"Hey Lame-o."

Lincoln broke out into a grin. "Hey!"

Bobby and Ronnie Anne walked into the room. Lori stepped up, hugging Bobby as tightly as she could, and Ronnie Anne went right up to the bed.

"Thought you died, tough guy," she grabbed the boy's hand.

"I did," Lincoln told her, "I got better."

Leni watched all this with a smile on her face. Things were starting to look up, now. Ronnie was putting up such a brave face, and Bobby stood behind her.

"How're you doing, little buddy?"

"Better," Lincoln answered the college freshman. "Little by little."

"Sid says Hi," Ronnie added. "And where the heck Clyde?"

"Still at his Grandma's," Lincoln sighed. "Coming back to the city is still... 'Not optional' right now. I mean, I can't blame his parents, but..."

"That sucks," Ronnie commented. "He owes you a burger. Although, sense you're stuck here..."

Leni got up while Ronnie pulled some comic books out of her bag. The two kids caught up on recent events while Leni went over to Bobby.

"How've you been, Leni?" Bobby greeted the girl.

"Oh, good, good..." Leni smiled back. Some part of her brain remembered that they're not in the loop. "This is all just, like... so crazy."

"I believe you," he nodded. He looked over her shoulder to Lori, and their parents. "Mom wanted to offer... If things get too bad, we have some extra rooms in the building. They'd be cramped- like, seriously cramped- but its away from here and... all this."

"That's so kind of you, Bobby," Rita smiled.

"We'll consider it," Lynn Sr. added. "But things haven't gotten that bad yet."

"Hey," Ronnie Anne uttered. "What's that on the…"

The room turned their eyes to the television. A news report captured the chaos on screen, and the blond girl's eyes went wide with horror.

A monster had lifted a car over his head, slamming it into the road, nose first. It turned and roared at the cameraman. The camera scrambled away in its panic, but the details were captured anyway. Clear as day, the man must have been ten feet tall. He was bulging with muscles, wearing a tank top and pants that looked close to ripping at any minute. He looked like an animal, with claws, and golden fur. A mane of hair wrapped around his head and face; a maw full of bared fangs snarled at everything. Yellow eyes that gave an evil golden glow to everything under its gaze.

A horrific beast.

"Leni."

The older girl had grabbed her roommate's arm.

"Go."

Leni's hand went to her chest.

"The costume-" she caught herself, and glanced at their visitors. "It's torn to shreds."

"I fixed it," Lori promised. She turned and pulled up a small bag she had brought in. It never occurred to Leni what it was when she saw it.

"I'm nowhere near as good as you are, but I can do a little stitching."

Leni took the bag, but hesitated. She looked at everyone in the room. Her little sisters. Her little brother. Lori. Her parents. They all gave a smile, and an approving nod.

"Spoilin' for a Fight," Luna patted her back. She kept her volume low. "Go give it to him."

"Right," Leni agreed.

She went over and planted a kiss on her brother's cheek.

"Be right back," she promised. She made her way out the door.

"What is happening right now?" Ronnie Anne blurted out.

Leni didn't hear what the answer was. She dashed down to ground level, stopping in the restroom along the way to change, and was out the door and down the street before anyone could perceive what she was.

But she knew.

She appeared in the middle of the street, standing across from the monster. He stood on top of a pile of destroyed cars like it was a throne.

"Finally," the lion man complained. "I was wondering what it'd take to get your attention."

He hopped down from the pile and sauntered towards her for a couple of steps.

"What is it you're called, again?" his voice sounded like he was snarling with every sentence.

Leni shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"I think it does," the monster answered. "Names serve a purpose, after all. For example: My name is King! Stronger than any man, more ferocious than any lion! I am King. Period. And this entire city will be my castle."

Leni shook her head.

"I, like, have a feeling I already know the answer," she drifted towards him slowly. People were still crawling out of hiding places and running away. She had to buy them time. "But you need to surrender. If you do, I'll make sure no harm comes to you. And that you're treated fairly."

At this, King grinned widely, showing the massive fangs in his mouth.

"A King," he answered, "Never surrenders."

Leni sighed.

What happened next happened too fast for Leni to even process. She lunged forward, closing the distance between them in an instant. She slugged his jaw with all the strength she could muster. He barely even flinched, slashing his claws down on top of her to try and cut her to ribbons. She dashed to the side, her arm getting grazed by King's thumb. She threw one punch after the other, but the villain wasn't fazed. She swung a leg out to kick his head, and King's teeth dug into her shin.

Before she could even think to cry out in pain, King reared his head, spitting her back out and flinging her to the ground underneath him. He raised a foot to crush her skull, but she put her arms up to block it. He brought his foot up to try and slam it down again, and she took the opportunity to dash away.

She floated a few feet away from him, out of arms reach. A cold wash flushed over her arms and leg.

"You can't beat me, child," he taunted. "I am the pinnacle of power and perfection! You cannot win!"

"L…" a buzzing came in through her ear. "…Leni!"

"Linc?" Leni put a finger to her earpiece.

"Your sister is the-!" a voice could be heard in the background. Oops. They still had guests over. And that voice belongs to Ronnie Anne.

"Later!" Lincoln interrupted her. "Leni, are you okay?"

"Yeah," she sighed, looking over herself. "There's some blood on my boot, but I know a way to get that out."

"I meant with the monster, Leni," Lincoln clarified.

"Oh, right," Leni looked back up at King. He seemed perfectly contempt with Leni finishing her call. "He's really strong. I'm not sure how I can beat him. I tried punching him."

"I saw," he answered. "Dude looks like a Rob Liefeld reject. Leni, you're not going to beat him in a straight up fight."

"So how am I supposed to win?"

"You'll have to get creative," Lincoln coached. "You remember how you turned those ruined jeans into a grunge dress?"

"Yeah."

"You solved a problem by tackling it a different away. You can't hurt him the way he can hurt you, but maybe there's something else that can."

"Okay…" Leni looked up and around.

"Are you done yet?" King smiled with his arms crossed.

Leni ignored him and kept searching.

"Wait what if I…?" she muttered to herself.

"Time's up," King decided.

He reached for her, and Leni blew air at him. The force of wind actually managed to knock him down.

"Oof!" he gasped. "Congratulations. You managed to surprise me."

"Not looking to surprise you," Leni quipped.

She floated over past him and looked around the intersection. She had the cloth, the picture of design, she's just missing the thread….

She spotted a ruined tow truck. The hitch cable was lying separate from the truck. Perfect! There should be enough here for what she needed.

"Running away?"

Leni, having leaned down to pick up the cable, kicked off to the side just in time to see King's claws stab into the pavement where she was. She rolled across her back and landed up on her feet.

Not wasting time, she kicked back into the air with her prize in hand.

"That won't contain me," King growled. "Not for long."

Ignoring him, Leni lunged forward, dodging another set of claws as she swirled around his arm. She started flying in circles around his ankles, trailing the cable behind her.

"You-"

She circled his middle.

"Need-"

She lapped around his left wrist.

"A-"

She yanked his left wrist to his right, securing that as well. She made only two more laps across his chest.

"Manicure!"

She pulled on the thickly woven material, tightening it over King's body.

"Whoa," Someone over the intercom sounded impressed.

"You don't listen very well, do you?" King mocked. His muscles started to flex against his restraints.

"I hear plenty," Leni started to fly straight up. The extra weight was killing her, but she was able to get it done. She silently wished she had asked Lisa for some rocket boots.

Four stories up. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.

"Wh-what?" King started to struggle. "What are you doing?"

Did he sound worried?

"What's wrong?" Leni grunted. "I thought cats, like, always landed on their feet."

"Wait," King started to panic. "Hold on."

They cleared the building line.

"The way I figure it," Leni huffed. "I can't hit you… hard enough to hurt you… But you're not, like… tougher than the ground."

Okay. That's high enough. Don't want to kill him. This is the easy part, anyways.

She dove downwards, tackling him as she shot straight down. She stopped and let him fall the rest of the way into the pavement. The crash was spectacular, and when the dust cleared, there was a King-sized crater.

Leni stood by, but he wasn't getting back up.

"She won!"

"She got him!"

Wait, that wasn't coming from her earpiece. She looked around, seeing people reemerge from their hiding places.

"Woo-hoo!"

"Go, super- uh, Sky Girl?"

"Yeah! Go Sky Girl!"

Leni blushed with embarrassment. They were cheering. For her.

"Miss?" another voice called. "Sky Girl?"

Leni turned and saw Officer Hobbs, spearheading a squad of officers wearing body armor and wielding rifles. The squad fanned out around King with their guns drawn, while Hobbs approached Leni.

"Well done," he shook her hand. "Glad to have you back."

"Feels good to be back," Leni smiled. The smile faded as she looked at the criminal.

"That's a lot of muscle to hide away," Lynn muttered jealously.

"Where are we going to put him?" She asked the policeman.

"We'll have to hold him at the station," Hobbs sighed. "Armed guards, round the clock. But its not going to stay that way."

"What do you mean?"

"Someone donated some property up north," Hobbs explained. "Outside the city. Its not quite ready yet, but she's converting it into a penitentiary for people like this."

He pulled out a business card, handing it to Leni.

"Victoria Grace," Leni read aloud. "Owner of Victorious Industries. Wow. I love her brand!"

Well, not that she could afford it. She reads their magazines, though.

A sound emanated from the circle of Swat Officers. King had stood back up, and was chuckling.

"Heh-heh-heh…" he laughed. "You won the battle, little girl, but you haven't won the war. I've done my damage. I've made my call. And now, the Second Wave is coming. Every King needs his subjects, after all."

"Second Wave?" Leni looked between him and Officer Hobbs.

Hobbs didn't look like anything. He turned his head as he noticed another vehicle approaching.

"Ah, good," he noted. "Animal control is here with your muzzle."

King was caged away, chained up and wearing a mask. The van drove away, and the people cheered again.

"I have to get back, Officer," Leni shook his hand again. "If we're done here?"

He nodded, and she took to the skies above.

She didn't know what this "Second Wave" was all about. And she didn't know what a company primarily known for the fashion industry was doing building a prison for super criminals.

She wanted to be this. She wanted to keep doing this. She'll keep her family safe, and they'll support her, no matter what.

She also wants Lincoln to get better. As fast as possible.

"We can handle it," she said as she soared through the sky. "We can handle anything."

It was a promise she intended to keep.