Disclaimer: The Loud House is owned by nickelodeon. I own nothing but the idea for this story.
It was nighttime at an office building in Royal Woods. All the employees had gone home and the place was completely silent.
The villain, Specter, phased in through one of the walls. He looked around to check for any signs of people and then floated over to a cubicle He started searching through the drawers and shuffling around all the files. When he couldn't seem to find what he was looking for he went to the next, one repeated the process, and then continued to do so until finally, he found a document in one of desk drawers.
A malicious grin grew over his face as he scanned the document. "Yes." He whispered evilly. "I finally found you!"
BAM!
A chunk of the ceiling crashed down, causing a cloud of dust to kick up, and when it cleared, it revealed the L-force!
Athlete smirked as she cracked her knuckles, both covered in a pair of metal knuckledusters. "Funny. We were about to say the same thing."
Other members of the team were also packing some new gear. Princess had a pair of metal gauntlets on her wrists. Housepet's animals were all wearing a kind of flexible metallic armor. Around Control freaks shoulder was a bandolier of metal orbs connected to each other by magnetism. The rest of team didn't carry any special equipment but they looked just as ready to fight.
Specter snarled before chuckling and saying. "You fools could barely stop me before. What makes you thinks you can now?" He morphed into his shadow form, flew straight at them-
Only to be punched away by athlete!
Specter crashed backwards into a wall. He shook his head a few time before gawking in disbelief. "How did you do that? You shouldn't be able to harm me. I'm a ghost!"
"No, you're just some creep who's too used to feeling invincible." Control Freak replied confidently. She focused her power on the balls in the bandolier and hurled them all at Specter. They pounded into him, leaving the spectral scoundrel bruised and annoyed. He managed to float in the air but was quickly grabbed on the arm by a line of Tailor's thread and thrown into the cubicles. Before he could pick himself off the pile of human prisons, Princess flew into the air and then shot herself fist first into him, smashing him into the floor below.
Hurt, beaten, confused, and enraged at getting smacked around, Specter let out a roar and smacked away Princess, but then he saw the rest of the L-force gathered around the hole in the ceiling.
Brainy shaped her nanotech into a wrist blaster and loaded it with a small orb. She shot it at Specter and it latched onto his stomach.
He yelped. "Uggh! I don't have time for this! I'll deal with you later." He tried to fly through the floor below him but didn't manage to phase and ended up hitting his head. "Ow!"
"No, I don't believe you will be. That device I planted on you is designed to keep you tangible." Brainy said smugly
The villain growled. "Then I'll just have to get out the old fashioned way!" He flew towards the door leading into the hallway, smashing through it as he made his way out.
"Now what?" Athlete asked.
Brainy went over to Link and pressed a few buttons on her communicator. Once she was done, the eyeholes on his mask flashed.
"That device I placed on Specter doubles as a tracker. I synchronized it to your mask so you can monitor his location."
Control Freak turned to Link. "Think you can get us to the bottom floor faster than him?"
"Watch me." Link pressed the side of his mask and a full scale map of the building popped up. A bright red dot representing Specter appeared and started moving. He had already made it pretty far down. Link motioned for his sisters to follow him. "Let's go!"
He led them through the halls, each of them moving as quickly as they could. Link focused on the directions provided by the map.
"Okay, A left here. Now a right. Down this way. Okay now through here-."
"Link wait!"
"Stop!"
"Don't-!"
"AUUGGHH"
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
Unfortunately, Link had been so focused on his heads up display, he hadn't noticed that the door he'd just went through opened up to a stairwell, causing him to barrel forward down a floor of stairs. After almost two minutes of falling he finally landed, face-first, on the bottom of the stairwell. He lifted up his bruised, broken face just in time for his mask to fall off and the lenses to smash against the ground.
"Lincoln!"
He looked up and through his bleary vision, saw his sisters at the top of the last staircase.
"I don't think we're going to beat him to the bottom." Was all he managed to gasp before passing out.
A half-hour later in Lisa's lab, back at base, Lincoln was having his injuries tended to.
"And that should do it." Leni finished carefully wrapping medical gauze on his knee to match his tenderly bandaged head.
"Thanks Leni." Lincoln said. He looked over to Lisa, who had her back to the others as she examined his mask with a set of nano tech goggles. "Any chance of fixing it?"
She turned around and showed him the cracked and shattered remains of his mask. "Negative. I'm afraid your mask is simply damaged beyond repair."
Lincoln groaned. "So now we can't track down specter."
"I doubt it would matter." Said Lisa, as she tossed the broken face cover into a trash bin. "Even if it was still functioning, Specter will have most likely discarded the tracer by now."
"So, once again, we have no way of finding him." Lori grumbled.
"Chill out Lor. Even if we couldn't get the drop on him, at least now we know our Anti-specter gear works." Luna pointed out.
"I would agree, this was a successful field test of our new equipment. My coating even helped shield my technology from Specter's powers. Though I feel it would have been more effective if we had successfully captured our target." Lisa chimed in.
"I'm sorry guys." Link said, hanging his head in shame. "I guess I'm not used to looking up info and being in the action at the same time."
"Well you need to get used to it." Lori replied harshly. Then, seeing how hard he was taking it, she softened and said. "Look Lincoln, I know it can't be easy to adjust to doing your thing as our intel guy and being in the field. But we need you to be able to step up and perform."
Lincoln looked up slightly and nodded. "Okay."
"Good. Now, it's pretty late so why don't we all just go on to bed?"
The others agreed and they headed over to the tubes, Lincoln still looking disheartened.
"This superhero gig can be rough. Sometimes, you win, and sometimes, you really mess up."
"I'm telling you Clyde, it was a grade-A screw up. A complete superfail." Lincoln told his best friend, as they walked home after school the next morning.
"Fortunately, that's why it's great to have Clyde. It's nice to know that no matter how badly things get, I can always talk about it with my bro."
"I don't get why you're so down on yourself Lincoln. It doesn't sound like your sister were mad about it." Clyde said.
"Yeah, but I'm mad about it. I can't afford to make mistakes like that." Lincoln argued.
"You've only been superheroing with them for a month."
"Which is exactly why I can't mess up!" Lincoln snapped. He huffed and said. "Ever since I started going out there with the team, I knew had to give 110% or I'd be back on monitor duty. Which means, I can't afford rookie moves like falling down stairs!"
It worried Clyde, seeing his best friend like this. Being a superhero really seemed to be taking a toll on Lincoln.
"Don't worry so much. I'm sure you guys will catch Specter and soon you'll all be laughing about the whole stair thing."
Lincoln stared forlornly at the ground. "That's what I'm afraid of." They kept walking until they reached the Loud residence.
"Hey, why don't we go and have a few rounds of muscle fish?" Clyde suggested. A few hours of video games might help his friends dower mood.
Lincoln shook his head. "Can't. Lori wanted us to meet up after school to practice with our specter gear. I figure I can try working on dividing my focus." He gave a small grin and tapped the side of his head. "Besides I'd win. Super strategy brain remember?" Since getting his powers, Lincoln hadn't managed to lose one game to his pal.
"Well, that doesn't mean it's not still fun to play." Clyde retorted. Then he got an idea. "Hey, why don't I go down with you and wait until you're done?"
"I don't know about that Clyde." Lincoln rubbed his neck and looked sheepishly at his best friend. "Lori doesn't really like me just bringing you down there. Plus, are you sure you'll be able to handle her in her superhero outfit this time?"
"Lincoln that was a long time ago. Just because I passed out when I first saw Lori in her costume doesn't mean I'll do it again."
Lincoln shrugged. "If you're sure."
The two of them walked over to the shed, went into the tubes, and down into the base, Clyde wearing a big grin, Lincoln still looking a bit disgruntled.
Once they arrived, they headed to the meeting room where the rest of the team was waiting. Once she saw Clyde, Lori's eyebrow raised.
"Why'd you bring him down here?"
"Clyde just wanted to wait down here until we finished training so we could hang out. Right buddy?" When he got no response, Lincoln looked over and saw his best friend was on the floor, unconscious, and with a river of blood streaming from his nose. Lincoln face palmed.
Lucy walked over and gently poked his forehead. Seeing no response, she muttered. "I'll get the smelling salts." Then went to Lisa lab to retrieve them.
Lori pinched the bridge of her nose and then looked at her brother testily. "Lincoln, this is our secret base. Not a clubhouse. Clyde can't just come down here and hang out. We've talked about this."
Before Lincoln could respond, Lucy returned with the box of smelling salts and waved one in Clyde's face until he sprang upward.
"Ugh, what happened?" Clyde moaned. Then he noticed Lori again and his eyes widened, but before he could pass out, Lincoln twirled him around so he was facing the wall.
"Clyde just wants to stay until we're done training. Then we'll go straight to the house. Come on Lori, you know he won't cause any trouble. Right Clyde?" He asked, this time putting serious emphasis on his question.
Clyde shivered and sweated as he tried to ignore the love of his life standing right behind him. "R-right. N-notroubleatall!" He blurted out, trying his hardest to keep his composure.
Seeing that her brother wouldn't let up on this, Lori relented. "Alright. But just until we're done."
"Thanks Lori." Lincoln replied.
"Whatever. Here." She tossed Lincoln a new mask that looked exactly like his old one. "Lisa managed to make you a new mask. Let's head to the training room so you can practice with it."
"Wait, where is Lisa?" Lincoln asked, suddenly noticing the absence of his second youngest sister.
"She said she had some important experiment she was working on in her lab." Lori explained with a shrug before walking off with the others.
Lincoln turned his best friend around. "Okay Clyde. See you once trainings done."
"Wait! What am I supposed to do while you guys are busy?" Clyde asked.
"Why don't you hang out here? I know my setup gets the internet. Maybe you could watch a few videos?" Lincoln suggested weakly before running to catch up with his sisters.
Clyde glanced at the console his friend had suggested and then at the hall that led to the rest of the base.
"I'm in a superhero headquarters and he wants me to watch internet videos? I don't think so." He mumbled, before heading into the hallway.
"Lisa Loud Experiment log. After postponing our search for specter, I finally have the time to test my neural connectivity device." Lisa paused her recording device and took a moment to glance at the center of her lab where Cliff sat on a stool wearing a thin metal headpiece with a rectangular section in the center. Then, she continued narrating
"While I lack a proper test subject, Cliffs mind should be sufficient to activate my invention. My research into the meteorite shards has given me ample reason to suspect that by using one in my new mental connection band, I can increase the already powerful connection between my mind and my nanotechnology." She went over to her work desk, put down her recorder, and picked up a small remote with a single button. She lowered her finger ready to press it-.
"Hi Lisa." Clyde greeted from behind her.
Lisa was startled and accidently flung her remote into the air. Cliff panicked and leaped off the stool to run away, the headpiece falling off as he ran.
Lisa groaned and turned around to her unexpected visitor. "Hello Clyde."
"What are you working on?" Clyde asked.
Lisa walked over and picked up the headpiece off the ground, while doing so, glaring over at Clyde who had his back to her and was looking over the rest of the lab.
"I was performing a test run on a new invention of mine, but since my test subject ran off, thanks to your ill-timed greeting-." Lisa stopped speaking as an idea popped into her head. Her glare turned into a sly smile. She turned towards Clyde and asked. "I don't suppose you'd like to help?"
Clyde looked away from the test tubes he'd been examining. "Huh? Oh, uh I don't know."
He was wary of helping, no doubt due to horror stories Lincoln told him about Lisa's experiments.
"Please? This experiment is incredibly important and at a critical point." Lisa said.
Clyde still seemed unsure. "Is it safe?"
"Yesssss?" Lisa said, an unconvincing smirk appearing on her face. Seeing that Clyde wasn't sold on the idea, she pulled out one last stop. "This experiment could go a long way towards assisting the team. I'm sure Lori would be quite happy and may even reward you should she hear of your involvement."
Hearing his crush might reward him did the trick. "I'm in!" Clyde replied enthusiastically.
"Excellent. Simply put this on." Lisa handed Clyde the headgear and he slipped it on around his forehead. Lisa searched around until she found the remote. "There we are!" She went back to Clyde. "Are you ready?"
"Is this going to hurt?" Clyde asked nervously.
"Oh, no. The brain has no pain receptors, so I'm sure you won't feel anything." She pressed her finger on the button. Immediately, the rectangular section of the headband light up with green light.
Lisa peered closely at Clyde. "How does it feel?"
"A little weird. Is my head supposed to feel tingly or-?" He groaned and began to shake and sweat. The device on his head started crackling with green energy. Clyde tried to grab the sides of it and take it off, but then the energy traveled down his arms and through his whole body. From the bottom of the headband, green circuitry lines started to creep down his face.
Lisa stared at him, completely frozen in shock until he let out a bloodcurdling scream, causing her to repeatedly hit the button on her remote.
"Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!" She pleaded.
Finally, the light on the headgear died down and the lines on Clyde's face vanished. He then collapsed to the ground.
"Clyde? CLYDE?!" Lisa gulped. "Oh no."
Meanwhile, Lincoln was still trying to get the hang of fighting while viewing information on his mask lenses. Unfortunately, that wasn't going so well.
"AWWW!" He yelled, as he was smacked across the room by one of the team's training bots now redesigned with jet propulsion and phase tech to resemble ghosts.
"Get it together Link!" Lori yelled, while hurling one of her orbs into one of the ghost bots.
"I'm doing my best!" He yelled back as he pulled himself to his feet. He tried his hardest to look past the images on his display and focus on the battle, but he couldn't manage. Behind him a ghost bot raised a hand to crush him but before it could, Charles's armor covered teeth crunched it into scrap metal.
"Maybe you should try something else bro." Lana said, from atop Charles's back.
"Yeah." Luan agreed, while she constricted a multitude of bots. "With the way you're fighting you won't stand a ghost of a chance! HAHAHAHA, get it?"
Lincoln turned off his display and was just about to tell Luan exactly what she would get, when a piercing scream rang throughout the base. His blood turned cold when he realized he recognized the voice. It was Clyde's!
Immediately, the team stopped their training and headed towards the source of the noise until they arrived at Lisa's lab. They opened the door to find Lisa standing over Clyde's unmoving body.
"Clyde!" Lincoln rushed over to his friend and pressed his fingers against his neck. His heart skipped a beat when he didn't feel one on his friend. Enraged, he turned to Lisa.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" He screamed.
While taken aback by Lincoln's anger, Lisa managed to retort. "Brother, I suggest you calm down-."
"CALM DOWN?! LOOK AT HIM! Clyde is-is-." He couldn't say it.
"Still alive." Lisa finished, to Lincoln and the others confusion. She turned Clyde's head to reveal a circular metallic high-tech patch. Lincoln recognized it as the kind they used to monitor a teammates vitals when they were injured. "I checked him over with my equipment. His pulse is faint, too faint to be felt by human hand, but it's there. He's still alive."
Slightly pacified by hearing this, Lincoln said. "Set up a bed." Lisa pressed her communicator and a medical bed swung from under the floor.
Lincoln gestured to Lynn and Luna who were closest. "Help me get him up." The three of them lifted Clyde and gently placed him into the bed. The rest of the team huddled around him.
Once Clyde was settled in, Lori glared at Lisa. "What. Did You. Do?" She demanded coldly.
Lisa cowered slightly under her older sister's gaze. "I-I was simply trying to test a new invention I have been working on." She said carefully. "You see, after my success with using the meteorite formula to bind together unbound molecules, I got curious about its….other applications."
"Get to the point." Lori said through gritted teeth.
"I refined another meteorite shard and wove it into a computer chip programmed to focus neuroelectricity and data. I planned to use it for a new neurotransmitter design I've been tinkering with." Lisa said quickly
"The thing you implanted in your head to control your nano goo?!" Lori screeched.
Lisa was now shaking from head to toe. "Y-yes. I thought that the meteorite fragment would streamline the neuropathways, increase the rate of conversion of my thoughts to digital commands, make a more effective way of controlling my equipment. But something went wrong. Something caused a glitch in the system that made the device overload."
"How?" Lincoln demanded.
Lisa rubbed her chin in thought. "I don't know. I was sure it was set in the right place, I checked the wiring, calibrated the brain-." Lisa gasped. "The brainwave settings!"
"What?" Lori asked in confusion.
"My neurotransmitter is set so that it converts my specific brainwaves into digital code that activates commands in my nanotech. But Clyde's brainwaves are different than mine. He must not have been able to handle the intense amount of data pouring into his brain. That must have been why it overloaded."
"That….would have been….good to know…..before I put it on my head."
Lisa, Lori, and Lincoln all turned their heads to see Clyde weakly opening his eyes.
"Clyde!" Lincoln cried in relief. He pushed through his sisters and pulled his buddy into a hug. Then he released him and asked. "Are you ok?"
"I think so." Clyde croaked out. Mustering all his strength, he managed to sit up "But I have a splitting headache. Feels like my brains been put in the microwave."
"That would be thanks to Lisa." Lincoln said, casting an accusatory glance at her. Then he looked back at his friend. "So, you really feel alright?"
"Yeah." Clyde pushed himself off the bed and managed to stand up, his legs wobbling slightly. "I think I should be good."
Lisa looked at him worriedly. "You might have some kind of neurological damage." She warned. "Perhaps I should run a few tests just to make sure-."
"NO!" Lincoln interrupted. "No more test Lisa. You've done enough poking into my friend's brain." He grabbed Clyde by the shoulders and started leading him out of the lab. "Come on Clyde. Let's go play muscle fish."
"What about our training?" Lori asked.
"I think some down time might be a good idea." Lincoln replied.
Lori sighed. She turned to look at Lisa who was trying to quietly sneak away.
"Oh, we are NOT done."
After nearly having his brain cooked, playing a few rounds of muscle fish with his best friend seemed to do Clyde some good. As his fingers pounded into the controller as he tried beating Lincoln, the color returned to his face and he seemed almost back normal. Unfortunately, it didn't help the sting of defeat he felt from being continuously beaten.
"I lost again?" Clyde said disappointedly, after his tenth loss in a row.
"Hey, you're the one who said it would be fun just to play." Lincoln pointed out.
"Yeah." Clyde grumbled. He was about to press his start button to restart the game, when he suddenly clenched his eyes shut, and hissed in pain.
"Clyde? What's the matter?" Lincoln asked concernedly.
"Nothing. Just, headache." Clyde grunted out. Once the pain had subsided he opened his eyes and saw that the game had begun. "Did you restart?"
"Huh?" Lincoln glanced back at the screen. "No, I thought you were going to."
"I must have hit the button without realizing." Clyde said. He and Lincoln started playing again until he once again snapped his eyes closed and yelled out. "UGGH!"
"Clyde!" Lincoln yelled. He was about to reach over to his friend until he noticed that the T.V. was racing through different channels and the lights in the house were flickering.
"What's going on?!" Lincoln yelled.
Unfortunately for him things got worse. Clyde squeezed the sides of his skull and the lights turned on and off even more erratically while the T.V. became a swirl of indiscriminate lights and sounds.
Then, he let go of his head and managed to reopen his eyes and when he did, the lights stopped flickering and the T.V. returned to their game.
Clyde tried to catch his breath as he looked around the living room that had just been engulfed in madness. "D-did I do that?" He asked weakly.
Lincoln cast a concerned look at him. "I think we might need to go see Lisa."
At a building downtown, a woman with short spikey blonde hair and wearing a tan pants suit came out rapidly talking into her cellphone as she walked forward into a limousine.
"No. No! I told him no more monkeys after what happened last time. Look, we'll talk about this when I get there. I'm on my way." She entered the Limo.
Unknown to her, from behind an alleyway Specter, in his human form, stuck out his head and gave a red-eyed glare at the retreating vehicle. He phased into the ground beneath him.
Below ground, Specter followed after the limo for a few miles until he was directly underneath it. He phased himself upward into the seat next to the driver.
The driver gasped at the sudden new passenger.
"What the-?" Before he could finish that thought, Specter socked him across the jaw, knocking him out cold. The drivers face fell into the steering wheel and his foot fell on the acceleration, causing the Limo to barrel dangerously down the highway.
The woman in the back noticed the sudden rise in speed and banged on the driver screen window. "Hey, what are you trying to do? Break my neck? Do you know who I am?
The window lowered revealing Specter staring jovially from the front. The woman recoiled from the sight of him.
"Jack?" She whispered in disbelief.
Specter chuckled darkly. "Oh, I know exactly who you are. Which is why it's going to be so sweet watching you get crushed in this piece of junk. Fair warning, I'd buckle up. It's about to be a bit of a bumpy ride." He let out an evil cackle as he flew through the top of the Limo.
The woman panicked. She tried everything to get out, from the side doors to the sun roof, but they were all locked. In the end all she could do was let out a terrified shriek as the vehicle sped forward!
Clyde once again had a device attached to his head in Lisa's lab. This one, however, was more like a metal helmet than a headpiece. Lincoln and his sisters all stood watching as Lisa examined a few screens on her desk.
"Is this one going to zap me too?" Clyde asked, slightly concerned about another of Lisa's inventions being on his head.
"Nothing to fear Clyde." Lisa called over her shoulder. "This is the same equipment I used to examine the brains of myself, Lincoln, and Lori after we first discovered our abilities."
"So there's only a small chance it'll zap you." Lori snarked.
That didn't make him feel at ease.
"So, you really think Clyde has powers?" Lynn asked Lincoln.
"Well something weird happened. Every time he got a headache, it was like all the electrical stuff just went crazy." Lincoln argued.
"Maybe it was just a coincidence." Lori suggested.
Another headache rocked Clyde and as he groaned, the screens on Lisa's computers momentarily scrambled.
"I don't think it's a coincidence." Luna observed.
Once the pain was gone and Lisa managed to examine her data, Lori asked. "So what's it say?"
"It's remarkable." Lisa said excitedly. "It appears that Clyde's mind is both connecting his thoughts to electronic devices and converting his thoughts into digital programs. It's the exact effect I was aiming for with my device!"
"So Clyde is a superhuman?" Luan asked. "But, he couldn't effected by the event. It's been months. He would have found out if he had powers by now."
"No, his abilities aren't from the same source as ours. His came from my failed neuro transmitter." Lisa explained
"From your accident? How's that possible?" Lori asked.
"Remember, the focusing device for my transmitter had a piece of the same meteorite that gave Aquario and his army their powers. When the helmet overloaded, it must have released some of the shards radiation and it effected Clyde the same way it did them." Lisa explained.
"But why can't I control it? And why does my head keep hurting?" Clyde asked.
"My best guess is that your mind simply can't handle connecting to so many machines. Some of us need help controlling our abilities." Lisa theorized.
"Yeah dude. If I don't wear my collar, my voice gets way too loud. Even for me." Luna admitted.
"Well can you make something to help me control mine? I don't think I can take much more of these headaches." Clyde said.
Lisa pondered this and then snapped her fingers. "I've got it" She went over to her work desk and withdrew something from one of the drawers. After about 5 minutes of welding and hammering, she turned around holding the same circlet that gave Clyde his powers but with two other crescent shaped pieces, each bearing three lines on them, attached to the sides.
"Seriously? You're going to attach the same thing that messed up his brain in the first place?" Lori asked.
"The adjustment I've made should allow Clyde to filter out any unwanted connections his brain may create and focus his abilities on one machine at a time." Lisa handed Clyde the headpiece. "If you would."
Clyde nervously took the headpiece. He shut his eyes and slipped it over his head. He cracked open an eye to make sure he was still alive and then let out a relieved breath. "Okay, now what do I do?"
"Focus on a piece of technology in the lab." Lisa instructed.
Clyde looked around the lab until his eyes fell on Lori. His pupils shrank and he closed his eyes again. Then he placed two fingers from each hand on the crescent parts of the headpiece. The lines on the crescent parts glowed light green.
The team watched him with rapt attention. "Is he doing anything?" Lana asked.
Suddenly Lori's phone pinged. She pulled it out of her pocket and grimaced when she saw the screen. "He did something."
"What happened?" Asked Leni.
Lori showed her phone, revealing the image of Lori and Clyde's heads snuggled closely together and surrounded in a border of hearts on the screen.
"AWWW!" Leni crooned. She whipped out her phone and shoved it into his face. "Do mine next."
Suddenly, the team's communicators beeped.
"Wasn't me." Clyde said defensively.
"No. There's a speeding out of control limousine downtown." Lori announced as she checked her communicator.
"Out of control Limo? That's a new one." Lynn said.
"Whatever. Let's go!" Lori ordered. The team headed out of the lab.
"WAIT! What do I do?" Clyde yelled after them.
"Simply wait there Clyde. We'll run more tests on your abilities once we return." Lisa yelled back.
Clyde growled. He was not going to just sit there while they were out saving the day. There had to be something he could do!
Then, he looked up at the device on his head.
Maybe there was.
The Limo shot through the streets, which where luckily empty. The driver was still unconscious and the woman inside clutching onto one of the seats, praying to whoever she could for it to end.
Up above, the L-force was flying towards the vehicle on Walt's back. Control Freak and Link observed the racing Limousine.
"We got to find a way to slow down that Limo before it smashes into something." Control freak said. She looked to Link. "You got anything?
Link tried using his powers, but the Limo was too fast. He couldn't take the time and examine it. "It's going too fast." He explained.
"I could just jump down there and stop it myself." Athlete suggested.
Brainy shook her head. "That's too dangerous. The sudden stop of the car could result in damage to any people inside."
"Maybe Fool Could stretch herself out and make like a net to catch it?" Rocker suggested.
"No way it's going way too fast. It'd just take her with it." Even if his powers wouldn't work on the car, Link's mask could read how fast it was going.
"There has to be something we can do!" Freak cried.
Their ear communicators beeped before a voice came out of them. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Clyde?" Link asked recognizing his friend's voice. "What are you doing on our communication network?"
"I went to your desk and started up your gear. I thought I might be able to help out somehow."
"Not unless you can stop a speeding car." Athlete said.
"Wait! Maybe he can!" Brainy said.
They all stared at her confusedly.
"That Limousine is one of the newer models that has digital controls for it's speed and other features." Lisa explained. "If Clyde can use his abilities on it, then he can deactivate the acceleration and bring it to a sound stop."
"But how do I use my powers from so far away?" Clyde asked.
Lisa shot out some nanotech and shaped it into a camera with a long lens, aimed it towards the Limo, and connected it to her communicator with a length of nanotech wire.
"Do you have a visual on your screens?" Brainy asked.
"Yeah." Clyde responded.
"Good. Now try focusing your powers on the Limo."
"I-I don't know if I can." Clyde admitted.
"You have to Clyde. The people down there need you." Control freak said.
Over the comms, they heard Clyde suck in a breath and breathe heavily in and out a few times before saying. "O-okay Lori."
The team watched the Limo below for a few minutes until it slowly began to lose speed. It continued going slower and slower until it finally came to a sound halt.
They could hear Clyde shout. "I did it!"
"Nice work Clyde." Control Freak said.
"T-thanks L-L-L-Lor-." They heard the sound of a loud thump.
Control Freak sighed. "Of course."
Walt flew the rest of the team to the ground. Athlete went and ripped the door off the Limousine's side. Out came a white faced, shaking, disheveled looking woman with blonde hair.
Control Freak went up to her and asked. "Are you okay?" When she got no response, she repeated. "Are you okay? Ma'am?"
"Specter." The woman whispered hauntedly. She hugged herself and sank to the ground. "Specter."
The team returned to base to figure out their next move.
"Why would Specter attack some random lady?" Lori asked.
"Maybe she was someone who owed him money?" Luna suggested.
"Or maybe she was his girlfriend and the two of the broke up." Leni put forward.
"Well there is clearly some connection between the two." Lisa pointed out.
"I think I might have an idea."
The team looked at Clyde who had been standing off in the corner with two tissues up his nose.
"You know who she is?" Lori asked.
Clyde quivered when she said it, but he avoided looking at her and said. "No, but I think I might know how to find out."
He walked over to Lincoln's desk, the team following him.
Clyde asked Lisa. "Do you have a picture of her?"
Lisa pulled up an image of the woman they saved.
"Okay." Clyde took in a deep breath. He narrowed his eyes and splayed out his right hand at the computer screen. His headset starting glowing and on the screen a picture of the woman appeared. Text and images started flashing by until a page opened up with another image of the woman's face underneath purple text reading The Eileen Elbriggs Show.
The others were astonished.
"Wow." Leni said.
"Sweet!" Luna cheered.
"Nice work Clyde." Lincoln said, patting his friend on the back. Then he checked the words on the screen. "It says she was a big time journalist who recently got her own daytime talk show."
"My dads love those shows." Clyde interrupted.
"But what does she have to do with Specter?" Luan asked.
"Hold on." Clyde once again focused his powers and the information shifted again until a small news article appeared next to the other page.
"Brother of illustrious ghost hunter and member of revered ghost hunting group discovered to be fraud." Lori read. "This must be the article that exposed Specter."
"And look whose name is written on the byline." Lincoln said. Sure enough, the reporter who wrote the story was Eileen.
"So Specter wants revenge because this chick wrote the story that ruined him." Lynn realized
"It did more than that." Lucy said. "According to that website, running that article kicktarted her career. She got awards, accolades. I bet it probably even helped towards her show. Sigh, such a cycle. The life of her career came from the death of Specters."
"Now that we know why Specter tried to kill her maybe we can figure out where he might strike next." Lori said. "Clyde, I want you on it."
"Me?" Clyde asked. Blood began to pour from his nose and he swayed in place, but Lincoln grabbed him by his armpits before he collapsed.
After helping Clyde regain consciousness, Lincoln asked. "You really think Clyde can find Specter?"
"He's managed to do a pretty okay job so far." Lori admitted. She glanced in Clyde's direction and he wisely made sure to made sure to avoid looking at her. "I figure we can trust him with this. Who knows? If you manage to do good enough you might have a place on the team doing Lincoln's old job."
"Really?" Clyde squeaked, still not looking at her.
"Yeah." Lori said sincerely. Then she turned to the others. "Okay, in the meantime, lets get back to practicing our anti-specter moves. If Clyde can track him down we need to be ready."
The others followed her back to the training room, except for Lincoln who was still too overjoyed by what she'd just said.
Clyde might get to join the team!
...Doing his old job.
That thought managed to wipe the grin from his face. He turned to look at Clyde at his old desk and couldn't help but see himself back at that console, tediously typing away and staring longingly up at the corner with his sisters headlines pasted to it.
Most normal human beings who had nearly been crushed to death by a speeding limousine would take that as a sign to cancel the rest of their plans.
Eileen Elbriggs wasn't most human beings.
Okay, she had been badly spooked by seeing the man who's career she'd ruined returned as a spectral powered superhuman. Sure, the incident had freaked her out and left her shaking and crying in her dressing room for twenty minutes. And yes, she'd actually power walked to the studio because the idea of getting into another vehicle deeply terrified her.
But she'd worked long and hard to get her show. She prided herself on filming on time to show her dedication and she wasn't going to let some freak with ghost powers ruin her perfect record.
She straightened her hair, dusted off her pants suit, and threw open her dressing room door. As she got closer to the stage she could hear the voices in the crowd, melting away any anxiety she may have had before.
She burst out onto the stage, causing the entire audience to break out into a cheer. Her adrenaline pumping, she grabbed the microphone off her usual chair.
"How's everyone doing today?" She asked. The cheering soon rose to an uproar. She threw her head back and let out a confident laugh, wondering how she had even considered not coming in today.
"That's great to hear because we got a great show today! Our first guest-." But before she could continue, the lights above the stage began to mysteriously flicker on and off.
This distracted her for a moment before she let out a nervous chuckle and said. "Heh, don't worry it's just a little technical glitch." She turned her back to the audience and pressed her earpiece. "Someone get a stagehand up here to fix these lights!" She hissed. Then she turned back to the audience. "So, as I was saying-."
But then, a deep demonic cackle echoed throughout the studio. From the area in between the stage and the audience seats, a pitch black hand the size of a car emerged from the floor and grabbed hold of the stage. The hand pulled upward, bringing a humanoid body the same shade as the hand with tentacle like hair and burning bright red eyes out of the ground.
The people in the audience got out of their seats and tried to run towards the exits, but the creatures tentacles extended and blocked the doors.
Eileen was frozen in fear, gazing into the creatures glowing crimson orbs as it glared down at her with a mixture of amusement and malice.
"Hello Eileen. You and I have a lot to talk about."
Lincoln tried to working with the others but, even though he wasn't blinded by the view of his mask screen anymore, he still wasn't able to do much. The whole time, Lori's words to Clyde had echoed in his head.
You might have a place doing Lincoln's old job
Lincoln's old job.
Lincoln's old job.
Lincoln's old job.
The more he thought about it, the more he realized how what had sounded great might end up becoming a terrible mistake. Forcing Clyde to be the one stuck behind the desk while he and his sisters saved the day? Having Clyde look up information while he and his sisters were out being superheroes? Making Clyde feel the same way he had been feeling every time his sisters went into the field and he had to stay back and be their computer guy?
He couldn't let that happen to his best friend!
No, he had to do something to make sure this didn't happen.
Seeing that his sisters were all busy fighting training bots, Lincoln snuck out into the hall and headed back to the meeting room, where he found Clyde with his hand pressed against one of the computer screens, his headset glowing.
"Clyde?" His friend looked away from the screen and saw him.
"Hey Lincoln." Clyde waved to him before placing his hand back on the screen.
"So...still on the hunt for Specter?" Lincoln asked innocently.
"Yep! I'm checking news sites to see if anythings comes up on him."
"You're really set on finding him huh?" Lincoln continued.
"Of course! Not only will I be helping put a dangerous superhuman behind bars, but I'll have helped you guys do your superhero thing too! I might even get a spot on the team!"
"Yeah...but will you really?" Lincoln asked.
Clyde frowned and pulled away from the screens to look curiously at his friend. "What do you mean?"
Lincoln thought of how to put it. "It's just, being at the console and being part of the team are two different things Clyde. Take the office mission. I was part of the team, so I was helping fight Specter, but If I was at the console-."
"That's it!" Clyde interrupted. "The office building!" Clyde returned his hand to the screen and searched through information until he found what he was looking for. "Ah-ha!" He yelled triumphantly. Clyde pressed a button on the console that tied into the bases intercom system. "Everyone get up here! I found where Specters going to be." He then gratefully hugged his friend. "Thanks Lincoln. I couldn't have figured it out without you."
"Great." Lincoln said unenthusiastically.
The others soon arrived. "What did you find?" Lori asked.
Clyde avoided her gaze and directed them towards the console. "I looked through the digital records of the place that Specter robbed. What he took was the receit of a transaction for a limousine rental to pick up Mrs Elbriggs. That's how he knew where to find her."
"Okay, and where was the limousine headed?"
"To the studio where her show is set to record. In fact, it should be going on right about now." Clyde said proudly.
"Alright Clyde!" Lori patted him on the back, causing a shudder to run down his body. "Okay. We know where to find Specter and we're all locked and loaded. Let's finally catch this freak!"
The rest of the team yelled out affirmations.
"Clyde, you good staying here and feeding us intel?"
Clyde gave a nod.
"Then let's go!"
"Lori wait." Lincoln interrupted, causing everyone to look over and see him staring at the ground with a unyielding expression. "I don't think Clyde should be at the console for this mission."
The others all gasped.
"What?" Lola yelled.
"What are you talking about?!" Lynn said angrily.
Clyde stared his friend with complete disbelief.
"Lincoln, I don't understand. I-i managed to stop that limousine, I find out about Eileen, I figured out where Specter is going to be. I can do this!"
"No you can't." Lincoln replied, his voice completely devoid of emotion, still not looking at any of them. "You're not ready for this Clyde."
"Not ready?" Lori repeated angrily. "I seem to recall that on our first mission you stepped to the stupid console with nothing but your powers and whatever experience constantly laying around and playing video games gives you!"
"He's not ready!" Lincoln roared back, finally tearing his eyes from the ground. "Specter is a serious bad guy and if we go up against someone like that with someone inexperienced in our ear we're going to end up dead!"
Lori stared crossly at her brother before calmly replying. "Okay Lincoln. Fine. You do it."
"What?!"
"You heard me! If you really don't think Clyde's good enough then you're our only option. I mean it is for the good of the team right?" Lori asked, giving him a pointed look.
Lincoln clenched his fists. Lori knew he hated the idea of simply being put back behind the console, especially on such an important mission, but he also knew he couldn't let Clyde do this.
"Fine." He grumbled. He went over and moved Clyde out of the way before setting himself at the desk.
Seeing he had made up his mind, Lori simply said. "Come on."
The others all took worried glances back at Lincoln before following Lori, leaving Lincoln with his friend, now bearing a crushed expression directed at Lincoln's back.
Specter smugly grinned down at the audience. "How is everyone enjoying the show?"
The only response given were the muffled screams of the audience, streams of Specter's tentacles binding their arms and legs to their chairs and gagging their mouths. All they could do was watch in horror as Specter slowly approached Eileen, who was similarly entrapped to a seat on the stage.
"So, Eileen. You've had such incredible success in your life. Top-notch reporter, Politzer award winner, and now even a prime time talk show. But i'm sure we're all wondering one thing: Where did your success story begin?"
Eileen let out small terrified noises, tears and snot running down her face.
Specter mockingly scratched his umbral chin before saying."Oh, now I remember. For your first big expose´ you decided to investigate a well known ghost hunter." Specter began inching closer and closer to her, her gagged please growing louder and louder. "So you joined his crew, learned all his secrets, and RUINED! HIS! LIFE!" He roared into her face, drowning out the sound of her fearful sobs.
"What's the matter Eileen? Nothing to say for yourself?" He momentarily unwound his tentacle from around her mouth.
She immediately started letting out apologies. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Please don't kill-!" Specter wrapped his shadowy appendage back around her mouth.
"I'm afraid it's too late to apologize. You took everything from me! So now, i'll take everything from you!" Specter raised his hand and extended his claws until they were as long as daggers. He raised them over Eileen's head. She shut here eyes, expecting the end. Specter brought his claws down on her-!
But, an inch from her forehead, the hand was stopped by a colorful line of thread!
Specter looked and saw that while he was distracted, the L-force had come in through one of the now unblocked exits.
Specter screeched in anger. "No! Not you again!"
Before he could make a move, Princess blasted him with a full force energy burst, causing him to shriek in agony and his tentacles to peel off all of his victims, including Eileen. Immediately, they all started running towards the exits.
"NO!" Specter reached out to try and rebind them all but Tailor shot off several more lines of thread all wrapping around him until his entire body up to his head was bound in it. He struggled to get out of it, but couldn't manage to break the rope. He tried phasing through it but couldn't. He hopped angrily on the stage, continuing to unleash shouts of rage.
The team all moved up to the stage where Miss Elbriggs was still sitting in shock.
"Are you okay?" Control Freak asked. Eileen blinked for a second before engulfing her in a hug.
"Thank you...Thank you!" She cried heavily into Control Freaks shoulder. "You saved me again. He was going to-." She couldn't even finish the sentence and continued bawling.
Control Freak kindly patted her back. "It's okay. Everything's going to be alright." She gave a hateful glare at Specter. "He's not going to hurt anyone anymore."
Lincoln observed the situation on the screen. "Looks like they won't need me after all. Maybe we could bail and go finish our game of Muscle fish." When he got no response, he turned around to his friend. "Clyde?"
Clyde shot him a scorned glance. "Oh, i'm sorry. Am I suddenly good enough to talk to? I'd hate to drag the more experienced desk guy from his job. "
Lincoln winced, knowing how that must have sounded to his friend. "Clyde, I-."
"What did I do wrong Lincoln?" Clyde interrupted. "I practically handed Specter to you guys and yet you still don't think I'm good enough!"
"It's not that you're not good enough!" Lincoln replied.
"Then why would you not let me work with the team?" Clyde asked. "You know what? I think you're just jealous!"
"Jealous? Of what!"
"How about the fact that they asked me to join after only a day, while you've been stuck behind that desk and only really started a few months ago!"
"Oh don't act all impressive Clyde!" Lincoln yelled, forgetting himself in his anger. "You tracked down one super villain. It's not like you've been named the new leader."
"Well at least I respect the leader we do have!"
"Oh, like you would dare defy an order from your precious Lori!"
"Why you-!"
The two boys argued fervently, ignoring the scene playing out on the computer screen.
Specter struggled in vain to escape his crocheted prison. Most of the people in the room had evacuated leaving only the L-force who were leading Eileen to the exits.
"Don't worry." He heard Control Freak say. "We'll make sure he gets sent to the proper authorities and stays with them this time."
His rage boiled over. All he could think of was how, again, he had been denied revenge because of those no good heroes.
He could already imagine what would happen next. Eileen would be led to safety, he'd be in custody, this time actually able to be held without the need for drugs, and he'd NEVER get his revenge on those who had wronged him!
That one thought made his vision turn as red as his eyes.
Specter gave an unearthly ghostly wail and began thrashing violently against the stage, causing everyone to look back at him.
" NO!NO!NO!NONONONONONONONO!" He repeated dementedly. Before anyone could do anything a wave of bright red light erupted from Specter and washed over the entire room.
The L-force looked around but nothing seemed to have happened besides Specter continuing to moan and strain. Then, all the chairs in the audience area became covered in bright red light and began to levitate into the air.
"Uh, what's going on?" Athlete asked worriedly.
"It appears Specter has unlocked a latent telekinetic ability." Brainy said.
"Well he's not the only one with brain power!" Control Freak raised her hand and focused on the chairs, her own telekinetic aura overtaking Specters and pushing the chairs back down.
Specter screamed. "NO!" And the chairs were once again overtaken by the red aura lifted up again. Freak pushed her power over them again, causing them to begin to fall.
And thus the two engaged in a mental tug of war, theirs auras momentarily effecting the chairs before the other pushed it off. But Freak soon found herself struggling. Freaks powers were fueled by concentration and focus but Specters were fueled by raw emotion and he was strengthened by pure burning rage. He would not lose to the L-force again!
With one last surge of telekinetic energy Specter overpowered Freak allowing him to levitate the chairs and slam them into the L-force members pinning them to the wall and hurling one at Eileen causing her to crumple to the ground.
Seeing his hated enemies beaten, Specter smiled a fanged smile and focused his newfound powers onto a piece of metal from the stage setup and used it to slice through Tailors threads. He then turned his attention to the L-force and Eileen.
"Now where were we?"
Meanwhile, at L-force base the two boys were still arguing.
"Well at least I'm not hung up on a girl who is never going to date me!" Lincoln yelled.
"Well at least I have a girl to be hung up on. What girl have you ever talked to besides your sisters?" Clyde retorted.
"I have talked to plenty-!" They were interrupted by the sound of an alarm from Lincoln's console. He went over to check it out and his face paled upon seeing the image displayed on it's screen.
Seeing his friend's reaction, Clyde nervously walked over and asked. "What's wrong?" Lincoln didn't respond but instead moved to the side so he could see for himself.
At the Eileen show set, The host herself and the other L-force members were all lined up on stage and wrapped in ropes of super string from Tailors spools. Specter floated behind them, glancing down and no doubt contemplating the horrendous things he would do to them now that they were at his mercy.
Clyde stared in horror at the monitor. "We have to do something!"
Lincoln nodded. "I'm going to head to the set." He was about to race off but Clyde stopped him by grabbing his arm.
"Wait! Lincoln, you can't fight Specter alone! He's too powerful!"
"Oh, i'm sorry. Am I supposed to wait for the other superhero team to come help?"
"But Lincoln-!"
"Clyde there is no one else." Lincoln pulled his arm out of his friends grasp. "My sisters are in trouble and I have to save them. Even if I have to do it on my own." He ran down towards the exit.
Clyde glared at the space his friend once occupied before looking back at the console. "You're not on your own."
Link vaulted as quickly as he could to the studio. Worried that Specter may be watching the main entrance, he snuck in through the back door and came in from behind the stage. He peeked out and saw Specter still looking at his siblings, seemingly contemplating his next move.
"Hmmmm, what should I do with you? I could rend you all to bits with my claws, but that could get messy. I could try to crush you with my mind powers, but that would be so dull. One quick "CRACK" and it's over. Oooh, maybe I could move your bodies and make you destroy yourselves! Now that would make excellent telivision!"
Eileen was now conscious but softly crying as she stood helplessly. Lincoln's sisters however, were struggling against their bonds trying to escape, but to no avail even with their powers. Luna and Lori in particular were also distressed as they had ropes of thread around their mouth and eyes respectively preventing them from using her their. Link wasn't surprised that they couldn't escape. Leni's thread was extremely strong, heatproof, and, since being treated by Lisa's meteorite solution, nearly indestructible.
Just as he was thinking of how to get them out, Link was distracted by a burst of static from his comm.
"Lincoln? What's going on?"
Link groaned. "Clyde now isn't the time. I'm trying to figure out how to help my sisters."
"Well is there anything I can do from here?"
Link scoffed. "I don't think you hacking Specter's E-mail is going to do much."
He heard Clyde groan over the connection. "I don't get it. Why are you so upset? I thought you would be happy. Me doing this could mean that I could actually join the team. That I could work alongside you!"
"No it wouldn't!" Link snapped. He sighed and said. "Clyde I know you think it would be great getting to be the desk guy, but it wouldn't."
"But you did it-"
"And I hated it." Lincoln pointed out. "Yeah, at first it seems cool, it feels like your helping the team in your own special way but after a while...I started hating being stuck in that chair. And worse, I started hating that my sisters got to be real superheroes while I had to sit on the sidelines. I just worried that if you took the job you'd eventually feel the same way."
There was complete silence on the other end until Clyde said. "Well, How do you think I feel already?"
"Huh?"
"Lincoln, you always talk about all these amazing missions you and your sisters go on together. Sure, you might not be in the middle of the action but at least you get to do something. All I can do is listen to you telling me about everything after it all went down. It might hurt to feel like a sidekick but it hurts just as much to just be "the superheroes powerless friend.".
Link was shocked. He had no idea his friend had been feeling like this for so long. "Clyde i-i'm so sorry."
He heard Clyde sigh. "Look Lincoln, maybe your right and I will start to feel bummed out about not doing that much, but I want to do everything I can to try and help you and your sisters. And with the powers that I have this is the best way for me to do it."
"You're right. I'm sorry Clyde. I should've had more faith in you."
"It's okay. You were just looking out for me."
"Awww, how touching."
Link's eyes bugged. He slowly craned his neck upward and saw Specter grinning down at him.
"So, once again you show up just as your sisters are about to be destroyed. I'm starting to see a bit of a pattern here."
Link steeled his resolve. He may not have had that much experience but he definitely wasn't the rookie he was when he first fought Specter.
"Well then maybe you'll remember this!" He withdrew a flash grenade from his utility belt and flung it to the ground. It released a blast of light that burned Specter, forcing him to phase into the floor.
Knowing he wouldn't have much time, Link quickly ran towards his sisters and started tugging on their binds, but it was no use. The super string was too strong.
"Link, you got to get out of here!" Athlete said.
Rocker gave a muffled agreement while nodding.
"No way, I'm not leaving you guys!" Link continued to try and tear off the ropes to no avail
Specter flew upward through the floor wailing like a banshee but Link took out another flash grenade and activated it, forcing him to begrudgingly retreat again.
Link knew he had to think of something fast. He only had a few flash grenades left and he couldn't keep up repelling Specter with them forever. He needed to find something else.
He looked around, trying to see if his powers might show him anything of use. Meanwhile, Specter returned from beneath the ground and Link offhandedly tossed down another flash grenade, causing him to flee once more.
Then, Link's eyes locked onto an area above the stage where 4 powerful high wattage lights were set up. With his abilities he calculate where exactly the light would hit on the ground and immediately knew how to beat Specter. The only problem was he would need to lure him into the right spot.
But how would he get the lights...
"Lincoln, what's going on?!" He heard Clyde shout.
That was it.
"Clyde, I have a plan. I need you to use your powers to turn on the lights exactly when I say so."
"But I can't see the lights!"
Lincoln looked up at the lights and pressed the side of his mask. "Can you see the picture from my mask?"
"Y-yeah." Clyde said.
"Good. Then all you need to do is use your powers when I say to."
"You won't get that chance!"
Unbeknownst to Link, he had been so focused on talking to Clyde and looking at the light he'd failed to see Specter reemerge from the floor and ended up getting smacked into the wall behind the stage.
Link groaned for a few minutes, trying to stop his dizzyness before focusing on Specter and realizing he was exactly where he needed him.
He looked up at the lights, praying his mask hadn't once again been damaged. "Clyde do it!" He yelled.
The lights remained inactive.
Panicked, Link dug into his utility belt and blanched upon realizing he was out of flash grenades.
Specter chuckled. "Looks like your out of tricks. But I'm not." He pointed his hand behind himself and levitated all the chairs left in the studio.
Link stared at the lights as hard as he could. "Clyde! Hurry!"
Specter threw his hand forward causing the chairs to hurtle forward. Link braced himself for the impact-!
But then the lights turned on illuminating Specter with light!
Specter screeched in agony as the light burned his ghostly form, causing steam to peel off his body. The chairs he had been trying to throw at Link fell harmlessly to the floor, inches from the young superheroes face.
Specter continued to writhe in pain, the intense light burning so badly he couldn't even focus enough to phase, until finally collapsing to the ground, his body shrinking to human form.
Link let out a relieved laugh. "You did it Clyde!"
"We did it, Lincoln."
The day after the battle, the team was grouped together in the main room. Clyde was standing anxiously in front of the console. Lori stepped forward.
"Clyde, you showed real skill out there yesterday. Because of how well you handled yourself at the desk and the way you assisted in stopping Specter, I want to offer you a full spot on the team. What do you say?" She noticed his eyes were completely glazed over. She rolled hers and shook him by the shoulders.
"Augh! What? Oh, yeah. Y-yes ma'm. I won't let you down." Clyde stammered.
"I'll hold you to that." The rest of the team came forward to offer their congratulations.
"Nice job Clyde!"
"Welcome to the gang bro."
"Don't get in my way and we should be good."
While receiving the praise, Clyde noticed Lincoln and Lisa standing slightly away from the others. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to his friend and asked. "Are you okay with this?"
"Well, when Lori told me she was going to offer it to you whether I said yes or no I didn't think it would matter." Lincoln admitted.
Clyde winced.
"So, I thought this might help answer things." Once he said "this" Lisa revealed a black case from behind her back and Lincoln opened it and withdrew what was inside.
It was a a supersuit. It was bluish-white with green electronic lines all throughout it. On the chest part was the power symbol found on computers, and the same symbol acting as the belt buckle for the green belt. In Lincoln's hand was a green vizer that was slightly lighter green than Lisa's. On the wrist was a high tech gauntlet like device.
Clyde gazed at the suit in complete awe. "This is amazing!"
"I figured that if you were going to be a part of the team, you'd need a suit." Lincoln said proudly.
"And I hoped that this might be a way of apologizing for using you as a guinea pig for my experiment." Lisa admitted.
Clyde took the suit with glee, holding it up against his body to see how it looked. "No problem, it all ended up working out. Now all I need is a cool superhero name."
Lincoln thought it over before looking at Lisa and asking. "Didn't you say Clyde got his powers because of some kind of glitch in your machine?"
"Indeed. Why?"
"Well, how about Glitch?" Lincoln suggested.
"Glitch." Clyde listened to how it sounded and smiled. "I like it."
"Then Glitch it is." Lincoln took a step towards his friend and gave him a congratulatory smile. "Welcome to the team pal."
Clyde beamed back at him. "Thanks Lincoln."
Lori stretched and yawned. "Well, I don't know about you guys but I think I'm going to head back to the house for some R&R. Who's else is in?"
The others all agreed. They all started to head for the exit but Clyde grabbed Lincoln's arm before he could go.
"I think I want to ask Lincoln some superhero questions." Clyde explained. The others shrugged and left them alone.
Lincoln looked at him. "What do you need to know?"
Clyde grinned and beckoned his friend to the desk. He focused on the console until a familiar image appeared on it.
"Muscle fish?" Lincoln gasped. Clyde dug around and withdrew two video game controllers.
"I figure with these powers we can finally have a fair game again." Clyde said.
"Hah!" Lincoln said. "You're on."
And the two boys eagerly started playing their game.
"This superhero stuff doesn't get any easier. And the more you do it, the more you need good people to help you get through it all. But as long as I've got Clyde and my sisters by my side, I know there's nothing the world can throw at us that we can't handle."
Specter clenched his fists as he sat in his tiny cell. Not only did his phasing powers not work because of whatever they put on the walls and floor but since there was no furniture or objects he couldn't even use his new telekinesis.
His thoughts turned once again to his latest defeat. Once again he had been defeated by those...children! And by the weakest one at that! They kept him from his revenge!
But the worst part was that now he had no way out. With the phase proof walls he couldn't escape and he had no doubt the walls of the transfer van and his prison cell would be the same. He figured he'd never escape and most likely never see the outside of a prison again.
So he was quite surprised when the guard opened his cell and declared him free to go.
"What's going on?" Specter asked suspiciously.
"Someone came in and payed your bale in full." The guard shrugged. "Guess you got someone looking out for you."
Before, he would have simply phased through the ceiling outside and be on his way. But now he was curious. Who would pay his bale? Surely not his self righteous brother.
When he came outside he saw a massive black limo with an attendant holding a sign reading Specter.
Still slightly apprehensive, Specter walked to the attendant who nodded his head and opened the door of the limo for him.
Specter stepped in and for a few seconds nothing happened until a monitor with two speakers on each side descended from the ceiling.
"Hello Mr Specter. I'm quite happy to be able to meet with you.
The voice pouring from the speakers was deep and clearly distorted.
"Who are you?" Specter asked.
"Someone who has been keeping a close eye on your actions. Someone who is keen on keeping you a free man, and someone who is in need of someone with your...unique abilities."
The monitor screen began playing video footage of him fighting the L-force at the Eileen show.
I'd like to hire you to perform a few services for me. Small things that require your skill set."
Still not convinced, Specter asked the obvious question. "What's in it for me?"
"I can offer you what I know you want most. Fame, fortune, and most importantly, revenge on the L-force."
A dangerous smile slowly began to stretch across Specter face. His pupils turned burning red.
"So, what do you say?"
Dun, Dun, Duh!
I'm back with a new chapter! Sorry for the wait but I kept dropping off and then working back on this story. I will say I think this chapter turned out pretty well. At the very least I hope it makes up for the long wait. Now for the notes.
Clyde's Powers- I notice in a lot of Loud superhero stories most people don't give Clyde any powers and I wanted to change that. I got the idea for his powers from the robot noises he makes whenever around Lori. The origin of them came from that scene in the sleepover episode where Lisa placed that device over his head.
Clyde's role on the team-I admit, Clyde being the teams chair guy isn't that original an idea but I still like it. He personally strikes me as someone who wouldn't want to be as out in the action as Lincoln. As for why he neded to get powers to do it, that's actually pretty simple. Being the Chair guy means adding something to the teams tactics. There's a reason it's felicity smoak and Cisco Ramone behind the chairs: They're geniuses and can add something like tech expertise. The chair thing was Lincoln's job in the first place because he functioned as the teams tactition, so if Clyde was going to do it, he would need to bring something else to the table besides enthusiasm.
Specter's new power-This might seem to come out of nowhere but I like it. Besides, Danny Phantom always gets random new ghost powers so why shouldn't he?
Please let me know what you think. What are your thoughts on Clyde's powers and him joing the team? Let me know.
Next issue: Princess stays in the picture.