CHAPTER 19: PUNK'D

Lincoln Loud is Ace Savvy, protector of Royal Woods and its first official superhero. Taking his name and costume after his favorite comic book character, Lincoln Loud brought the character out from the world of imagination and into reality, living out the fantasies that he had read in the pages of the comic books he had been weaned off.

His intentions are not purely for noble reasons, however; there are two personal reasons that Lincoln Loud sought out a path to superherodom. The first, a more recent issue on his mind, was the desire for a place of belonging and a talent to call his own. Living in a family full of people living out their own passions, his sisters all having their hobbies and his parents living his own dream jobs, it only seemed natural that he should experiment to find where he belonged in life. After all, it's only human nature to find out where you belong.

The second reason, however, is perhaps less than admirable. Given the task of writing a paper on the Hillwood Effect for summer school, Lincoln Loud faced the threat of repeating the 7th grade again, leaving him behind his friends. Rather than look up a superhero in the news or do any real research, Lincoln decided to become a superhero himself, effectively writing a paper on himself; coming up with an alternate solution in pure Lincoln Loud fashion.

And, by 'pure Lincoln Loud fashion', I mean it's bound to backfire on him like every other plan he's ever concocted, but you should know that if you watched the show.

For now, however, having faced off against his share of mediocre and professional supervillains alike, Lincoln prepares himself to accomplish the last of said tasks, moving on to write his report. His start is a decent one as far as essays go; the first pages being a recap of his career; starting with his battle against Lars Rodriguez and ending on the recent skirmish with Icebreaker.

Unfortunately, the report is not as simple as giving a mere summary of his own exploits. The report calls for a study on the Hillwood Effect itself, trying to discern what it is that draws superheroes and supervillains together to battle. While he has had his share of supervillains during his fights, he knows not why these masked menaces pursue battle with him, much less how to explain it on paper.

"I just don't get it. All these bad guys, you'd think that one would actually give me a straight answer why they want to fight me. I mean, all they want is to come around and toss their powers around, don't they have anything better to do? In any case, I don't think I'll be making any progress with this paper right now." Lincoln said.

Putting down his pencil and paper, Lincoln decided to relax on his bed, allowing his mind to roam free for a period to contemplate all that transpired these past two weeks. Perhaps, with a moment to contemplate, Lincoln can find some means to find an answer to all the questions festering in his head.

"Man, this superhero stuff is like nothing I've ever had to deal with before. I thought this would be really fun, but, no. I mean, the fights, when they're not involving me getting beaten up, are kind of fun, but that's only one thing. Hiding these powers from my family is a challenge in and of itself, Lucy and Lana know my secret identity, and, on top of that, everybody's starting to trash on me for not beating Nailbomb or catching Icebreaker. Oh, and did I happen to mention that my life is now being controlled by an insane fanfiction writer and his self-insert character, who both want me to do this or else they'll make me have incestuous sex with my sisters? And, until last night, I didn't know anything about sex, but, now, I can't stop thinking about it! If being an adult means I have to think of sex all day like that, then I never want to be an adult, ever." Lincoln said.

Leaning back on his bed, Lincoln took a look to his laptop, also taking note of the date and time. Today was a Friday, and the time was around 6:00 PM, his usual meeting time to talk with Ronnie Anne over the internet. Not having spoken to Ronnie Anne for 2 weeks now, not even during his hospital stay, he felt some degree of guilt for not speaking to her, still remembering his many pleasant conversations they shared.

"Look, I know what you're thinking right now. 'Lincoln, why won't you just talk to Ronnie Anne? You guys are best friends!' Well, it's not that simple. I mean, yes, we are great friends, and she might have been my first kiss, and she's been a friend to the family so long that she's practically a member of the family already, and the writer and his goon say they're trying to get us together, and you're probably one of those die-hard Ronniecoln fans, but... Look, relationships aren't easy, okay? Talking over her over the internet is one thing, but actually being able to hang out is another. But, since my family's budget's been really tight, I haven't been able to see her in person for a while. Stella's really cool, and she's been able to hang out for a while. It's going great right now. Plus, as you remember from the episodes of the first two seasons, I haven't had the best luck of girls besides Ronnie Anne. Like, you remember Cristina? Or Paige from 'L is for Love'? Or literally any other girl that I've ever spoken to? Ronnie Anne moved away, and, at least in this story, I have a chance with Stella. Sure, the writer insists that I'm gonna be with Ronnie Anne by the end, but I still say that's not gonna happen." Lincoln said.

Looking back at his laptop, Lincoln still felt an urge to speak to Ronnie Anne, harboring his guilt for not talking to her the past 2 weeks and shunning her to spend time with Stella the last conversation they had. As much as he did truly like her, and value her as a friend, he knew that telling her about Stella would be inevitable, and the negative reaction that would follow would be as well.

"Still... I guess I should at least try to talk to her. I mean, she's probably my second-best friend, just below Clyde. I mean, she must've been really worried when I was at the hospital, and I didn't even tell her I was fine. Well... maybe just a short call." Lincoln said.

Moving up to his laptop, Lincoln opened the screen, powering on the device. Pulling up his webchat program, Lincoln signed into the service, displaying his status as 'online'. Looking towards his friends list, Lincoln noted Ronnie Anne's status was also 'online', just as she would be at their allotted call time, despite his two absences.

While his motivation was light in the way of making his call, it still drove his hand to move the mouse over her picture, preparing to click and make the call. However, his motivation was not strong enough to click the mouse, and not able to physically begin the call. His drive of guilt, despite eating away strongly at his core, was matched by another horrible feeling at another front: Fear.

Remembering the instance in the bank where Lola nearly called Ronnie Anne herself to inform her of his new relationship with Stella, Lincoln remembered the fear he felt then; not wishing to sabotage his relationship with Ronnie Anne from telling her. But, then again, what would their friendship be if he never speaks to her?

Before he could contemplate on whether he should call or not, Lincoln found his decision suddenly expedited in a way he should have seen coming. With his status as 'online' but not yet making the call, Ronnie Anne began making a call towards him, causing a pop-up on his screen to give him the option to answer or ignore the call. Still unsure of what to do, Lincoln looked back and forth at the options, not sure of what to do.

His indecision ultimately led to an involuntary decision on his part, as the prompt to accept the call ended; the pop up disappearing. Ronnie Anne's beckonings had not ended there, as she also took to PM to get a hold of him.

Hey, Lame-O, you okay? Never got your reply after you were in the hospital. I need to tell you something important. Ronnie Anne sent.

Left again with a choice on his hands, Lincoln found his options difficult to pick from, not able to make a decision on his own to follow through. Asking his peers for advice would surely not offer him help either; most would tell him to call Ronnie Anne for their interests in keeping the two together, and even those who would have good reasons would likely be under the control of the writer, not being true unbiased advice.

Once again, however, Lincoln's thought process was interrupted by someone else's actions, this time from someone in the house rather than across the internet. Receiving a knock on the door, Lincoln caught another beckoning from one of his sisters, the raspy voice coming from behind the door confirming it to be Luna.

"Hey, bro, you almost ready to go?" Luna asked.

"Go? Go where?" Lincoln asked.

"The concert, dude. Remember? The Rejected are playing."

"I thought that was next week. You said it was in 3 weeks."

"I did? Oh, well, I meant 2 weeks. You ready?"

"Uh, yeah, just give me a minute."

"Cool, brah. I'll be outside with Sam and Chunk."

With an unexpected turn of events changing the course of his evening, Lincoln found that there was no more time for worrying over taking to Ronnie Anne; having his sister waiting on him outside. Although he takes no pride in using this as an excuse to avoid the inevitable and uncomfortable conversation the two would share, he was not above using it to postpone it and put his mind to a temporary rest.

Shutting off his laptop, Lincoln made his way downstairs, heading out to the driveway where Luna, Sam, and Chunk were waiting for him. Eager to make his way to a concert and find some fun to occupy his mind, Lincoln put aside his troubles for a good time.

"Okay, sorry I took so long. Ready when you are." Lincoln said.

"Uh... dressed like that?" Luna asked.

"What? I always wear an orange polo."

"Not to this concert, you're not. Unless you're going for a straight-edge look, but, trust me, this isn't the kind of crowd where you wanna look straight-edge." Sam said.

"But why not? I mean, how bad could these people be?"

"Oh, trust me, dude. It gets gnarly. Hey, Chunk, you got anything Linc can wear?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, love, I think I got somethin' his size. Hold on a sec." Chunk said.

Taking a look in the back of his van, Chunk pulled out a set of clothing for Lincoln to wear, selecting an entire new wardrobe for him.

"Here, bruv, this oughta do ya fine. They're from an ol' mate o' mine, 'bout your size, skinny 'n all." Chunk said.

"Okay, cool, I'll be right back." Lincoln said.

"No time, bro, concert's starting soon, and parking's hard to get at this place. Just change in the back, we won't look." Luna said.

"Uh, I don't really think I feel comfortable with that idea, are you sure I can't just-"

"The concert's in 15 minutes, and it's a 10-minute drive. Chunk's driving, he's going the distance, and he's going for speed."

"Okay, okay, but you guys better not look."

"Trust me, dude, we won't."

As Chunk took the driver's seat and Luna and Sam took the backseats, Lincoln took the trunk of the van, having a space of his own to change into his new attire. Taking a look at his new outfit, Lincoln found the choice of clothing he was given concerning regarding the environment he was being taken to; having been handed a pair of torn jeans, a white tank-top, and a black denim vest covered with various patches and studs.

While his wardrobe was concerning the most, the most concern brought to his mind was the others taking note of him changing, not waning to have his Ace Savvy costume underneath revealed. Having to wear a tank top and torn jeans, the means of concealing it was gone, leaving him without choice but to abandon it.

Worse yet, he would be forced to leave it in Chunk's van, not able to leave it at home now. With no choice in the matter, Lincoln removed the costume from himself, tucking it under a seat to conceal it for later. Now, there laid the matter of dressing himself for the concert, a task that would be easy in comparison, but hard to deal with the prospect of being dressed in such clothing.

Around 8 minutes later, Chunk's driving saving the group a whole 2 minutes with his speedy driving, the group arrived at the location of the concert: A local club known as Spheeris' Sphere. With numerous fans all lining up to make their entrance into the club and hear the band, Chunk, Luna, and Sam disembarked the van to join the fans in making their way inside, but not before bringing along the last member of their party.

Making their way to the back of the van, the group prepared to collect Lincoln to bring him inside. As soon as Chunk opened the door, Luna called for her brother, waiting him to come along and make his way inside.

"Lincoln, bro? Concert's starting soon. You ready?" Luna asked.

"Uh... I don't know. These are some pretty weird clothes you gave me." Lincoln said.

"Come on, dude, remember when we were dressed up for the SMOOCH concert? You and Clyde were in your own costumes, and you guys looked great."

Lincoln finally stepped out from the van, revealing his new look from the chosen punk-rock clothing.

"Yeah, but Pucker Uppenheimer never wore anything like this before. I look and feel like a homeless person." Lincoln said.

"Are you kidding, bro? You look great!" Luna said.

"Actually, wait, there's one more thing." Sam said.

Sam kneeled down to Lincoln, ruffling up his hair and giving it a more messy appearance. Where Lincoln valued having his hair combed nicely and neatly, seeing it brought to disarray was even less of a pleasant sight to see.

"Perfect!" Sam said.

"Whatever. Can we please just go to the concert now?" Lincoln asked.

"I thought you'd never ask, dude. Let's ride!" Luna said.

The group, now recollected and ready to head to the concert, prepared making their way inside Spheeris' Sphere. Mainly a fan of classic rock and hard rock, with an occasional 80's or 90's hip-hop group, Lincoln had never before attended a punk concert, and he quickly found this one much different than what he was used to.

Where he found his choice of attire ugly and unappealing, almost everyone else heading into the building dressed like he was dressed, if not more trashy. Additionally, where he had just recently showered and kept some basic grooming maintenance and pampering, these individuals smelled like they had not showered in the past week, not to mention a strong smell of marijuana reeked through their clothes and throughout the building.

Before, he would actively try to avoid a makeover from Lola, finding it far too 'girly' for his tastes. Now, just from laying eyes upon the dregs in this concert, he drastically craves one like a dying man in a desert craving even a drop of water.

"What do ya think, Linc? Sick place, huh?" Luna asked.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, real cool." Lincoln said.

"Well, ladies, I don't know about you two, but I think we'd better get ourselves in place. Looks like the show's starting any second now." Chunk said.

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. C'mon, Lincoln, we gotta get a good spot for when the music starts." Luna said.

"What's wrong with here? I can see just fine." Lincoln said.

"Two words, bro. Mosh. Pit. We've gotta take our battle positions. Now, let's get ready to die!"

While Luna's expression was purely exaggeration, Lincoln was not too keen on the implications of her statement made him nervous from what would come next. He had participated in a fair number of concerts, but never brought himself to be able to join a mosh pit; his small figure leaving him prone to injury.

However, with his new powers, issues like broken bones were not a problem, but a head injury still would be, not to mention any kinetic energy absorbed would start to power him up, making his eyes start to gain a color. Not knowing how much energy it would take to power him back up again, the mosh pit instantly became a sign of danger; leaving him needing to get out of the situation somehow.

"Uh, I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." Lincoln said.

Before Lincoln could step away, Luna grabbed him and pulled him to her side, not wanting him to miss the opening of the concert.

"Wait, bro, you gotta hold it, they're coming out now!" Luna said.

Just as Luna had said, the band collectively known as The Rejected began making their way up to the stage, preparing their instruments in hand and preparing to play. The frontman, much like his bandmates were doing, took to his job in an unenthusiastic and bored way, in true punk rock fashion.

"Okay, we're gonna play some goddamn music now. If you don't like it, you can shove it up your ass. Alright, now, this first song's from... Ah, hell, you probably know it, you people are adults, kind of. Just play the damn thing already." The frontman said.

[Soundtrack Cue: Dead Kennedys - Police Truck]

Beginning their show with a cover of the Dead Kennedys' Police Truck, the show began to a speedy and groovy start, with those in the designated mosh pit area wasting no time to begin moshing like no tomorrow. Luna, Sam, and Chunk, being the ones awaiting the mosh pit the most, joined instantly, with Lincoln being dragged along for the ride.

Unwittingly dragged into a mosh pit full of dirty young adults dressed in trashy clothing, Lincoln found this particular mosh pit to be even more aggressive than any other he had previously seen. Of course, that could also be due to this being the first one he had officially attended. Not being the largest of punk fans and not quite able to hold his own in a mosh pit, trying to stay on his feet was a challenge; leaving him to get knocked over every few seconds by moshing punk rockers.

Getting back up was not too difficult a problem, however. As anyone in a mosh pit will tell you; if someone falls, you pick them up. Unfortunately, no one noticed that Lincoln was actually trying to escape the mosh pit, and, therefore, only threw him further into the mix. Most unnoticed to this fact was Luna, dragging him along in a circle of death. Now being taken along further for the ride, Lincoln began accumulating hit after hit, absorbing a large amount of energy in the process.

In one strike of luck, a window for Lincoln to escape the mosh pit was on its way. One punker, standing on the sidelines of the mosh pit, viewing the show from afar, downed the last of the contents out of his bottle of beer. Rather than properly dispose of the empty bottle, however, this punker decided to throw the bottle into the mosh pit in a fit of senseless violence.

While smaller figures like Luna, Sam, or even Lincoln could easily be harmed by an airborne beer bottle, the bottle itself had landed on Chunk, perhaps the only one sizable enough not to be effected by the stray bottle. Chunk may not have been harmed by the impact of the bottle, feeling it shatter against the back of his leather jacket, but he most definitely was not about to stand by and let some violent punker endanger others in a mosh pit, especially not when children were present.

The attacking punker, finding amusement in his drunken act of violence, pointed and laughed at Chunk, mocking the large Brit for whatever reason he found funny at that moment in time. Whatever amusing thought was on his brain did not stay long, however, as Chunk's fist landing in the punker's head jostled it out of placed to send his already disoriented mind near a blackout.

"You think that's funny, you little twat?! You think tossing glass at children's funny, you stupid arsehole?! You wanna see how funny it is, tosser?!" Chunk yelled.

With Chunk drawing attention from the surrounding punkers as he continued to pound his fist against the bottle-throwing punker's head, the mosh pit came to a sudden stop, the once-moshing punkers now cheering on Chunk as he continued punishing the drunk bottle-thrower for his action nearly harming someone. In the midst of this commotion, Lincoln found the way out and towards safety, finally escaping the noise and preventing himself from accumulating any more energy.

While Luna was more than content seeing the attacking punker receive his punishment from trying to harm her or Lincoln, seeing her brother gone suddenly reminded her of why the punker's beating was cathartic to her, driving her to find Lincoln. Leaving Sam and Chunk temporarily, Luna sought after her brother, not knowing where Lincoln could have gone in the midst of the chaos.

"Hey, Lincoln?! Where'd you go, bro?! Lincoln?! LINCOLN?!" Luna called.

Despite giving her calls as much volume as she could, they were not loud enough for Lincoln to hear. As the violence continued between Chunk and the punker, not only were the blows accompanied by cheers, but the band continued playing, seemingly not phased or caring of the violence going on below.

[Soundtrack Cue End]

Near a corner of the club, Lincoln found a somewhat quiet spot away from the music and noise, now able to confirm his power level without interruption. Having taken a multitude of hits in the mosh pit, he could already feel a vast amount of energy in his body, leading him to question just how much he had received.

Having taken a multitude of hits from many punkers in the mosh pit, most hitting him at full-force, Lincoln found his power level reaching a decent level; his eyes reaching a solid red. The building's lighting may not have been spectacular, considering this was a rock show, it may have been enough to pass, but it was not a chance he was willing to take.

"Crap. If only I had some way to get rid of this energy. I don't have my cards to put it in, and there's too many people around to try to release it some other way. How did I get myself even roped into this mess? I gotta get out of here somewhere, before Luna can-" Lincoln began to say.

"Lincoln? Yo, Linc, what are you doing way over here?" Luna asked.

Before Lincoln could make an attempt to leave the club, he found his escape prevented by Luna, his mere mention seemingly summoning her interruption like a vex. Trying to protect his glowing red eyes from sight, Lincoln turned away from Luna, not allowing himself to see his eyes.

"Uh... Hey, Luna, just... getting some fresh air." Lincoln said.

"Fresh air inside a club?" Luna asked.

"Well... Uh... I just needed to be alone for a minute."

"What's the matter, bro? You not havin' fun?"

"I mean... the music's good, but the mosh pit was a little much for me. I got all trampled on."

"Oh, sorry, Linc, I thought you'd like to get a little aggressive out there. You know, let out some of that energy?"

"Heh-heh, yeah. Well, it was just... a little too much. I need a break."

"Well, why take a break all the way over here? You can still be by the stage and enjoy the music, you don't have to get in the pit if you don't want, that was my fault."

"No, Luna, I'm fine, I just need a minute, really."

"Are you sure, Linc? I can hang here with you if you like while you-"

"Luna, please! I'm fine, okay? Just leave me for a few minutes."

"Whoa, dude, you're not upset, are you?"

"No. Well, not aside from getting trampled, but I really just want a minute, Luna."

"Yeah, but you sound like you could really use someone to talk to. Is there something you need to let off your mind?"

"No, no, I don't, I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"Lincoln, c'mon, just tell me what's wrong. At least look at me when we're talking."

"Uh... No, no, no, that's not necessary, Luna, I'm, eh... fine with looking at... the empty space on the wall."

"Dude, something's up with you, really. Will you just at least look at me?"

"No, I... I can't."

"Lincoln, what do you mean 'you can't', will you just look at me?"

Luna grabbed Lincoln's shoulder and began spinning him around to make eye contact, needing to find some answers in what was troubling her brother. Realizing that he could not shake Luna's inquiries, and that she was bound to see his secret, Lincoln knew that there was nothing he could do to hold back much longer; closing his eyes to delay the inevitable for one more second.

By one of the best timings possible, Lincoln's stunt by closing his eyes gave just enough time for a new event to take her attention away from him, as well steal the attention of everyone else in the club. The front door of the club exploded in a violent fury, letting out a cloud of smoke and dust. When all the disturbed dust in the air settled down, the perpetrator of the explosion was made clear as day to those within.

The invading supervillain was dressed in a variety of flashy lights, not unlike a DJ trying for decorative apparel. His suit was mostly white, with pieces of armor on his arms and legs, and his chest housing a chestplate with a large speaker attached to the front. His helmet was similar in style to that of Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk, but its coverage ending with the visor over his eyes.

This new villain was very much different from the last two, but most certainly discernible as a colleague of Nailbomb's and Icebreaker's in the mind of Lincoln Loud. Knowing that he could not stand by as this supervillain prepared to attack, Lincoln ran away from Luna, making his way back outside through a side exit. Having her brother disappearing in such an instance was not the best of assurances that he would be safe.

"Lincoln?! Where'd you go?!" Luna shouted.

Remembering of the last instance of when Lincoln was in the midst of a supervillain threat, Luna began making her way to the bathrooms, looking to collect Lincoln and remove him from the dangerous environment altogether. As it laid on Lincoln's shoulders to remove the supervillain, Luna would find out the hard way that he would not be there.

Having made an escape through the side entrance of the club, Lincoln immediately began making his way to Chunk's van, needing to get his costume on and get to fighting the new supervillain. Chunk may have still had the keys, thus leaving the door locked, but this did not stop Lincoln so easily.

Placing his finger to the lock and letting loose a few joules of energy, the lock popped like a firecracker, destroying the lock completely but granting him access to the van; a small price to pay to save lives. Hopping into the trunk and beginning to disrobe, Lincoln began throwing his Ace Savvy costume on, preparing to battle the supervillain within.

"Man, these supervillains and their huge, explosive entrances. Can't they just walk through the door like regular people?" Lincoln pondered aloud.

Inside the club, the aforementioned villain held the attention of the band and the punkers in a stranglehold; all laying their eyes upon the costumed man and anxiously watching for what he would do. The supervillain, not making any sudden moves or rash actions, did not make any immediate attacks; instead spending his time admiring the scene of the concert.

While not many were willing to raise their voices to this strange costumed man, the frontman of The Rejected decided to do so. After all, if anyone would have the confidence to stand up against a costumed man with superpowers, it would have to be the frontman of a punk rock band.

"Hey, asshole, you mind explaining why you're stopping our show?" The frontman asked.

"Oh, please, don't stop on my accord, I just came for the music. I'm a big music lover, you see." The supervillain said.

Far too apathetic to question the appearance of the supervillain or his motives, the band collectively dismissed any concerns and decided to continue with their show. Moving onto their next song, The Rejected performed a cover of The Misfits' Bullet, looking for another speedy song to liven the mood.

The audience, still off-put by the appearance of this supervillain, were not too keen to start indulging in the show again, but this was not the largest of problems to be found here. The band played their music at the same exact volume, playing as loud as their instruments would allow, but the sound was significantly quieter than before. All had noticed it quite clearly, especially the band themselves, but the reason why this was happening was understood by none.

None except, of course, the supervillain himself. The soundwaves from the music, isolated by the acoustics of the building, were absorbed by this new villain; his body trapping the sound not unlike Ace Savvy could absorb energy. Continuing to absorb the sound of the music as it played, the music and eventually all sounds and voices in the club died out completely, going to a dead silence.

As soon as everyone else took notice of this, the supervillain gave a smile towards the audience, having just armed himself for the next task at hand. Taking a grounded stance against the floor, the supervillain prepared himself for the next part of his plan. Typing on a PDA on his arm, the supervillain armed his weapon its attack.

"I see a lot of punkers and metalheads here tonight, that's cool. Me? I'm more of a basshead. One thing I especially love is dubstep. Wanna see just what kind of fun you can have with it?" The supervillain asked.

The supervillain selected a song on his PDA, pressing the 'play' button on his selected track; a loud dubstep song with a heavy amount of bass.

Upon pressing the 'play' button, the speaker on his chest began playing the song at full blast, at a volume too loud for any normal human eardrums to take without being damaged. Even for a club full of punk rockers, each in the area could feel their ears ringing with pain, all other sounds and noises becoming totally inaudible to them.

As damaging as this was, it was not even the worst of the attack. The supervillain, having absorbed the soundwaves of the music and the punkers, unleashed it all back on the crowd, at a force so powerful that the club itself began to shake and tremble. Taking the toll of his attack, the entire building began to crumble apart, as if it were in an earthquake.

Not able to withstand the mass audial assault that the supervillain was putting them under, everyone in the club fell to the ground, all covering their ears from the music and covering their heads from any falling debris. Having subdued the band and the audience, there now laid the next task of awaiting for his target to come. Ending the playback of the song, the supervillain spoke a quick message to the punkers he had subdued.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, I doubt any of you can hear me at all right now, but, if you somehow can, let me assure you that I'm not interested in you. I'm here for the purpose of getting the attention of Ace Savvy. Once I kick his skinny little ass, I'll-" The supervillain began to say.

Before the supervillain could finish his short speech, a trio of explosive cards landed in his back, knocking him to the floor. Leaping through the air and landing across from the supervillain in a melodramatic pose, Ace Savvy made his arrival to the scene, ready to defeat the threat before anyone else could be harmed.

"...go straight to jail once you lose to me." Ace Savvy said.

"Well, well, Nailbomb was right, you've got a damn fast response time. What, is super-speed one of your powers, too?" The supervillain asked.

"Sadly, no, as cool and helpful as that would be. What are yours supposed to be?"

"Name's Decibel. As you saw from what just unfolded here, I can absorb sound and fire it back at you in any way I like. My favorite way to do it's through dubstep; lots of good bass."

"Is that so? Well- Oh, hang on one second, I got a call."

Ace Savvy pretended to hold a cell phone to his ear, nodding his head along as if he were holding a conversation. Upon 'agreeing' to the 'conversation', Ace Savvy handed the pretend phone to Decibel.

"It's for you. 2009 says they want their crappy music back." Ace Savvy said.

"Coming from the kid dressed as a comic superhero nobody reads anymore." Decibel said.

"Until I came along and made it popular again. What have you done lately?"

"Well, most recently, I started with something like this."

Decibel pressed a button on his PDA, selecting a new song to play. As soon as the song prepared its playback, his speaker fired off another blast of sound, heading straight for Ace Savvy. While able to dodge attacks like bullets somewhat well with his superpowered body, dodging sound itself was something not even he could accomplish; leaving him to take the full blast of sound straight to his chest.

Being sent all the way against a wall, the wall itself crumbling around the outline of his body left, Ace Savvy fell back on his feet, barely able to carry on after one such attack. Moreover, where he was able to absorb the energy from hitting the wall, it occurred to him that he could not absorb the energy of the soundwave.

"What the..." Ace Savvy groaned.

"Impressed? From what we've seen from you, you can absorb energy in motion or transfer, but sound doesn't quite work the same way as a bomb or a bullet. However, whatever you do is guaranteed to make a sound of some kind, and I can absorb that sound and use it against you. How do you like them apples?" Decibel asked.

As the hero and villain continued on their own battle, the many people occupying the club were beginning to recover from the devastating attack Decibel had hit them with, rising to their feet once again. Seeing the two continue to do battle, all began to exit the building with haste; save for Luna, Sam, and Chunk, unable to leave until they had Lincoln.

"Where'd Lincoln go? He really can't still be here, can he?" Sam asked.

"He has to be somewhere. I checked the bathroom, but he wasn't there, that's usually his hiding spot for stuff like this." Luna said.

"Damn, I just hope the little guy's doin' alright." Chunk said.

Not giving into the fight just yet, Ace Savvy charged another card, tossing it straight towards Decibel. Firing a sound blast towards the card as it flew en route, Decibel detonated the card before it could reach him, leaving the card to explode prematurely and allow him to absorb the loud sound from its blast.

Still not ready to give up, Ace Savvy began running straight towards Decibel, preparing to fight with him hand-to-hand. Charging up his fists with energy, Ace Savvy began throwing punches towards his enemy, hoping to land a hit towards his speaker and destroy it. While definitely skilled with his sound attacks, Decibel was not a pushover in terms of hand-to-hand combat, especially not when his opponent was a over foot shorter than him.

As such, Ace Savvy landed no punches into the villain, despite his best efforts to land a punch in. Decibel, not having any more tolerance for the one-sided fight with the spade-spangled hero, sought to end it quickly and spare himself the time. Grabbing both of Ace Savvy's fists, Decibel fired another sound blast towards his defenseless enemy, knocking him to the ground once again.

Not content with knocking Ace Savvy to the floor, Decibel prepared a pair of smaller speakers in the palms of his hands, aiming both of them straight for his head. Firing both off in rapid succession, like repetitively throwing punches over and over, Decibel left Ace Savvy completely at his mercy; the boy left to suffer many head attacks and unable to even absorb the blasts to fight back with them.

As this continued on and on, Ace Savvy began to feel his consciousness leave him; his sight fading to black once again. This time, however, it seemed that he might not recover his consciousness again. Watching his vision begin to blur and black, Ace Savvy's eyes began to close; no longer having the strength to stay open. If this were to continue, Ace Savvy would surely die.

In one final streak of luck, Decibel's actions were cut short from a communication from his colleagues, providing him with further instructions for his mission.

"That's enough, Decibel. We want him to be a loser, not a martyr. Come back to base." The lead supervillain said.

"Oh, c'mon, boss, he's almost dead, can't I just finish him?" Decibel asked.

"No, that's not the plan. You accomplished your mission, now get out of there. That's an order."

Decibel wanted nothing more than to finish off Ace Savvy then and there, but the reminder of the plan carefully set up by his leader superseded his personal desires, allowing him to put them aside for a greater gain. Having accomplished the mission he was sent to do, Decibel began leaving the premises, heading back to the villains' base as ordered.

Luna, Sam, and Chunk, watching the inanimate Ace Savvy in anxiety, contemplated what they would do for the downed superhero, if they would or could even do anything. Unable to simply stand by, Luna made an approach to Ace Savvy, much to the detest of the others.

"Luna, what are you doing? We should look for Lincoln and get out of here!" Sam said.

"And what about this guy? He tried to save us from this guy, the least we can do is help him." Luna said.

Finding Luna's altruistic reason resonate with them, Sam and Chunk began following her up to Ace Savvy, leaving all 3 standing over the fallen hero. With his consciousness still strong enough to recognize at least one of these faces as Luna, Ace Savvy began making a ploy to save himself by any cost necessary.

"Yo, Ace Savvy, you okay, man? Can we help you?" Luna asked.

Moving the last remainder of energy into his arm, Ace Savvy pulled the cloth mask off his face, revealing his secret identity to the 3 others. With none expecting the face behind the mask to be the young and sweet boy they all knew, Luna, Sam, and Chunk let out a collective gasp.

"Lincoln?!" Luna asked.

"Luna... Help me..." Lincoln groaned.

After expending the last of his energy to make a simple but desperate plea, the unmasked Ace Savvy lost the last of his consciousness; leaving all his sight to fade to black.

Now, with his unconscious body in the care of Luna and her friends, it was up to fate to decide what would become of him next. For now, he only hopes that he will wake up to see himself survive the ordeal.