still a little weary after Night Club's blast. "What matters is you showed up at all. Thanks for saving my butt there, Power Chord," she adds, addressing the purple clad rocker.
She halfheartedly laughs. "It's Lu- Night Club. And I'm pretty sure you would have just bounced right back at that guy."
"I've been surprised by bigger idiots than him. I just hope Katherine is okay," Carol responds looking to the direction that the reporter ran off to. "What was the deal with those guys anyway?"
Lori takes a moment to consider this. "There's bad people on both sides," she belatedly expresses.
For a moment, the three girls are quiet as they somewhat casually glance at spots along the street here and there, trying to see if they maybe overlooked anything, or if someone else is lurking in the shadows ready to seek vengeance or something. Fortunately, it would seem nothing is the matter…
Then, Night Club meets the gaze of Carol. For a moment, she can't help but just stare back at her, wondering what must be going through her punk-chick mind. Is she intimidated? Is she judging her? Is Carol just overthinking it? She isn't sure, but part of her feels bad that she can't even look into the eyes of this girl without feeling so uncertain about everything. Especially since she's another superhero, and especially since she's Lori's sister.
Thankfully though, the older of the two speaks up again to break the (now awkward) silence.
"Anyway, I'm not so sure there's much left to do here, really," she starts before nervously rubbing the back of her neck. She then makes an effort to try and look to Carol though as she follows up. "It was really good seeing you though, Carol. We should talk some time… catch up."
Despite feeling a little jumbled thanks to her sister in two different ways now, she can't help but feel happy to hear that. It does make it a little harder to go shopping on weekends when most of their time is spent wearing their costumes.
"Well, I'll try to make some time for you between your busy schedule," she jokes with a little laugh, earning her a smile and a loving nudge from her BFF.
"That's funny coming from you, Captain 20,000 Swifty followers" she replies, and they both share a laugh. One that Night Club kind of joins in, but the other two don't really notice because of how quiet and unconvincing she is.
After their laughter dies down, Carol lets out a sigh. "Well… I suppose I'm going back to business as usual," she says, looking somewhat dejected as she eyes the ground, nervously rubbing her arm.
The gesture makes Lori's mind wander, and if she knows her friend as well as she thinks she does, she speculates what may have caused the change in demeanor. "Not going home tonight?" she cautiously asks.
Carol only shakes her head.
The somberness is contagious for Luna as she sees the way the two girls deflate, but she realizes there isn't much she can do to make it better. Which seems to be a norm lately...
But as for Lori… "Well, I'm not going to be lame and spaz about you coming over. But I'm only a text away if you ever wanna drop by," she offers Carol with a soft, inviting smile.
And she just returns it with one of her own. "Thanks Lori," she tells her before turning back to the other Loud sister. There's still some of that tension in their mutual gaze, but with a little time passed and some words now spoken, it makes it a little easier to take this small chance by saying something to her. "And uh, thanks… Night Club."
The younger girl seems a bit taken by surprise that she would make the effort to single her out like this, and can only really convey this with a flustered, blank expression as Carol smiles at her with that dang smile she smiles. The woman in red and blue then directs her positive energy to Lori, offering her a little wink before flaring up her cosmic energy to levitate from the ground.
"Au revoir, lovelies," she tells them before jettisoning up to the wind and sky, and in a short moment, she's but a blur as she leaves a trail of stardust behind her, as well as two other stars.
Lori contently sighs at it all before looking to Luna, who still sort of wears the same flabbergastedness as before. It's a look Lori has seen a few times for her hopelessly romantic sister, but she won't pry on it now. Not with so much else to consider.
Surprisingly enough, it's actually Luna to break from her dizzy reverie and speak up first. "Heh, you two have a strange relationship," she coyly comments as she finds it in her to face her sister now.
Lori amusedly grins as she puts an arm around her shoulder. "Carol is strange, but not as strange as you. Come on, let's get home. Hopefully Lincoln hasn't busted anything up while we were gone," she thinks aloud, earning a little chuckle from Luna.
"It's not him I'm worried about."
A blazing ball of fire shoots like a star in the sky, its trajectory pinpointing to the lakeside of Ketcham Park below. The woman inside shapes up for a soft landing, and nails it as her feet smoothly take to the ground. The inferno around her dissipates, and she shakes her head to fix her long blonde hair before pulling her phone out of her pocket, not even really making time to study the calm park atmosphere around her.
She takes a deep breath to steady her nerves as she unlocks the phone to begin punching in a certain series of keys, then places it to her ear as it begins ringing. Something so simple shouldn't make her heart race this hard, but considering how these calls usually go, it's hard not to be anxious. Unfortunately, it proves to be a hopeless endeavor as an automatonic voice echoes through the speaker. "We're sorry. The person you are trying to call: Carl Pingrey, is not available. Please leave a message after the tone."
She can't help but let out a disappointed sigh as the voicemail tone beeps from the speaker, and it takes her a moment to fully accept her saddened feelings before mustering some words for a message she isn't even sure her father will get to tonight.
"Hey dad," she begins, feigning a sense of confidence with her tone. "So, I know you and mom are really busy this weekend, and you might not find time to get to this or whatever… But I got your little text earlier and just wanted to check in."
She swallows the hurt that she chokes on to really fake it until she makes it, forcing a smile and some enthusiasm to talk to him like he's right here and things are perfectly normal. "So, I had a pretty interesting day. I saw Lori again after a little while. She seems good. I hope she is anyway," she says, trailing off with pangs of sadness. But she won't let them overcome her! No chance! "Anyway, I saved some hostages from an anti-mutant group, then got attacked by mutants. Crazy world we live in, huh?... At least I made Katherine Mulligan happy for a few minutes."
She stops there, the pain of the day having fully gotten to her now. She can't ignore it as she looks to the morning sun shining down on the lake, one that she only wishes she could share its beauty with loved ones…
A heavy sigh escapes her before she speaks further. "Look, Dad… I know you guys are really busy, and I don't blame you putting so much into your work. You could really make a difference in the world. But I just want you and Mom to know that-"
"Your voice message has stopped recording due to going over the allotted time. Please hang up your call and try again. Good bye."
It just isn't fair. For every great thing that comes with being Captain Carol, there are some really crummy drawbacks too. Like these ones…
She doesn't bother finishing her statement. No one will hear it, so she just hangs up the phone and puts it away before returning her eyes to the world around her. It would be much better to appreciate the beauty of the park and the lake if she had a friend with her, but at least she isn't being attacked by angry radicals or shapeshifting intergalactic warriors. She'd rather be bored, sad, and relaxed than having the stress of those things right now.
Her loneliness doesn't last for too much longer though, as she is soon given the company of a stray cat that struts by. It considerately approaches her, showing no fear as it rolls its chunky self right against Carol's leg for pettsies.
She smiles. "Hey there," she greets as she begins to pet the cat. "You're a long way from home, little buddy."
She takes comfort in its purring as it continues making itself comfortable being loved by a human, and she too decides to relax a little as she rests her back on the cool grass. The sky is quaintly blue today, and the day is still young at least. Maybe after a little nap, she'll feel better and be ready to enjoy herself for once. Maybe even take Lori up on that offer from earlier…
In her bed of course. No chance she's napping on the ground by the lake where animals can just come up and be all invading of privacy.
So, with that thought, she sits herself up and does a stretch. "Man, I don't know why I'm so tired," she tells the cat. "I never feel this tired so early."
Her thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a cat's meow, but this one does not come from her new furry friend. Instead, she looks around to find that on the nearest tall tree, another cat is perched on a tall branch, seemingly crying for help as it persistently mewls.
"Aww, poor guy. Stuck in a tree?" she asks as it continues desperately crying for help. "I hate feeling stuck, too," she adds with some melancholy before she bucks up to put her big girl superhero panties on, not even flaring up her energy as she levitates up to safely recover him. Or her, maybe.
Either way, she's able to successfully coax the pussy into taking a leap of faith off of the tall branch and into her arms, and she smiles as she lowers herself back to the ground. "Ahhh. See? You're okay now," she tells the gender ambiguous animal as she loves it with her pettsies, earning her its purrs and snuggles. It's pretty easy for Carol to forget all of her troubles as she continues giving the cat her undivided attention and unconditional love. After all, some company is all she really wanted. Sadly enough, she lives the life of a superhero. One that seldom offers her moments like these to truly feel at ease and safe to enjoy the finer things in life.
Safe being a keyword.
The sixth sense of intuition comes over her as she feels a presence lurking from behind her, and she turns back to find that the first cat to introduce itself is now transforming into a stupid Scrull soldier! Dang Scrulls!
Worse off, the cat in her arms sinisterly smiles ala Cheshire before she hurriedly drops it and backs away with a gasp. "Huah!" And to only somewhat less of a surprise, this one too transforms into shapeshifting intergalactic warrior. Then, for a moment, there's a stalemate as the two extraterrestrial insurgents only glower at her with disgusting pride. It isn't the first time she's had to deal with Scrulls trying to bring her back to their homeworld, and it surely won't be the last. But she's handled far worse than two measly crooks. She deduces this won't take long as she begins to flare up her hands with her cosmic energy.
But… nothing happens.
She looks to her hands, hoping it's just a fluke of her imagination. But unfortunately, it proves to be the real thing as she can't muster any further strength. Which… might put a damper in her plans to dispose of the threats so easily.
They only laugh at her before readying themselves in fighting stances, and she groans at them before settling for regular fisticuffs. "Alright fellas. Let's get this over with," she simply says as she readies for their attack.
It comes in the form of them both charging at her simultaneously, and while she's able to counter the first one's momentum with a savate kick to the gut, the other is able to lock her in a rear naked choke. Normally, she'd have no problem simply overpowering him with her far superior strength, but for some awful reason, she is so weak and tired…
Adrenaline is her only ally in gaining leverage as she puts pressure on the Scrull's wrists, forcing him (or her, she isn't one to make crude assumptions), to break the hold. Then, in a move of desperation, she uses her fingers to jab them in the eyes, temporarily stunning them. It's proves to be an effective tactic soon enough, because she realizes that the other Scrull has recovered from her kick to its gut. Being the predictably stupid henchman they are though, Carol is able to line up their next charge at her perfectly, dodging at just the right moment to send them crashing into their partner.
Despite gaining herself a moment of breathing room, a new pounding in her brain debilitates her. It's a horrible feeling, almost like her own body is turning on her. It's almost enough to bring her to her knees. This becomes obvious to her two attackers, who nod in agreement before returning to their feet to finish the job with a combined finishing blow.
"No… No!" she cries with anguish as they begin pacing towards her, each readying to pounce on her and finally take her out at her weakest. Luckily enough though, it's almost like reservations of her power frother through her veins, and she's able to rise up with a sudden surge of energy that course from her head to her toes. Most importantly, it traverses to her wrists, and she's able to use it to let out a desperate photon blast that plows the two enemies, sending them rearing back with what she knows to be a conclusive attack.
It takes a lot out of her, leaving her winded as she's forced to drop to a knee to maintain some control over the pain and the ferocity. It isn't all for naught though, as she soon finds that she was successfully able to defeat the Scrulls thanks to a seemingly divine intervention. She can still feel some of the energy coursing through her, and while she's scared it may not be enough to get her very far, she knows she can't stay here. She knows she'll need to find out what's happening to her.
And she knows just where, and who to go to.
So, she digs down deep to find the strength to get herself back up again. "Come on!" And once she's found it, she refuses to let it go, for better or worse, as she takes to the wind and sky to fly far away from here.
The trail of stardust is the first thing that the two Scrulls notice as they convalesce from Carol's final attack. "Ugh, you idiot! You let her get away!" the first one cusses at the other, smacking them in the back of their head.
"Me? You're the one who let her blast us!" the other argues. They then proceed to go back and forth over just who is truly to blame for their pathetic failure, scraping the bottom of the barrel for embarrassing insults about their birthgivers.
All the while, they fail to realize the way a series of bubbles begins to ripple the nearby body of water… until it's far too late. Their eyes widen wider than they've ever widened as they bear witness to the terrifying creature that rises from the lake, a large, mucky monster that stands at least twelve feet tall. With crimson, insidious eyes, it stares at its newfound prey below, paralyzing them both with fear they've never known, and finality they have too little time to come to terms with.
All they can do is let out screams as the monster roars, charging at them with its vicious teeth.
*Somewhere between happy, and total wreck. Feet sometimes on solid ground, sometimes at the edge. To spend your waking moments, simply counting time. Is to give up on your hopes and dreams, give up on your life~*
Luna Loud lies restless on her bed, staring up a blank white ceiling that offers her little sympathy as her stereo plays. It's been like this every morning since the end of the civil war; a weighty desire to just go back to dreaming, a desperation for things to go back to the way they used to be, the feelings of laziness and inadequacy guilt tripping her into keeping her eyes peeled open, even if she does just keep lying here.
For starters, there's the realization that, before too much longer, the weekend will be over, and she'll go back to Royal Woods High School to drown in trigonometry homework and reminders that her aspirations of becoming a big time rockstar like Mick Swagger are really just pipe dreams. Hey, at least she has her friends to joke about it with. George, Ruth… Maggie and Luan when she gets back, but that's another story all together. Like Sam…
She pulls out her smartphone, telling herself it's to check the time, but really just to see her wallpaper. A selfie taken with a certain someone who wears a blue streak in her hair, a certain someone she cares an awful lot about...
"Ugh…" she groans as she buries her face with a pillow, hoping to somehow suffocate all the negativity in one purging motion. She knows deep down she can't be so lucky, but oh well, it's worth a try at least. When she does relent, she pushes the pillow to the side, and looks over to her clock. It reads 12:58 PM just like her phone, which means someone, probably Lori, will come knocking on her door here soon to make her feel even worse about everything. Be it with snarky comments meant to incite spite, or attempts to reach through and actually help with pity that just make her feel bad for feeling bad.
"Well, at least someone is keeping things emo while Lucy is away," she jokes in her mind.
She decides to take initiative in an effort to actually find some light in the darkness, both literally and figuratively as she turns on her lamp, and just as she sits herself up straight, the predictable happens as a series of raps thud her door.
"Yo!" she calls out, trying to sound more optimistic than pessimistic.
The door slightly creeks open, and a peering white eye underneath some white hair looks to her. "Are you decent?" Lincoln asks.
Luna lets out a yawn and stretches before answering with, "You're good."
With her permission, the boy fully opens the door to step his way in. He's settled for casual clothing instead of the spandex leotard today, which, quite frankly, makes Luna feel a sense of relief.
"Thank god… Maybe I can take a break from being Night Club today so I can focus on fixing Luna for once."
For a moment, her brother is silent as he pussyfoots his way around, superfluously looking at Luna and Luan's amenities as if he hasn't seen them a million times before. He eventually meets her eyes though, nervously scratching the back of his neck as he does. "Hey uh, sorry if you were still asleep. Lori just told me to come check on you, and-"
"Yeah, I got it," Luna interrupts with a dismissive hand. "I've been up. Just… kind of thinking about things."
She looks down to the floor after finishing her statement, earning her a concerned gaze from Lincoln.
"Okay, we both know these kinds of talks are always awkward, but it's killing me not to ask. What's going on with you?" he asks her.
She glances at him to see his vehement compassion before guiltily looking back down to the carpet. "It's a lot, man. It's a lot. I don't even know where to begin or what to say. And honestly, I really don't feel like being a bother. You've got enough to worry about."
He winces with a twinge of remorse before making his way over to have a seat on the bed beside her. "Well, I know you mean well. And I'm not going to make you do anything you don't want to do," he starts. "Just… If you want to vent a little bit, it might make us both feel better. We've got a long day ahead of us. It might do you some good," he suggests.
She raises her head to glance at him again, and offers him a weak smile with the knowledge that, he really does wish the best. She then sighs. "Your real superpower is making people trust you. You know that?" she quips.
He shrugs with a soft smile. "I'm a swell guy, I don't know what else to say."
She amusedly exhales a little more air out of her nostrils than usual with his little anecdote, then braces herself to come clean about things. Or at least try to. The small smile wanes from her face as she remembers just what has her so down.
"Things are just so weird lately," she begins, and Lincoln stays quiet as he offers her his undivided attention. "Between everything that happened with Sam, and the way Mom and Dad were fighting… Everything just feels wrong."
Lincoln softly sighs as his posture deflates. "Yeah… I know. I miss everyone too," he wistfully tells her. He soon bucks up though, trying to let his positivity show in his tone with every word. "But they'll all be back soon. And now that we don't have fifty secret government agencies all breathing down are necks, I think Mom and Dad and everybody else will be a lot better when they get back from their 'vacation,'" he assures her.
"I know," Luna simply says, stopping herself from dwelling on anymore negatives. "I just miss everyone, I guess."
Seeing her somberness compels Lincoln to reach out with a comforting hand, and he places it on her back as he smiles. "Hey, I'm sure they've been thinking about us too. And when they get back, things will be like they were before. I just know they will."
Luna playfully brushes his arm off her person with a little chuckle. "Heh, well, maybe not. I just hope they can be better, ya know?"
That makes Lincoln happy, but he doesn't rest so comfortably yet. "So… stop me if I'm asking too much, but… do you wanna talk about… her?"
Luna almost wants to get irritated, but she doesn't. She just closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath. "It's not just everyone else, Linc. I'm not trying to blame everyone for why I'm feeling so crummy, ya know?" They exchange a brief gaze to convey their respective forlorn hopes, then Luna continues. "I just… I'm having a hard time with who I am lately. Between going back to school, facing her, wanting to be this big rock star! And all of this..." she states, throwing hands up to point out their fortress of solitude before deflating once more; "I just don't know anymore, man. I just don't know…"
Lincoln allows her words to linger in the air for a while longer before he works on composing his response. He wants it to be meaningful, and he wants it show he really cares. "I can't answer that for you. And you know I can't," he starts, softly, surely. "But I can tell you this. I know you have it in you. You're one of the most amazing people I know, superhero or not. If you want to focus on just one of those things, or try and make them all work, I know you can do it. Just have some faith in yourself, sis. Like I do."
Luna wants to find words to show just how much she appreciates his sentiment. She really does. But her inner poet is speechless. All she can offer her only brother is a warm smile. He acknowledges it with one of his own, but doesn't let it overstay its welcome. He stands up from the bed, and fixes his posture. "Alright, enough mushy Full House stuff. Lori's wanting to have a stupid team meeting when you come down, even though there's only four of us and it's a Friday."
Luna giggles at his obvious display of feigned haughtiness as she follows his lead. They both know he'd never say that in front of Lori. Instead of being a jerk about it though, she just focuses on the latter half. "No one does anything on Fridays."
"True… But we have to remain vigilant! You never know when Scoots will snap!" Lincoln further jokes.
"Dream on," Luna smirks. "I'll see you on the dark side of the moon," she quips as they make their way out of the room, ready to face the day as Ace Savvy and The Night Club.
Or, as ready as she'll ever be.
Leni doesn't know what the monitors are really for, even after Lori and Lincoln both explained to her how important homebase surveillance and upkeep are. She was super sure to burn it into her membrane just how important the blinky red light is, because it's for emergencies. And the radio is well, the radio. She's not allowed to play her music on it, unfortunately, which is weird because Luna is always talking about music. But whatevs. She just knows she's supposed to listen in case any like, actual crimes happen, but the thing has been deader than her Twitter feed this morning.
She sighs as she takes a bite of her nonfat probiotic peach yogurt. "I wish Mom and Dad would call already. It gets so boring sitting around watching this thing!" she clamors. "Oh well, at least I have Tik Tok," she says with a shrug as she pulls out her phone to watch silly videos of meow the nine inch pianist cat.
Her brief reverie is soon interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming from upstairs down to their living room- er, base of operations.
"Mornin' Luna!" she chirps with a wave, almost dropping her yogurt.
Luna softly nods. "Mornin' Blondie," she greets as she and Lincoln pace over to her. "Anything new?"
Leni puts on her super serious thinking face as she concentrates. "Well, the radio went off earlier, and I thought maybe it would be something important. But it was just Flip getting in trouble for… uh… public indecency? Whatever that is…"
Lincoln cringes at the thought of that, but Luna just sort of sighs. "Well, I mean, I wasn't just asking about superhero stuff, ya know? I meant like… how are you doing?"
Leni meets her with a perplexed expression. "Huh?" she bluntly responds, prompting her sister to roll her eyes and dismiss her inquiry with a wave.
"Forget it. Where's Lori and Valerie?" Luna now asks somewhat mockingly.
Leni takes another bite of her yogurt. "You seem a little salty today, fam. Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"
Luna frowns, but fixes herself to try and not make mountains out of anthills. "I'm fine, thanks. You didn't answer my question though."
"Oh! I remember!" Leni giddily chirps. "Lori said- well, she told me that Vanzilla- er, Valerie… She said the van told her they needed to work on their rapport?" she answers, incorrectly pronouncing 'rapport' the way it is spelled.
Lincoln face palms. "Lori is doing some exercises with Vanzilla in the parking lot. The magic van basically wants to feel validated by spending time with her," he patronizingly explains.
"Riiiiight," Luna responds. "Man. Of all the weird powers we all got, hers has to be the weirdest," she claims.
"At least you guys have cool powers," Lincoln replies. "My hair is white and I'm kind of strong," he jokes, earning a little laugh from his two older sisters.
"Well, that still sounds cooler than 'I talk to my van and make it do stuff,'" Luna jokes.
Leni begins to verbalize a contribution before being interrupted by a ping from the computer terminal. She presses the button to activate the intercom. "Is someone there?"
"It's me, Leni. I'm back," Lori's voice answers from the other end of the transmission.
Again, Leni puts on her thinking face. "Me who?"
Lincoln has to face palm again.
"It's me, Leni! Lori!" the oldest Loud sibling clarifies.
Leni really puts all of her effort into thinking this over now. "Is this some kind of joke, Luan?"
Fed up with the miscommunication, Luna assertively makes her way to the terminal, and presses the button to unlock the base's entrance for the oldest Loud. Soon after, she makes her way in, and halfheartedly glares at Leni. She just smiles. "Oh! Hi Lori!"
The others roll their eyes before returning to form, and it's Lori to address the current happenings first. "I see you got my text, Lincoln. Thanks for getting Luna up," she tells him.
The fifteen year old crosses her arms. "Hey, I've been awake! I just didn't get out of bed as soon as I woke up," she explains.
"Mhm, figures," Lori tartly retorts. However, she realizes her own snark, and ebbs with a sigh. "Sorry, Luna. I'm not trying to be a butt. It was just… a rough morning."
Her sister skittishly runs her forearm before putting on a weak smile. "It's cool. You're fine."
Lori's tempted to press further about just how truly apologetic she is, but decides to just let it go. She trusts Luna understands, and with the momentary pause, Lincoln musters the bravery to address the proverbial elephant. "So… No one's heard from Mom and Dad today?" he asks.
The oldest Loud's somewhat somber demeanor changes for the better with her brother's reminder. "Oh yeah! I actually got a message from Mom this morning!" she reveals, making the others brighten up as well.
"What did she say?" Leni asks.
"Well, she said that they wouldn't be able to call us tonight. Mr. and Mr. McBride are taking them all out later I guess," she answers, making the others lose some of their brightness. But she continues smiling herself. "They also said they would be back by Monday, so there's that."
The others practically suck all of the oxygen out of the room with a collective gasp, and as Lori planned, they all proceed to cheer with excitement. Even Luna.
"Thank goodness! I was really starting to miss everybody!" Leni states. "Especially Lynn."
"Why Lynn?" Lincoln asks.
"She just makes me happy," Leni simply answers with a wide smile, and the others smile too.
Luna's is the first to wane though as she lets out a bit of a sigh. "So I guess that means we'll be back to business as usual, huh?"
The others curb their enthusiasm a little to address this. "I'm not sure what you mean," Lori states.
"Uh, nothing. I don't know what I'm saying," Luna replies with a wince before turning herself to look to the floor and nothing else. Floors don't judge with staring eyes, after all.
But this doesn't get passed Lincoln. He sees the way she looks, and keeps in mind the things she told him. So if he has to, he'll speak if she chooses to be voiceless. Which doesn't happen… ever.
"Uh, Lori," he begins, somewhat timidly. She just looks to him with folded arms and an inquisitive raise of the brow, but he doesn't let it intimidate him. He just takes a big breath, and says what he feels he has to. "These last few days have been… pretty stressful," he says with a nervous chuckle.
"What are you getting at?" Lori simply asks in response.
Swallowing a little more apprehension, Lincoln proceeds further. "Well… I was just thinking, maybe we take it slow today, you know?"
A thoughtful expression comes to her face as she ponders the literal and connotative meaning of his suggestion, and the others can't help but grow a little anxious at how she could respond. After all, it wasn't toolong ago that they used to call her The Queen of No.
Finally, she comes to a decision. "Well, I've actually been thinking about this too," she begins. "I know things are tough with just the four of us, but we have a duty as this city's protectors. It's why we stayed behind after all," she reminds them.
Promptly, they deflate with the conclusion that there will be no 'taking it slow today.' However...
"But… after talking with Valerie and texting Bobby, and since we already dealt with one major crime this morning-"
"Didn't Carol save everyone just as we showed up?" Leni interrupts, earning her an elbow jab from Luna.
Lori disregards and continues. "I really think we have earned a lazy day," she agrees, and the others are quick to cheer again over the declaration. Normally, Lori would try to calm them down and be practical, but for now, she just rolls her eyes with a grin.
"I'm gonna go read comics in my underwear!" Lincoln chants.
"I'm gonna watch Tik Toks on my phone!" Leni chimes in.
And Luna just sort of sighs with relief with the knowledge that she can lay her weary head to rest.
"I think I'll probably just message some friends I haven't talked to in a while. And Bobby of course," Lori snickers before shaking herself to get serious again. "But listen. We can't just slack off all together. If anything urgent happens, it's up to us to suit up and take action. It's literally what we signed up for," she dictates.
The others simply nod with understanding before Lori ebbs on the seriousness again with a relaxing sigh of her own. "But hopefully nothing like that happens. A nice, quiet, relaxing day sounds so good."
"Yup!" Lincoln chirps.
"Totes!" Leni agrees.
They all then exchange looks of pleasant understanding before Lori decides to conclude the quote-unquote 'meeting.' "Alright. Well, I think I'm going to go ahead and take a shower. Maybe even a bath! I just have a feeling that today is going to go well. No aliens, no monsters, no convoluted origin stories… Just quiet, peaceful-"
Her cell phone rings. For a minute, the others just look on with almost nervous curiosity over the intrusion, but Lori keeps her cool as she casually takes the phone out of her cargo shorts without a gas. Her eyebrow raises upon seeing the caller ID, and then a smile comes to her lips. "Well what do you know," she comments before answering the call. "Hey you!" she cheerfully greets, but her happy hello is perturbed by a tone of forlornness from the other end.
"Lori, I literally need your help!" Carol cries from the other end of the line. She stands outside of a quaint suburban home by her parked black BMW, wearing a black hoodie and sunglasses to try and look discreet. In sunny, seventy-five degree weather on a Friday afternoon.
"Oh, uhm… What's the matter? Trig trouble?" Lori asks, almost hoping it's nothing more serious.
"Just tell me you're available. Please," Carol beckons.
Something catches Luna's brown eye from the small spaces between the window blinds, and she stands up to go have a look. That's when she sees Carol standing out there, and that's when she motions the others to have a look of their own.
"Uhm… Are you here to catch up on old times?" Lori asks with an anxious little laugh.
Carol looks from the window full of faces staring at her from the cracks of the blinds, then to her own hand. She tries to conjure up some of her energy, but she simply can't. She's just too weak.
With a heavy heart, she looks back to the window. "Well, something like that."
TO BE CONTINUED