CHAPTER 23: STOLEN THUNDER, PART 3
Royal Woods has a new superhero in town; a superhero by the name of the Silver Sentinel. Clad in a shiny silver suit and cape, and sporting a handsome face and haircut, the hero became a favorite within an instant. Of course, his first win was stolen from another local hero: Our own protagonist, Lincoln Loud, known to the city as Ace Savvy.
While Ace Savvy has found a fantastic start to his career with the defeat of Lars Rodriguez, his fights, and, subsequently, popularity, have taken a sharp decline. Reduced to fighting a group of misfits with powers barely qualifiable as powers, a drunkard, a massive pizza monster, and the aftereffects of eating said pizza monster, Ace Savvy was completely unprepared for the actual battles he would face with Nailbomb, Icebreaker, and Decibel, being laid to defeat.
His sisters, unable to allow him to give in, dedicated a month to training him to develop new skills to properly apply his powers and better fight crime. Although the training had paid itself off quite well, there was still much to be done to earn his reputation back, and many fights to be fought to accomplish that goal.
Now, with his sidekick with his parents on some other affair, Ace Savvy walks the streets alone, keeping a sharp eye out for any sort of crime or supervillains to fight. As he continued his patrol down the streets of Royal Woods, its citizens, who would once look on and cheer his efforts, only scoffed and turned at his appearance. Tempted as he was to confront the people on their sudden change in attitude, Ace Savvy knew he could not do such a thing, as it would only ruin his reputation further.
For the moment, he continues to walk the streets, searching for a foe to fight.
"So, Lis, anything on the police scanner for me?" Ace Savvy asked.
"Negatory. What little crime there wash hash been dishpatched by Shilver Shentinel." Lisa said.
"Dangit, I!... I just really hate that Silver Sentinel guy. Why, out of all the cities in the whole country, did he have to pick here, and pick now, when I'm trying to prove to people that I know what I'm doing?!"
"Lincoln, calm down. Sho you have a little competishtion, it'sh not like you're comepletely out of the game."
"Competition is like Good Burger and Nasty Burger growing across the country, Lisa. This is more like a small business getting eaten up by a monopoly."
"And how do you figure that metaphor? Are you not shatishfied with your powersh?"
"Well, I might be able to redirect energy and turn anything into explosives, but this guy can fly. I didn't even get my Ace-Mobile, and I have to hoof everything on foot. Plus, he's obviously got some kind of super-strength, how am I supposed to beat that?"
"Brainsh alwaysh triumph over brawn, henshce why I am alwaysh one shtep ahead of all of you."
"One step ahead of us how?"
"Oh, I have my waysh. Anywaysh, you really should be focushing on the tashk at hand, Lincoln. A threat could be waiting to shtrike at any time."
"Yeah, but, to be honest, I'd rather not look around me right now. All I'm seeing is a bunch of angry citizens who hate my guts. I was hoping to get my mind off them for a few minutes."
"Lincoln, jusht remember, your goal ish to sherve ash their protector at all coshtsh, even if that meansh they never shee how much work you put in."
"I know, I know."
"Jusht think back to one of your comic booksh. Wash there an isshue where Ashce Shavvy became vilified by the media?"
"Well, not with Ace Savvy, but there was a storyline in Danny Phantom that had something similar."
"And what wash it?"
"Well, Danny Phantom had a long arc where he was labeled as the cause of all the ghost invasions in Amity Park, and people often hated him or tried to capture him."
"And how did he sholve it?"
"Actually, uh, in later issues, they kind of show that it was his fault. If he never went in the portal, none of the ghosts would've shown up. You know, that really makes me think, if the Hillwood Effect says that supervillains only show up around a superhero, then am I to-"
"Don't shtart with thish again, Lincoln. You are not to blame for the actionsh that theshe people take. Even if it wash, the appearanshce of the Shilver Shentinel ish not helping the shituashtion, and perhapsh it could help if you remove him."
"Okay, okay. I just never thought that this superhero stuff would be so hard. I mean, I knew that I'd have a lot of stuff to go through, but I never thought I'd have it this hard."
"Jusht shtay focushed, Lincoln. We all put in a lot of work to make you a more effective shuperhero, and we're not about to shee our effortsh go to washte. Now, lishten, I jusht got report that a shupervillian attack ish taking place at Reininger'sh. Right now, it looksh like the Shilver Shentinel is off shomewhere elshe. If you hurry, you can beat him to the punch."
"Got it. Ace Savvy on the job."
Rushing across town to the Royal Woods mall, Ace Savvy made his way towards the aforementioned clothing store, ready to deal with whatever kind of supervillain may be waiting for him within. After the affair yesterday with the Third Wave, he simply hopes that he can take this threat more seriously.
Arriving outside the Reininger's outside Royal Woods Mall, Ace Savvy made his way inside the department store, readying a set of cards in hand to toss towards whatever kind of supervillain laid within. Observing his surroundings, Ace Savvy took notice of the many customers being held hostage within, kneeling down to one to get information.
"Give me the sitrep. What am I dealing with?" Ace Savvy asked.
"What do you think you're doing here? You're only going to make things worse!" The customer whispered.
"Relax. I know I screwed up with those other guys before, but I've been away to get better. I can take this guy, trust me. Just tell me who this guy is."
"Well... Fine, I guess it'll be a while before the cops get here. It's The Nudist."
"Uh... Why is he called The Nudist?"
With the sound of machine gun fire coming his way, Ace Savvy leaped out of the way, somersaulting to a nearby sales display for cover. Once the gunfire ended, Ace Savvy stood up to catch eye of his new opponent, catching a glimpse of the new supervillain called The Nudist.
And upon seeing him, not only did Ace Savvy see why this individual was called 'The Nudist', he saw much, much more than he ever wanted to see in his entire life. Where a few parts of his body were covered in tactical clothing, the remainder had no such coverings of any kind.
Taking in a large sight of unkempt body hair, wrinkles, and skin blemishes enough to make any stomach heave, Ace Savvy instantly covered his eyes from the sight of the naked supervillain, groaning in disgust. While he managed to keep his lunch down, any future appetite for the rest of the day was nowhere to be found.
"Oh, god, what is wrong with you?! Put some clothes on!" Ace Savvy said.
"Clothes?! CLOTHES?!" The Nudist yelled.
The Nudist cocked his machine gun once again, preparing to fire it at Ace Savvy. Hearing the sound of the gun under his covered eyesight, Ace Savvy dived out of the line of fire, ducking back behind the sales display. With the sales display growing smaller and smaller with each bullet passing through it, Ace Savvy knew that his cover here would not last.
As such, he jumped to duck behind a new piece of cover, taking the cash register counter as his next shelter. No longer able to hit his target behind the cover of the desk, The Nudist lowered his weapon, continuing the conversation between him and Ace Savvy.
"You clothers are all the same. 'Put on some clothes! No one wants to see that!' Why can't you people appreciate the beauty of the human body?!" The Nudist shouted.
"No offense, but, from what I could stand to look at you, I don't think anybody would find your body beautiful. Have you never used lotion or any skincare your whole life?" Ace Savvy asked.
"Cosmetics? So, you're one of those people, too, huh? That just makes you even worse in my book. You people can't find comfort in your natural bodies; you have to cover and chemically alter them to fit society's vision. You've got no individuality."
"No, but we at least have decency, pal."
"Spoken like a true clother. Well, I've had enough of you people and your clothes! I hereby declare war on all clothes, and all clothers! Gone are the days of pants and underwear, gone are the days of shirts and suits! No longer will flaps of clothing be flying in the wind, but glorious flaps of skin; penises, testicles, breasts, and butts all sagging and hanging low!"
"Hey, quick question, can you be any more disgusting? I think I can actually throw up if I hear another word out of you."
"Oh, I don't have anything more to say to you, clother. I've got something else for you now."
The Nudist readied his next weapon to use against Ace Savvy, having a way to work around the obstacle of the cash register. In addition to having a number of harnesses and pouches made for tactical gear, The Nudist also kept an assortment of grenades hooked to his pubic hair; utilizing his short hairs to house more weapons.
Grabbing a grenade and giving it a pull, the force of the pull removed the grenade from its holster, plucking with it a strand of hair. As painful as the experience was, The Nudist continued on his attack, holding back a wince and some tears.
"Trust me, clother, this hurts me more than it hurts you!" The Nudist said.
The Nudist pulled the pin to the grenade, tossing it over the counter. Seeing the grenade land in front of him, Ace Savvy instinctively jumped onto it; suppressing the explosion and absorbing the energy. Although such a move would kill anyone else who attempted it, Ace Savvy was still well alive, albeit slightly pained at the impact.
Rising back up from the counter, Ace Savvy turned right back at The Nudist; his eyes elevated to an orangish color. Once again, his eyes were met with the appalling sight of The Nudist's bare body on full display, forcing him to avert his eyes to avoid the sight. Keeping just enough sight through the slits of his fingers, Ace Savvy prepared a set of cards, tossing them towards the disrobed villain.
With his eyes averted from fully viewing his target, Ace Savvy's throws were not completely accurate, allowing The Nudist to dodge his throws with relative ease. Rather than reach towards their intended target, a few cards made their way to a display of dresses, and one very nearly hit a hostage.
"Hey, watch it, you idiot!" The hostage said.
"Er, sorry! It's really hard to look at this guy, much less hit him with anything!" Ace Savvy called.
Realizing that this particular strategy was not working, Ace Savvy ducked behind another piece of cover, contacting Lisa for support.
"Lisa, I need some help. I'm fighting a guy called The Nudist. What do I do to beat him?" Ace Savvy asked.
"I've looked into him. From what I can shee, no one hash laid a poshitive I.D. on him becaushe no one will dare look at him, and never get a look at his fashce. From what reportsh I can gather, he hash no shpeshcific powersh, and reliesh mainly on firearmsh. Lincoln, have you not beaten him yet?" Lisa asked.
"Well, I... Uh... I can't look at him."
"Oh, Lincoln, don't be ridiculoush, the human body ish not that appalling to look at. Shurely you can overcome your nudity taboosh for the shake of thoshe in danger?"
"Lisa, you haven't seen this guy. He is ugly. I mean, like... really, really, really ugly."
"Lincoln, pleashe, enough!"
"No, seriously, I'm telling you."
"I don't care. Go and fight him already."
"Forget it. I don't care if you hate me or if the writer and The Guy force me into another weird situation with one of you, No force on Earth is gonna get me to-"
Before Ace Savvy could finish his sentence, a sudden x-factor made its appearance in the store, completely changing the factors of this battle. Said x-factor was Leni Loud, the last of the Loud sisters that knew not of Ace Savvy's true identity, and also the least intelligent, and least likely to defend herself against this villain.
"Hey, guys, totes sorry I'm late. Every time that those big light things on the street turned red, other cars kept coming in from the other side of the road, and I hit a few on the way here. The front front of Vanzilla also disappeared somehow, that was kind of-" Leni began to say.
Walking into the battlefield between Ace Savvy and The Nudist, Leni took notice of the latter; looking right at the villain as he looked back. Interestingly, where everyone else in the store had to avert their eyes from the sight of the unclad villain, Leni did not feel any such obligation, not taking any sort of offensive reaction to his appearance. Instead, Leni gave a look of surprise, letting her next words clarify these feelings.
"O-M-G, it's a good thing you came to us, sir. I can't believe that you lost all your clothes. Actually, to be honest, I do it all the time. One time, I walked all the way to school with nothing on but my sandals, and nobody even told me until I got there. Everybody was just looking at me, and I thought it was just because they liked my outfit that day. Interestingly, a bunch of them must've gotten a really bad itch in their pants, because they all scratched themselves pretty aggressively when they looked at me." Leni said.
"You... work for this place?" The Nudist asked.
"Oh, I totes do. I'm assistant manager, I got the job by knowing fashion. I really don't assist the manager that much, so I guess I just manage assisting instead. How can I assist you, sir?"
"You... filthy... CLOTHER!"
The Nudist readied his machine gun to open fire on Leni, ready to gun down the ditzy teenage girl for the crime of being knowledgeable in fashion. Ace Savvy, unable to allow his most innocent sister to be murdered by the stark psychopath, leapt out from his cover and tackled Leni behind another piece of cover. Saved once again by Ace Savvy, Leni Loud hugged the spade-spangled hero tightly, grateful for his actions.
"Oh, my hero, you saved me again!" Leni said.
Leni prepared to give him another kiss, but Ace Savvy quickly averted the kiss, not wanting to further ruin his image of his sister and possibly traumatize himself. After averting the kiss, Ace Savvy once again disguised his voice in an over-the-top gravelly manner, hoping it would be enough to fool his dumb sister.
"Uh, random citizen, you really should be running for cover. I've got to fight this guy." Ace Savvy said.
"Oh, right, I forgot. Can I get you a cough drop while I'm back there?" Leni asked.
"What? Uh, no, no. I'm fine, thank you."
"Are you sure? Your voice sounds really rough."
"I'm sure. This is just how my voice sounds, really. Just please go hide."
"Oh, okay."
Sending the innocent Leni off to hide, the realization suddenly came over Ace Savvy that she could somehow look at The Nudist without feeling completely disgusted at his sight. Needing to know how she had accomplished this feat, Ace Savvy ran back after her, inquiring on how to do it himself.
"Wait! How did you do that?" Ace Savvy asked.
"Do what?" Leni asked.
"You looked right at that guy and didn't flinch. None of us can look at him without puking."
"What? That's really mean, you know? Everybody's body is different, and we shouldn't judge them for how they look."
"But he's so ugly."
"So? Everyone can be beautiful in their own way, even if they don't have any makeup."
"Uh... right. Go on and hide now, sorry I stopped you."
Letting Leni back to her cover, Ace Savvy's search for some quick answers to win this fight were met with naught; leaving him with finding nothing. Now, unable to follow Leni's way of looking at The Nudist, Ace Savvy would have to rely on his own savvy wits to defeat this new opponent, hoping that he would do it before Silver Sentinel would arrive.
"Well, that didn't pay off. Any bright ideas, Lis?" Ace Savvy asked.
"If you really musht inshitsht on not looking at his naked body, may I shuggesht clothing him to prevent hish body from blinding you?" Lisa asked.
"Hey... that's a really good idea. I'm gonna try that."
Leaping his way back into the battle, Ace Savvy placed his cards back away, needing a new object to use against The Nudist. Needing to keep his enemy distracted for the task he was about to carry out, Ace Savvy continued a conversation between the two, allowing him to grow distracted from his true intentions.
"So, tell me, Nudist, why do you hate clothes?" Ace Savvy asked.
"Must it be said?" The Nudist asked.
"Apparently, because I don't get you. Don't you like the feeling of a nice suit, the tight hug of a pair of undies, or the warmth of socks?"
"Never! I hate it all!"
The Nudist fired another volley of bullets towards Ace Savvy, which the hero then dodged and ducked in retaliation. Running out of ammo in his weapon, The Nudist reached for a new magazine, reaching deep into a pocket where the sun never shines. Placing the magazine in and cocking back his machine gun, The Nudist sought after his target again; losing Ace Savvy within the aisles of the store.
"I've always hated the feel of clothing! Every T-shirt, every pair of jeans, every tennis shoe; it's all been nothing but a prison to me!" The Nudist shouted.
"Then why didn't you try a different color or style? There's got to be something that works for you." Ace Savvy said.
"No! It never worked for me! It never did! No piece of men's clothing was anything more to me than a prison!"
Hearing the key word of 'men's clothing', Ace Savvy then gained an idea to subdue the foe. With Lucy's teaching of how to sneak paying off well, Ace Savvy's light steps made his way to the women's department, selecting something to dress the villain with.
Upon finding something perfect for his target, Ace Savvy readied a new card in his hand.
Tossing the card through the air, the card flew its way towards The Nudist, immediately catching his attention. Trying to prevent it from hitting him and exploding, The Nudist let off a fury of bullets towards the card, hoping to detonate it prematurely. While his bullets did indeed hit the card, the card itself did not explode; indicating that it had no charge.
Before The Nudist could question what this tactic meant, Ace Savvy leapt over his head and placed a dress over his head, fitting him with it.
"Well, then, you say men's clothing never worked for you, how about women's clothing?" Ace Savvy asked.
Hopping off the back of The Nudist, Ace Savvy readied his next card, ensuring to charge it well this time. Wishing for instant retaliation for having been clothed by his opponent, The Nudist readied his machine gun again, more than intent on killing Ace Savvy than ever.
"That's it, you little clother! I'm going to make sure there's nothing left of you to cover when I'm-" The Nudist began to say.
Before The Nudist could finish his sentence, a laser fired towards the supervillain, burning the dress right off his body. With the sudden spontaneous combustion taking away the focus of both parties, Ace Savvy and The Nudist temporarily ceased their fight to view the new factor in the fight.
"You know, blue is not your color." Silver Sentinel said.
With the presence of Silver Sentinel in the store, a mixture of reactions were brought out from the occupants. The customers, all being held hostage by the supervillain, gave a collected and elated cheer. The Nudist, having now another superhero to fight, was not amused by the new threat he would have to fight off.
Most importantly, Ace Savvy was left extremely frustrated and annoyed at his presence. Having worked hard to get to this villain before he could, having Silver Sentinel try to steal his fight once again left him growing more angry at his appearance.
"You again?! C'mon, man, I got this one, just leave me alone so I can beat him!" Ace Savvy said.
"I thought I told you, I'm here to do the job now. Just go home, kid, I've got this." Silver Sentinel said.
"No! This is my fight, and I'm gonna fight him! I did not spend a whole month to train just so you could steal my job!"
"Son, this isn't about whose job it is, it's about protecting people. If you were an actual hero, you would know that."
"I don't care which one of you's a hero, both of you filthy clothers are going down!" The Nudist said.
Arming his machine gun again, The Nudist fired his weapon on Silver Sentinel, aiming directly at his head. Rather than avoid or dodge the bullets, Silver Sentinel stood in place, taking the full force of the gunfire. The bullets all miraculously bounced off his body; not a single round penetrating him or even scratching him. Upon seeing that he would not be stopped by gunfire, The Nudist lowered his gun in fear, not wanting to agite him further.
"Oh, come on, you're bulletproof, too? Any other powers of yours that I should know about? I mean, if you're going to one-up me, you might as well just show it all off, right?" Ace Savvy asked.
Tossing his weapon to the ground, The Nudist pulled all the grenades from his crotch, preparing to use them all against Silver Sentinel. While the motion had left his crotch with a complete wax job, the cost was nothing but extreme and acute pain. Pulling the pin on one grenade, The Nudist rushed to Silver Sentinel, aiming to make himself into a suicide bomb.
Not allowing the grenades to go off where any civilians could get hurt, Silver Sentinel landed a hit to The Nudist's stomach, forcing him to drop his grenades. Holding his cape under the falling grenades, Silver Sentinel wrapped the grenades tightly within. Enclosed in the indestructible material of his cape, the grenades let out not a large explosion, but a light 'poof', ending the bomb threat.
"Well, son, among my other powers, I drive a mean uppercut." Silver Sentinel said.
[Soundtrack Cue: AC/DC - Big Balls]
Landing a sharp uppercut to The Nudist's jaw, Silver Sentinel sent the supervillain flying through the air, sent on a course to land hard on the ground. Unfortunately, there was one obstacle in the way of that flightpath: Ace Savvy. Standing directly behind The Nudist as he was knocked out by the unwelcome superhero, Ace Savvy had unintentionally put himself in the way of Silver Sentinel's attack.
At first, the problem only seemed to be that Ace Savvy would have The Nudist land on top of him, leaving him crushed under his weight. Upon watching the supervillain fly towards him, Ace Savvy soon understood that his fate would be far worse. While the prospect of having a large, naked man on top of him was bad enough of a problem, but, watching the trajectory on which he was sent, Ace Savvy noticed not one, but two large problems that would make it far worse.
With his crotch no longer covered by the numerous grenades tied to his pubic hairs, his hairless crotch was not only completely uncovered, but it was sent on a course to land straight towards Ace Savvy. Although the meat was a relatively small size, the two veg were a larger portion, taking more space on the plate. More importantly, the course on which The Nudist was sent was having the whole meal flying towards the young hero's face.
Ace Savvy was not alone in his sudden realization; every customer and onlooker in the store took notice of the affair, watching in slow horror as they all realized what awful fate was about to befall him. While not appearing to have the most sympathy towards Ace Savvy, Sliver Sentinel suddenly realized the dire mistake he had made, but lacked the speed to avert the problem he created.
As The Nudist grew closer and closer to Ace Savvy, the aforementioned superhero grew more and more terrified at the fate about to befall him; the knowledge of what was about to unfold well in his mind, but his body lacking all ability to avoid the terrible fate about to occur. Worse yet, the knowledge left him screaming an elongated 'no'; making the mistake of leaving his mouth open.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
Finally, The Nudist made his landing, as did two other low-hanging members of his party. Ace Savvy was immediately forced to the ground under the sheer weight of The Nudist; his head nearly crushed under the mass. The pain of being nearly crushed was the last of his worries, however, as the warm and salty taste of man berries filled his mouth.
Despite being seriously muffled by his mouth being filled, Ace Savvy let out several agonizing screams, his cries echoing throughout the store. Every onlooking customer turned their heads and groaned in disgust, pitying upon the poor boy for the terrible trauma forced upon him. Most importantly, Silver Sentinel showed a severe showing of regret, not intending to leave his rival with a mouthful of spaghettiless meatballs.
"Ooh... Uh... Whoops." Silver Sentinel said.
Not too long later, The Nudist was taken away by the police, arrested on charges of armed assault, indecent exposure, and, lastly, sexual assault of a minor. While the latter charge was debatable on whether Silver Sentinel was responsible for it, the others were more than enough charges to put him away for good. After speaking with the press and receiving his words of praise, Silver Sentinel walked away to address one last concern.
Ace Savvy, trying to remove the awful memory from his mind, took a place on his own, staying away from any judging eyes or ears. Running a water fountain in his mouth, Ace Savvy desperately tried to flush the taste of sweaty man balls from his mouth, washing out any horrid taste in his mouth. The taste may have been gone from his mouth, but never shall the taste nor the experience be gone from his mind.
"Oh, dear god, why me?! WHY ME?! WHY?! WHY?!" Ace Savvy cried.
Bashing his head against the metal build of the water fountain, Ace Savvy began bawling over fountain itself in a mix of frustration and disgust; his innocence far more violated than since the writer began this story. Coming to address his last concern, Silver Sentinel placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder, offering with the other a bottle of mouthwash. Snatching the mouthwash for himself, Ace Savvy instantly began pouring its contents in his mouth, violently swishing it around in his mouth.
"Ugh... Ace Savvy, I offer you my deepest sympathies. Superheroes are called 'balls-to-the-wall' for a reason, after all. For what it's worth, I'm extremely sorry." Silver Sentinel said.
Spitting out the mouthwash, Ace Savvy tossed the empty bottle at Silver Sentinel's face, venting out his anger and frustration in one explosion of emotion.
"YOU DID THIS! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Ace Savvy said.
"Son, look, I-" Silver Sentinel began to say.
"NO, YOU LISTEN! I WAS THE FAVORITE IN THIS CITY BEFORE YOU STOLE IT FROM ME! THIS IS MY TOWN! IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU, PEOPLE WOULDN'T HATE ME, AND I WOULDN'T HAVE HAD A GROWN MAN'S BALLS IN MY MOUTH! WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO AWAY?!"
"Son, please! I wouldn't tolerate a lot of talk like that, but, I did just cause... that to happen, so I suppose I deserve some of it. Just please listen. It's not about whose town this is and whose it isn't. You're a kid, son. Even if you could save people, you could seriously get yourself hurt. If you thought today was bad, just imagine what could happen another time; maybe you could be more physically harmed. Please, not for me, but for yourself, just go home. I can do the fighting, and you can just be a kid."
Having vented out most of his frustrations regarding The Nudist, Ace Savvy let out a deep breath, changing his tone for the conversation. Seeing Silver Sentinel's reasoning behind taking his place as Royal Woods' superhero, he laid out a different line of reasoning for his side of the debate.
"I'm not just a kid. You've seen my power and what I can do. I can handle myself, and I can't be hurt that easy. I always wanted to be a superhero, so just let me do my thing. There's probably a bunch of cities you can go fight in that need you more, just take one of those and leave me alone." Ace Savvy said.
"I can't do that, son. I swore myself to protect everyone from any kind of threat, even if that threat might be themselves. If you won't stop, then I'll have to get you to stop." Silver Sentinel said.
"You're more than welcome to try, pal."
"This isn't a game, kid. People can die out here, and I don't want to see you get yourself hurt. For now, just go home and relax. You probably need it, all things considered."
"Fair enough, but this isn't over. Not by a long shot."
"Fine, then. Don't say you weren't warned when something happens."
Silver Sentinel proceeded to fly away, proceeding to find another fight to take on. Before he left, Ace Savvy shared one last word with his rival.
"Tell me. Do you bleed? You will." Ace Savvy said.
"Huh?" Silver Sentinel asked.
"I don't know, that sounded really cool to say."
"...Right. Well, I'm going now."
Silver Sentinel flew away, looking for another citizen in trouble to aide. With the shiny superman no longer in his sight, Ace Savvy renewed his vow to remove his rival; ready to prove to the city that he was still a serious and capable hero, and more than able to protect it from any threat that may come its way.
"Uh, hey, excuse me, Mr. Ace Savvy?" A voice asked.
Ace Savvy looked to who was calling him amidst his thoughts, seeing Leni Loud approach him. Still wishing to keep his identity hidden from the most loose-lipped of the sisters, Ace Savvy disguised his voice again, returning it to its gravelly state.
"Oh, uh, hello, random citizen, how can I help you?" Ace Savvy asked.
"Hi, do you remember me?" Leni asked.
"Uh... Oh, that's right, you were the girl at Dairyland, weren't you?"
"Um... Oh, right, but I meant if you remembered me from the store. You jumped and saved me from geting shot."
"Well, uh, yeah, of course I remember that. It was only a few minutes ago."
"Oh, good. I forget things a lot, just wanted to make sure."
"Right. So, uh, what can I do for you?"
"I, uh, I just wanted to say thanks again, and I wanted to tell you not to worry about what people are saying about you. You saved my life twice, that makes you my favorite superhero, always and forever."
Flattered by Leni's kind words, and elated to be seen with pride by one of his sisters, Ace Savvy gave a smile, accepting Leni's support in full.
"Thank you, Len- I mean, random citizen. That really means a lot to me." Ace Savvy said.
"You're welcome." Leni said.
Leni leaned in to give Ace Savvy another kiss, but the hero quickly held his hand up in opposition, not wanting another repeat of Dairyland and traumatizing himself further than he had to be on this day.
"No! No, no, no, no, no. No, please." Ace Savvy said.
"What's wrong?" Leni asked.
"It's, uh... Kissing weaken my powers! Yeah, that's it. It weakens my powers, and I need to stay strong."
"Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry. Don't worry, I'll never kiss you again."
"Good, that's a huge relief. Thank you."
"Well, I've got a lot of work to do to get the store back in shape, see you later."
Leni proceeded to head back to Reininger's, ready to begin her shift on work, even though the store would most likely be closed anyway after such an attack. Before heading back, however, Leni walked into a light fixture, accidentally hitting herself in the head. Upon correcting her course, Leni continued her way back.
With his sister gone and leaving him alone to his thoughts, her words were left behind in the mind of Ace Savvy. Where his motivation was primarily driven by petty rivalry more than anything else, he now had a newfound fuel to the fire behind his crusade for justice. If he could not have the people of Royal Woods to love him, he could at least have the support and admiration of one of his sisters, giving him ground other than blind family support. His heart feels the strength it needs to carry on, and he looks forward to the next day, ready to make his name known again.
For now, his only thoughts are to get more mouthwash.
Elsewhere, at the nondescript warehouse where the 'serious' supervillains laid, tensions continued to rise as the eager villains grew more and more restless to get out and cause more terror and mayhem. Growing tired of having nothing to do but sit around and watch TV, boredom began to give way to anger, leaving the group to lash out at one another to relieve their tensions.
"Goddammit, how much longer do we have to sit around here? I'm gonna go crazy in here!" Icebreaker said.
"You're going crazy?! Your whining and bitching is making me even crazier!" Decibel said.
"Both of you are making me even more crazy! Next opportunity one of us can go out, I'm taking it. I need to blow shit up." Nailbomb said.
"What?! Hell, no, you're not. I'm going next. I haven't had my chance to shine yet!" One unnamed supervillain said.
"What about me?! I haven't had my shot, either. Some of us want to shoot at shit too, you know!" The other unnamed supervillain said.
"That's enough, all of you!" The head supervillain said.
Just like they always did, the supervillains quieted down at the call of their leader, listening carefully to his directions. Having his subordinates give to him their full attention, the head supervillain let out another piece of information regarding their ultimate plan.
"I understand tensions are high here, but I assure you, we'll all have our chance yet. For now, Silver Sentinel's playing the part we need him to, and so is Ace Savvy. Before we know it, Ace Savvy'll be gone, and Royal Woods will be ours." The head supervillain said.
"Then what are we supposed to do until then?" Decibel asked.
"For now, just do what you've been doing: Relax. Watch some NetFilms, play some poker, read some books; actually try to bond and get to know each other while you're here. If we're going to work together, then we might as well at least try to get along and know each other. For now, I think we have room for some more appearances."
"Really? Who's going next? Is it me?" Icebreaker asked.
"Give me a break, it's me going out next, pal." Nailbomb said.
"No, no, you two and Decibel had your moments. The other two haven't, and it's your turns. It might be a few more days, but, Killer Crab and Tommy Gunn, you two will have your moment to shine yet." The head supervillain said.