Hello once again everyone. Welcome to the second part of The Cassagrande hero episode/arc. But before we begin, I would like to respond to some of the reviews...
Mr. Grey: I understand. Things happen.
JL2: Oh don't worry. Carlitos' fate is not important at the moment. CJ on the other hand... Not every hero needs powers to be super *wink*.
LightSpecter141: Ronnie Anne and Carlota's powers will be revealed here. But as for Carl and shipping him with one of the twins... That ain't happening anytime soon. I don't see Lana finding Carl as someone she would find romantically interesting, and I feel Lola and Carl don't actually like each other (remember the thanksgiving special. Carl and Lola were among the first to get into a physical fight with each other.)
Phew, with that out of the way, let us begin part 2!
Duck and dodge and push and shove
That's the way they show their love
Raining justice from above
Heroes of the Loud House
Sound Barrier!
Rising up against evil, taking villains on
Lori, Leni Luna, Luan, Lynn and Lincoln
Lucy, Lana and Lola, Lisa and Lily
With each other they discover their destiny
And rise!
SOUND IT OFF!
Duck and dodge and push and shove
That's the way they show their love
Raining justice from above
Heroes of the Loud House
Sound Barrier!
Growing up in Royal Woods, Michigan, a quiet town
They uncover all the power that's been hiding all around
The city needs heroes when there's trouble on the prowl
One brother and ten sisters rise to take the villains out!
Duck and dodge and push and shove
That's the way they show their love
Raining justice from above
Heroes of the Loud House
Sound Barrier!
With Mom and Dad to guide them, together they find their fate
With each adventure, yeah, they've gone from green to great
No matter what the problem, their choice will be the same
They'll stay a family and put the bad guys to shame
Royal Woods' Loud kids throwing down!
Duck and dodge and push and shove
That's the way they show their love
Raining justice from above
Heroes of the Loud House
Sound Barrier!
Episode 6 pt 2: A call for help.
"Mom, will you please let go of me?" Carl asked in an annoyed tone as Frida wrapped him in a tight hug.
"Never. I don't know what is happening to you and your cousin. But we… We will get through this!" She declared while breaking out into a gigantic sob and a torrent of tears. Carl growled in frustration, which caused his body to rise in temperature, repelling his mother with a sudden yelp in pain. Meanwhile, Rosa was throwing salt all over the floor. Bobby raised an eyebrow at the display in confusion.
"Grandma, what are you doing?"
"I'm cleansing the apartment of demons obviously." She answered confidently. "Speaking of which, they might be inside of you because of that strange display." Rosa reached into her pocket and pulled out a small glass bottle of clear liquid. "Here, drink some of this Holy Water." She instructed in a slight panic. Carlota pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.
"Grandma, I doubt this has anything to do with demons." She reassured. However, Rosa did not listen.
"Nonsense. Your brother burst into flames and your cousin shot out snow. It would be wise for you to wear a warding charm. They might try and possess you too." Rosa insisted as she handed her granddaughter a necklace with a silver coin inscribed with various runes tied to it. Carlota gently pushed the trinket away.
"Sorry, but there is nothing that will make me want to wear something like that." She asserted. As if on cue, a power surge occurred and the lights went out. Leaving the apartment in total darkness, save for Carlota, who was emanating a mysterious glow from her body. Everyone except for Carlota gasped in amazement.
"BWARK! Pretty."
"Shut it, Sergio!" Carlota scolded the parrot. "Grandma, I'll take that charm now." She pleaded as she took the necklace and hastily put it around her neck. After a few seconds, the lights came back on, yet Carlota was still trembling. She stared at the open palms of her hands and noticed a small amount of light coming from them. "What is happening to me?" She asked. Maria felt a sense of unease seeing the children receive these bizarre changes. Her anxiety only shot up higher when she noticed something different about the room.
"Where is Ronnie Anne?" She asked. Everyone looked around and saw and noticed that she had mysteriously vanished. Hector looked around and scratched his head, with Carlitos innocently copying him.
"She was just here a second ago." He stated a little confused. Suddenly, Ronnie Anne mysteriously reappeared out of thin air from a white silhouette of her body with a shocked look on her face. "What the heck? Ronnie Anne what happened?" The grandfather asked surprised.
"I was just in my room." She stated meekly. "Except I didn't walk in there. I… I…"
"Teleported?" CJ finished the sentence.
"Yeah. Exactly." Ronnie Anne admitted.
"Wow…" CJ said in astonishment. "I'm so jealous that you guys have super powers! I wonder if I'll get any…" He said optimistically. Only to be greeted by his father's hand touching his shoulder.
"I should hope not, sport. This isn't like any cartoons you watch."
"But there already are super heroes in real life. Like The Sound Barrier." CJ countered, sparking a bit of a discussion among the family.
"I don't want my niece and nephew, let alone my own babies, out in a warzone where they could get killed!"
"Same here, but we can't just let them live in fear of the world ridiculing them."
"Well it isn't like there is someone we can talk to like a therapist." In a mere instant, a thought popped into Bobby's head. He cleared his throat and started to speak up.
"Uh, actually there might be someone we can talk to." He confessed. Ronnie Anne looked at her older brother skeptically.
"Bobby, what are you…?" Ronnie Anne was cut short when Bobby leaned close to her ear and whispered something that made her gasp. "Are you sure about that?" She asked a little alarmed. Maria caught on to her daughter's fear and started to get a little concerned.
"Is there something wrong? Other than these weird powers you all got." She asked. Ronnie Anne waved her hands defensively.
"No. It's just Bobby and I know someone we can ask for advice. Someone we can trust." She reassured. No one seemed comfortable idea and exchanged skeptical glances. "Just trust us, okay?" She begged. Everyone in the room hesitated before giving off a collective sigh.
"Alright, we'll trust you dear." Rosa reluctantly agreed. Ronnie Anne and Bobby nodded to each other and Bobby left the room, pulling out his cell phone. He scrolled through his contacts list until he spotted Lori's name. Taking a deep breath, he tapped the screen and the phone quickly dialed her number. In a matter of seconds, Bobby heard his girlfriend's voice chirp through the other end.
"Hi, Booboo Bear!" She greeted happily. Bobby sighed and stumbled for words.
"Hey, babe. I need to talk to you about something important."
"Okay, what is it?"
"I… I can't talk about it over the phone. You wouldn't believe me unless you see it for yourself."
"Okay, I'll be there in about an hour."
"And bring your family. Your whole family." Bobby pleaded, taking Lori by surprise.
"All of them? Bobby what is this about?"
"I promise that there is a good reason. Just come over, and hurry!"
"Alright… I love you."
"I love you too, babe." Said Bobby as he hung up and slouched against the wall with a groan. "If this blows up in my face, Lori will never let me hear the end of it." He moaned in despair, unintentionally causing the floor around him to freeze.
…
An hour passed since Bobby made the call to Lori. The family was still on edge as they still seemed to have trouble coming to grips with their situation. Especially Frida, who was hugging her children very tightly without showing any signs of letting them go. Maria looked at Ronnie Anne, a forlorn expression on both of their faces. "Ronnie Anne…" Maria started to speak, getting her daughter's attention. "I just want you to know that these… changes don't affect my perception of you. You are still my strong and kind little girl." She reassured. Ronnie Anne gave a small grin in response. "Heh, thanks Mom." The grin quickly vanished as she remembered a key detail that was beyond everyone except for her and her brother. "But that's not really my biggest concern right now." She confessed. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and Bobby ran over, looking through the peep hole. He smiled as he saw Lori on the other side with a kind smile.
"Perfect. Lori is here."
"LORI!? You're girlfriend?" Hector cried out in disbelief. Before anyone else could object, Carl licked the palm of his hand and greased his hair back. Running over to the door and pushing Bobby aside, he gripped the door knob and turned it.
"I see no complaints with her coming over." He remarked as he flung the door open. "Welcome, my lovely gazelle!" He greeted, but stopped himself short when he noticed the rest of The Loud family behind her. They all seemed to be covered in cuts and their clothing tattered. "OH, uh… Wasn't expecting you to bring so much company…"
"Can we come in already?" Lynn asked rather rudely.
"Lynn Jr.!"
"Oh come on, Dad. Admit it, you want to get to get away from those psycho alley cats more than any of us!" Lynn retorted to her father's scolding, causing him to shudder in fear.
"I swear, they went straight for my face." He whimpered. Lori walked over to her boyfriend and immediately gave him a hug. Yet Bobby didn't return it, instead opting to keep his hands in his pockets.
"Oh, Bobbeeeee!" Lori shrieked in alarm and reeled back upon feeling Bobby's body temperature. "Boo Boo Bear, you're freezing!" She cried. Bobby sighed at the sight of Lori's reaction.
"Sorry babe, but I'm glad you all came here. There is something I want everyone to know." He started to explain, sending tension across both families. Lori felt her stomach twist into knots as she was unsure of her lover's intentions.
"Bobby?" She asked cautiously. Bobby said nothing as he walked over into the kitchen and grabbed an elegant, crystal clear wine glass. "What are you doing with that?" Lori questioned skeptically. Lola and Lana glanced at each other and began to exchange thoughts.
'Lana, do you think Bobby is planning on blowing our secret?'
'No way… He'd never stab anyone in the back like that. Let alone Lori.'
'Well, just in case…' Lola clenched her fist behind her back and started to form an electrical spark, preparing to throw it in case the worst occurred. Bobby took a deep breath and raised the glass in front of his face.
"Everyone, watch this." Bobby griped the glass tighter and, within seconds the whole thing started to get covered in a white frost. The Louds didn't say anything as the icy aura from Bobby's hands gave off a white mist that gently descended to the ground. Lola quickly realized her error and made her electricity fade without anyone noticing. Bobby's family, save for Ronnie Anne, was completely shocked by Bobby's blunt display of his power.
"Roberto! Are you insane!?" His grandfather exclaimed. Rosa nodded rapidly in agreement.
"Agreed! It's one thing if you just showed Lori, but her whole family all at once!?" She scolded in a panic before facing the Loud family with her hands clasped together in a state of begging. "Please don't freak out and tell everyone about this!" She pleaded. There was a large silence before anyone said anything else. The Loud family all exchanged glances with each other in silence. Eventually, Lori cleared her throat and spoke up.
"Should we tell them?" She asked her family. Rita bit her lip and hesitated for a moment.
"If you want to. Besides I doubt they'd tell anyone since we're in the same boat." She reasoned. CJ blinked in confusion over her response.
"What does Mrs. Loud mean by 'same boat'?" In response to the boy's question. Lincoln sighed and started to lift up off the ground. The Cassagrandes gasped in shock as The Loud Siblings activated their watches and briefly revealed their heroic forms. After a couple seconds, they decided that they had enough time for the reveal to sink in and changed back to normal. Immediatley after they changed back to their ordinary outfits, CJ and Carl took the words out of everyone's mouths.
"YOU'RE THE SOUND BARRIER!" CJ hastily dug into his pocket and pulled out photos of Protona, Silver Wind, and Empathy. "Can I have your autographs?" he asked happily. Lincoln chuckled nervously, unsure of how to respond. Lola on the other hand grinned proudly and took out a pen.
"Strive to make sparks fly. Signed, Protona." She dictated as she signed the picture with fancy cursive penmanship. Carl walted over to Lori and laughed.
"Ah, you truly are a sight to behold. Beautiful and strong all at once. A delicate rose with fierce thorns." He stated poetically. Lori simply gave a nervous laugh before glancing at Bobby once again.
"So… Are you the only one with powers?" She asked. Bobby shook his head in response.
"Ronnie Anne and two of my cousins got powers too." He explained. Carl laughed upon hearing his cousin's confession.
"That's right. And yours truly is one of them!" He bragged as he snapped his fingers, causing some embers to shoot out and hit Lori in the face. She was unharmed, but annoyed by the soot that was left behind on her face. "Oh, sorry about that." Carl apologized as Lori pulled out a small cloth from her pocket and wiped it off. Maria eventually found the will to talk again, yet still fumbled for words.
"How… How long…? When did…? I don't even know where to start." She stammered. Leni took a step forward and started to explain.
"Well, Mrs. Sandiego…"
"Santiago." Lori corrected.
"Santiago, remember when Bobby said we all got put in comas?" Leni began. "Well it gave us super powers. After a while be chose to be super heroes." She explained. Maria looked at Bobby and she took the words out his mouth.
"You called them because they went through the same crisis."
"Exactly." He replied. Carlota cleared her throat and looked at the Louds skeptically.
"Is this the part where you tell us that we were given a gift and we should use it to protect people? Because I'm not really sure I want to go down that route." She stated.
"Well, I won't deny being a hero is empowering." Luan joked with a laugh, earning a disapproving groan and some upset glances. "It's not something you have to do against your will." She stated. Lucy nodded as she outstretched her arm and created a ball of shadowy energy.
"However you choose to see these powers, they are a part of you, possibly for as long as you live." Lucy began to give a speech as the orb in her hand grew and started to fidget and squirm. "You can't run from it, and suppression will only make it more likely to cause unwanted destruction should you slip up." A chill went down everyone's spines as she said that. Then, a small grin crept onto the young girl's face as the orb started to shrink. "But if you make peace with them, accepting it fully, you won't have anything to fear." Lucy reassured as the ball shrank to the size of a marble and she balanced it on her finger. A sense of weak reassurance spread across the Santiago-Casagrande family.
"That being said…" Everyone turned to face Lisa, who readjusted her glasses. "I myself am curious as to exactly how you acquired your meta human physiology." Everyone simply stared at her as the phrasing went completely over their heads. "How did you get your powers? Was it something bizarre that occurred to alter your DNA?" She asked. Carl widened his eyes in realization as he tried to back out of the room undetected. Only for Ronnie Anne to grab him by the collar of his shirt with a dead pan expression on her face. The adults sensed the implication and glared disapprovingly at the child.
"Hey, why is everyone looking at me like that?"
"You know exactly why. Now tell everyone what happened last night, or I will!" Ronnie Anne demanded. With a heavy sigh, Carl accepted defeat and nodded. His cousin let go and Carl rubbed his shoulder as he explained.
"I was tired of being treated like a baby, so I snuck out last night to check out rumors of what was causing blackouts in the city. The others followed me and tried to bring me back, but I didn't listen and snuck inside the place. One tussle later and we got hit with a weird light, woke up someone inside, and we ran off." Carl summarized in one large rant. The Cassagrande-Santiago adults gasped in shock.
"Carl, I can't believe you would do something this reckless!" Carlos scolded as Frida rushed over and wrapped the child in a hug.
"My little baby has become a thug!" The woman cried as she squeezed Carl, causing the child to growl and give off heat and smoke.
"See? This is what I'm talking about!"
"That's no excuse, young man." Hector scolded. Luna couldn't help but shake an uncomfortable feeling about Carl's story.
"Wait, you said you got your powers from some mystery lab downtown?" She asked for clarification. Ronnie Anne nodded in response. Luna broke into a cold sweat as realization hit her like a brick. "Dudes, I think we have a bigger problem on our hands." She reasoned as everyone turned their attention towards the rocker. "If they got into a building with gadgets that make meta humans, and someone is pulling puppet strings, then what if someone or something worse gets transformed?" She asked worriedly. Lincoln snapped his fingers as he got the picture.
"Good point. We better go check it out." He suggested. "Carl, you wouldn't happen to know the address of this place, would you?" Carl nodded and pulled out his phone, showing Lincoln the pictures he took, including the street sign. Lincoln and his siblings all nodded to each other in confirmation as they started to head out. Lisa however, didn't move.
"If you would be understanding, I would like to stay here with our parentals and youngest sibling. It would probably be wise to perform a medical examination in addition to counseling with their new abilities." She explained. Lynn shrugged in response.
"Works for me. Everyone else, let's do this!" She rallied as the rest of the kids ran out the door. Lisa proceeded to turn to the Cassagrandes and pulled out a cotton swap from her pocket.
"Let's start with something simple. DNA analysis." She glanced up at Maria with a calm expression on her face. "Mrs. Santiago, may I have some assistance?" Maria blinked before letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Ay ay ay. This day can't get anymore stressful…"
…
After adventuring out into the streets, The Sound Barrier found the building Carl had told them about. Silver Wind groaned as he examined the area from above. "Sketchy neighborhood, reports of mutation, building guarded by barbed wire fence. Yeah, this place has evil lair written all over it." He reasoned.
"Well, let's get down to the wire." Doppelganger joked with a laugh. After everyone groaned at her pun, the team closed in on the building. Dark Duchess and Rock N' Roll nodded to each other and proceeded to use their powers to lift up the bottom of the fence for most of their siblings. With the exception of Silver Wind, who just floated over it. As they neared the warehouse's door, Trackstar gripped the handle and jiggled it frantically. Unfortunately, it was revealed to be locked.
"Hey Empathy, got a hairpin?" She asked. Empathy smiled and pulled one out of her hair. She stuck it into the key hole and fiddled with the lock for a few seconds until an audible click was heard and the door opened. The family of heroes wasted no time in entering the lair and exploring. As they looked around, the noticed the various cages of animals and mysterious technology. Elexa shuddered in disgust.
"Are these little guys being used for what I think they are?" She asked despite knowing the answer. Titanium growled in anger at the reveal.
"Whoever is responsible here better have a really good explanation." She vowed as she punched into her other hand. Suddenly, a loud sound echoed through the building and walls of pink light surrounded all of them. In a mere instant, they were all sealed inside a sort of laser cage. Trackstar growled and tried to ram into the wall and escape. Only to bounce off and fall to the floor. "Protona! Elexa!" Titanium shouted. In response the twins powered up and shot out beams of electricity at the walls in hopes of breaking free. But the lighting was ineffective and the pair eventually fell to the ground to catch their breath.
"Bogus, we got caught in a trap!" Rock N' Roll exclaimed. Before anyone else could complain, they heard a series of footsteps was heard from down the hall. The group turned around and saw a shadow emerging from another room.
"I knew that you intruders would return. So I decided to take some precautions." It proclaimed in a sophisticated tone. The Sound Barrier tensed up and got into fighting stances despite being held captive. The silhouette stepped out of the hall light to reveal themselves as a man with thick square glasses, neatly combed black hair, and a pure white lab coat. He took a good look at the heroes and seemed surprised before his face shifted into an uncharacteristically joyful smile. "Oh, it's you! If I had known you were the ones that came around last night, I would have been more hospitable." He celebrated. Silver Wind shook his head side to side.
"That wasn't… I mean…" He groaned as he stumbled for words. Eventually, he settled on a single question. "Who are you?" The man laughed in response to the boy's question and he took a humble bow.
"Where are my manners? You may refer to me as Epimetheus." He introduced as he lifted his head back up. "And you are The Sound Barrier. Or as I would prefer to call you…" Epimetheus paused as he gave the heroes an unsettling smile.
"My inspiration!"
Yup, this ain't a simple 2 parter like the others... This is a BIG one. Now... I want to give a special thanks to a writer by the name of Imagaco for the villain known as Epimethus. If you are reading this, I hope this serves as a good intro to him.
...
Huh, I was expecting someone to sneak into my pocket dimension by now... It's actually lonely here by myself. I'll see you all next time... I need to look through my contacts and find a guest for next time...