Leni's eyes fluttered open. She was back home, staring up at her living room ceiling. She fought to remember when she fell asleep, and when she got home.

She sat up, looking from side to side. Her sister was asleep sitting on the floor and in front of the couch, her head on another boy's shoulder. When Leni stirred, Lori started to wake too, and yelped when she realized her position. She shoved the boy away.

"I have a boyfriend!" she stated defensively.

"You're not my type, luv," the young man rolled his eyes. After rubbing them clean of sleep, he turned back to Leni. "How's our patient doing?"

Lori got up and held Leni's face, turning her head in her inspection.

"It's…back to normal," she observed. Her eyes saddened. "Oh... Your hair..."

"Huh?" Leni blinked. She reached up and felt her hair with her hands. With the exception of some strands, her hair was actually really short. It bounced around just below her ears.

"I can clean that up in a minute," Lori offered.

"You were… unconscious when we met," the boy leaned in next to Lori. "I'm Raj, a friend of Lisa's. Do you remember anything? Any dain bramage?"

"No…" She answered, holding her forehead. "Just… dizzy."

"Hmm." Raj concluded. "That might be normal."

"I remember," Leni trailed off, "King. And his bad guys. I got… pretty banged up."

"Yeah, you did," Lori stood up. "But… We got you out."

Leni blinked and turned to the boy. He barely knew her and he came to help anyways.

"Thanks, Raj."

The boy made a strained face and looked across the room, past Lori. Leni followed his gaze and saw the costume change. He leaned against the wall with his helmet held under his arm.

"TJ," Leni stood up and pulled Lori behind her. The nails of her free hand dug into her palm. "Meltdown."

"I haven't forgotten what you told me, the last time we met," TJ held his palms up. "I'm not here for a fight. At least, not the one you think."

"I told you not to come back here."

TJ blinked, but lowered his head.

"I know," he answered. "Look, I'm here to help."

"We don't need your help," Lori put a hand on Leni's shoulder. "Leni, I have an idea about how to beat King."

She turned the girl to face her. "Do you remember when... Well, when Lincoln got hurt? You flew off for a little while? When I found you, you were... different. Your powers... you were literally unstoppable."

King roared in his apparent victory, as the block burned and crumbled around him. His minions taking and destroying whatever they desired.

Leni appeared behind the madman's shoulder, just appearing within the blink of an eye. She kicked King's head so hard it sent him flying.

She spotted Goat and crushed his skull under her elbow before he could even think.

She grabbed Sloth's head and screamed until blood started to leak from his nose and ears.

She spotted Hate-Raiser and flew him up to ten thousand feet in an instant, leaving him to drop.

Void-Frog became a red mist when she flew right through him.

King got back up as thunder rolled over head. Leni stared him down as he stumbled, her eyes glowing with a menacingly cold blue hue.

"Grew a spine, have we?" King licked his chops. "Come on then. Let's see what you've got!"

He charged at her. Leni knew she could beat him. She'd break every bone he had and make him run to get them back. She could summon the rage of the whole storm down on top of his head. She willed herself forward, with the full intention of striking him down and ending him.

"I… What?"

"Back when…" Lori hesitated. "You thought he was dead. You… changed. I'm not sure what happened, but you got… literally like an upgrade, or something? I think if we got that "Other Leni" back out, maybe you could beat King by yourself."

Leni fought to remember. It was vague, but she remembered some of the tidbits of that little misadventure. She didn't remember everything, but she remembered… it wasn't fun.

"Lori," Leni shook her head. "I… I don't, like, like that memory. After Lincoln got hurt, I felt like I wanted to die. I… I tried to make myself die. I starved myself. I stayed up in the sky. I was alone. Even if I thought that was the right thing to do; I, like… I never want to feel like that ever again."

"That's why I came," TJ spoke up. Lori shot him a look.

"That's why we came, Tyrone," Raj interjected. "I guessed King's plan, but I was too late. I meant to contact Lisa, but she doesn't check her emails often enough to get my warning in time. So, I packed away my toothbrush and a semi-stable human fusion reactor and drove down here from Canada."

"You can't be serious," Lori shook her head. "Leni, we can't trust them. Well, him."

Leni looked at Tyrone. She was still resentful towards him, but as her last encounter proved; she was woefully unprepared for so many opponents at once. She needed help.

"Actually, we're all lucky to have gotten out of their alive," Raj reflected. "This uneasy alliance of ours is a moot point if we can't thin their numbers. And even then, King's power is… frightening. Bullets are useless. I doubt even the military has enough fire power to bring him down."

"America or Canada?" Leni wondered.

"Yes."

Lori joined the conversation. "Lisa said that ever sense Leni got hit by that generator explosion, her powers have been growing. She's been getting stronger, faster, and even getting new powers. Jeez, this really is one of Lincoln's comic books. Uh, anyway: why is King so much more powerful than Leni?"

"Just as you said," Raj answered. "Just as Leni's power has been circulating through her body and gaining strength, so has King's."

"But… Why?" Lori wondered. "I mean, it's not like King got his powers before Leni, right?" She blinked at the thought. "Right?"

"Hmm, unlikely," Raj hypothesized. "While the number of cryptid sightings has stagnated over the years, not even an individual like King could avoid detection forever. Nor is he the type to do so. No, both King and Leni got their powers at the same time. Or at least, on the same day. If I had to guess, King might have just absorbed more energy than your sister has. As unfortunate as it is, its just the luck of the draw. How the die was cast, as it were."

"Okay, so what do we do?"

Neither Leni, Raj, nor Meltdown had an answer. Leni walked over to a wall, staring at the pictures of her family. She sighed.

"I wish it was like a toy," Leni shook her head. "That way we could just… take it away."

"...His power?" TJ wondered.

"Yeah," Leni nodded. "I wish his power was like a toy."

Lori's eyes got wide. She looked at her phone, and turned it on.

"Hold on," she ordered. "This is going to take a while."

She made a call, and there was a lot of fussing on the other end.

"Guys, guys! Hold on-" she begged. She had to pull the phone away from her ear, where the four of them could hear everyone else on the other line.

"Heh," TJ wiped his nose, hiding a smirk. "Just a wild as before."

"Guys," Lori fought to control the conversation. "Guys! We're fine, now shut up already!"

The line quieted down enough for Leni to get a word in. Lori switched it to speaker. The other three followed her into the dining room, she sat Leni down and fetched some scissors from the kitchen.

"Hey guys," Leni greeted as Lori set to work on fixing her hair. "How was your trip?"

"Oh, honey," the static did little to hide Rita's sobbing. "We saw the news, are you okay?"

"I'm okay Mom," Leni answered. "How's everyone doing?"

Mentions of "Fine" and "Okay" echoed around room.

"Luan? How about you?"

Someone cleared their throat. "M'okay. Hey, uh… I'm sorry about…"

"It's okay, Luan," Leni smiled. "Thanks for setting up that website for me. I haven't gotten the chance to check it today, but I will later, okay?"

"Right. That's fine."

"Leni," Lori reminded her after another clip. "Focus."

"Right," she remembered. "Is Lisa there?"

"Affirmative," Lisa responded.

"And Lincoln too," Leni added. "Just in case."

"Right here," the boy reported.

"Okay," Lori started. "Lisa, your pen pal from Canada is here to help us with the King problem."

"Is he really?" Lisa responded. "Hello, Raj! Apologies I can not be their to greet you myself. And apologies that your first physical representation of me is via my two eldest siblings."

"It's quite alright, mon ami," Raj answered.

"Back on track," Lori continued. "We had the idea to take away King's powers, but we don't know how to do that. Any ideas, Lisa?"

"Hmmm," the toddler puzzled, "Well, like Leni, all the subjects affected by the Generator emit a certain kind of radiation. The radiation in question is deeply ingrained into the DNA of the victims. So I had the theory-"

"To remove the radiation from the subject," Raj finished the thought. "Thus rendering any mutation inert."

"Aside from the possibility of actually killing the subject," Lisa continued. "the real problem stems from the ability to build the kind of machine we need. Even in the best of circumstances, it could take a couple of months."

The room fell silent. A lot can happen in a couple of months. Too much.

"Hold up," Lynn's voice appeared on the phone. "Wasn't that wacko doctor building a machine like that? Back when Leni and I got kidnapped?"

"That's perfect!" Lincoln chimed in. "All you have to do is lure King and his buddies into Doctor Stupid's makeshift generator and then..."

"Switch it on," Lori guessed. She set down the scissors and fluffed out Leni's new hairstyle.

"Right!" Lincoln agreed.

"Okay," Lori said, "So how are we going to get King into the basement of a fashion-oriented office building?"

Lori closed her eyes and bit her lip. TJ was chuckling somewhat. Sometimes she hates what her life makes her say.

"He wants me," Leni ran her fingers through her new haircut. "More than anything. This look isn't so bad, actually."

"Thanks."

"We're almost home, Leni," Rita tried to command over the phone. "Wait for us to get there so we can all talk about it."

"It seems we already have our strategy, actually," Raj suggested, almost ignoring the worrying mother. "Lori and I prepare the generator, while Leni and Tyrone drive them to the building."

"We'll need Officer Hobb's help," Leni noted, "To help clear out the building first."

Leni froze at the thought. If she's here, then who's fighting King right now?

"How long have I been out?"

Lori looked to the boys in the room. She bit her lip.

"Almost three hours," TJ answered.

Leni was miles in the sky, her hands clamped around TJ's wrists. She couldn't believe how long she was out. How many people were killed because of her negligence?

"It's not your fault, Leni," Lori spoke through her earpiece. Apparently she could read the girl's mind.

"Just be careful," Lori added. There was a click, and Leni was left to her thoughts.

Meltdown cleared his throat. Over the winds, normally Leni wouldn't be able to hear it, but that's what super hearing is for.

"I heard…" Meltdown said. "I heard he lived. The kid. Your brother."

Leni didn't answer.

"I'm… glad he's okay."

Leni sighed.

"Me too," she muttered.

The destruction down below could be well heard before it was ever spotted. Police in an open war with King and his gang. Gunfire filled the air with noise and hot lead. The bullets were very much ignored by King, who just tanked the shots and healed from them almost instantaneously. The minions weren't any different, attacking the police with reckless abandon.

"Don't stop till we hit the station!" King thundered. "After that, we'll devour their families!"

"Who do we take out first?" Meltdown asked.

"Doesn't matter," Leni shook her head. "King's the big problem."

"We need to buy Raj and your sister time to get to V.I. building," he reminded her. "They only started driving a couple minutes ago."

Leni bit her lip.

"I'll keep King busy," Leni volunteered. "You go after the bigger ones, like Hate-Raiser, or Sloan."

"Leni-"

The girl ignored him as she dove down, flying overhead the battle and landing a block down the street. King spotted her and ordered his mock-soldiers to give chase. Like kids chasing after a soccer ball.

"Leni, hold up," Meltdown warned her.

"If I die," Leni warned him, "You'll have to finish this for me."

She took a stance and waited for King and the others to approach. As Leni prepared herself to take on her attackers, Meltdown shoved her out of the way.

King had raised his claws with the intention of cutting her in two. He was interrupted by a wave of flames and fire that erupted from Metldown's arms.

"Take the others out!" he shouted over his shoulder. "I'll buy you all the time I can!"

Leni stood and tried to reach out to help him, but she was cut off by Frog and Leech.

"Time to die!" Leech lashed out at her.

Leni took a deep breath and blew it out as hard as hard as she could. The wind whipped up and slammed the two villains into the ground. Leni followed up with slamming her fist into Leech's head, completely knocking him out on the pavement.

Frog recovered soon after, and lashed his tongue out at the superhero. Leni felt it coming a mile away.

"You know," She caught his tongue with her left hand. She wrapped it around her arm, stepping closer. "I'm getting real tired," she twisted her body and wrapped her other arm in it. "Of this. Disgusting. Tongue thing!"

She pulled him up into the air with her, and started spinning. She whirled him around like a wrecking ball, finally turning sideways and whipping him down towards the ground. The overgrown amphibian slammed into the roof of a ruined taxi, its windows burst out at all sides. He groaned before passing out completely.

Leni sighed, letting go of the greedy man's unnatural tongue before setting back down to the ground. Meltdown and King were nowhere in sight, but they had to be somewhere nearby.

Police surrounded the three of them, most of them set to work on arresting the two criminals. One approached her specifically.

"Nice haircut," Hobbs sighed. "Wasn't sure you were okay, with that last fight earlier."

"Yeah," Leni nodded. "Me neither."

"Is there a plan?" Hobbs wondered.

Leni nodded.

"I need to get King to the Victorious Industries," Leni explained. "I think… we can take his powers away."

Hobbs raised an eyebrow. "How're you going to do that?"

"I don't know yet," Leni shook her head. "I need to find him first."

Leni felt a jolt run up her back. "Oh, I need the Victorious Industries building evacuated."

Hobbs looked… conflicted. He was covered in sweat, and his arm was bandaged. He'd clearly been fighting this whole time while Leni was out of commission. And even now, it was plain to see he did not want to surrender control of the situation to a teenager. His radio blared out a bunch of static, but through it was a mention of some kind of goat man being trapped.

"Officer," Leni gently put a hand on his arm, "I need to know where King is."

Finally, he relented with a deep sigh. "I saw him on fire," he reported. "He was running towards the park, just up the street."

"Thank you," Leni took to the sky, "Stay safe!"

She dashed down the street, and she didn't even have to travel that far. Sloth and Hate-Raiser burst onto the roads, looking around wildly.

"Where'd King go!?" Hate was practically foaming at the mouth. "Where is King?! I already feel my strength slipping!"

Sloth shrugged and looked around, spotting Leni.

"Ugh, finally," Sloth groaned. "We can get this over with."

Sloth dashed into her, shoving his claws into her stomach. Leni grabbed his wrists, but couldn't help but spit up some blood between their feet. Leni looked up at Sloth, who only looked hopeful for her swift demise.

Leni gripped his wrists harder and shot herself straight up into the air. The claws were still in her, but she pushed on. She finally pulled out the claws and let go. To her surprise, Sloth just fell, flailing, screaming, but falling. She couldn't help but be confused, and briefly wondered why he isn't doing anything. Maybe super speed can't help you from falling to your death?

She swept down, grabbing his arms, but his jerking movements made her grip slip, and she dropped him the rest of the way down. He hit the pavement with a sickening "crack."

"Ahhh!" he screamed. "My legs! My freaking legs!"

"Don't move!" Leni crouched next to him. "You'll only make it worse."

She inspected the damage.

"It'll be okay," she comforted him. "I know it hurts, but you'll be fine. It's just the one leg that's broken, I think."

Leni heard something behind her and turned her head. She then dove out of the way as a massive pair of fists came crashing down on top of her.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Sloth cried out. He started sobbing. "My leg, man. You broke my other leg!"

Hate ignored him, turning to the girl.

"Make you pay," he snarled. "I'll burn this city to the ground. And when I find your family, I'll tear them apart, and tear the brains out of their skulls!"

Leni balked at the threat. Not even addressing it as she swerved under his arms. All that anger… all that rage and hatred… it was just so unseemly.

She floated backwards, taking in another large gulp of air, and blowing it back out. The only thing on her mind was making him stop.

And stop he did.

It was strange. At first, Leni didn't understand what just happened, but as she blinked and surveyed the villain, she saw that what she was seeing was the truth. From head to toe- er, hoof- the chimera was covered in a thick coat of ice.

"Huh," Leni thought as she touched her lips. "I don't think I had any minty gum in a while."

She then remembered that she was bleeding all over her costume. She looked down and held her wounds.

"Okay, okay," she started to suck in air. "Just… breathe."

She took a few deep breaths. In and out. In and out. In…

…and out.

The wounds were gone. She scrambled to find them on her body, but the holes in her stomach had closed.

"Okay," Leni felt the panic ease away. "I'm…okay."

Even if she was okay, she wished her family was here now. She'd bet they'd have some great advice for her right now.

A roar rang out around her. King was still out there.

"Leni."

Leni stopped and answered her sister. "Yeah?"

"We got to the basement level of Victorious Industries," Lori reported, the static fading in and out. "Hobbs sent a friend…." Static faded in and back out again. "…ow are you holding up?"

"Good, I think," Leni took a breath.

"Just hang in there a little longer, Luv." Raj came into the call. "I'll have the machine up and running in approximately a jiffy!"

"Okay," Leni agreed.

Leni dashed through the street, towards the sound of King's rampage. She had to get him out of here.

But how?

Rubble and fire exploded out onto the street, interrupting any and all tracks of thought.

King stumbled out onto the pavement and asphalt. He patted and swatted away the flames on his arm.

"Would. You. Stop that?!" he bellowed.

Meltdown quickly pursued him outside.

"Not a chance," he spoke with bravado.

Not wasting any time, Leni took another breath, inhaling deep. She tried to replicate what had happened before, trying to unleash cold and ice. However, what ended up happening was the wind swirling down the street, picking up dirt and rubble, forming what could only be described as a horizontal tornado. It picked up the mutant and sent him spiraling down the block.

Leni took a moment to get her breath back. She settled down, her feet touching down to the ground.

"You've been working out?" TJ laughed. He sounded just as winded as she was, maybe more.

Leni nodded and put a hand to her chest. "Breathing exercises. Luna's been an amazing help."

TJ reached back to a spot on his neck. Leni cringed as she remembered why that would be a sore spot. Luna stabbed him with a fork.

And why did she need to do that, Leni?

Leni looked away. She could hear her parents and siblings in the back of her head. "No matter what happens today, he is not your friend."

"I know that," she muttered under her breath.

"What's the plan now?" Meltdown questioned.

"I…I think we need to move him," Leni answered. "Towards the tower."

"Right," he cracked his knuckles. "I can do this all day."

They set off towards the monster, taking turns lighting him up and blowing him away. With each pass, they pushed him further and further into the city. It wasn't until the streetlights lit up that Leni realized how late in the day it was.

"What do you hope to accomplish!?" King huffed and panted. "Even if you can kill me, there will always be something else! Someone else! You will never get your happy ending!"

Leni took another breath and blew it at him, chunks of ice formed across his arms and chest, and Meltdown formed another fireball that sent him tumbling into the next block. Leni was starting to stagger. She was pushing everything she had to her limits.

"We're…" Meltdown sounded just a winded as she did. "We're here."

Leni looked up. Sure enough, they were here. Victorious Industries.

That filled her up with enough confidence to keep going. Just push a little further, you can do this!

Before Leni could do anything, King crouched down and leapt up into the air. He soared over their heads, in the opposite direction they came from.

"No!" Leni cried out. She flew after him, grabbing him midair, trying to wrap her arms around his waist.

"I may not know what you're planning, girl," King tried to push her off. "but I won't just do as you wish!"

"Too bad!" Meltdown suddenly said.

The way Leni saw it, Meltdown had joined her up in the sky, propelling himself with flames from his hands and feet. He slammed a fist into King's face, blasting a wave of flames into his maw. The three of them fell, and Leni did everything she could to send them tumbling back towards their goal.

It's almost funny. They bounced.

They slammed through the glass, bounced in the lobby, and crashed through the elevator doors. Without the elevator occupying the space, the three of them fell straight down the darkened shaft.

They hit the ground, and as King was starting to get his bearings back, Meltdown let out a primal cry. The hall filled with heat, and a focused explosion shot King out of the elevator shaft and into the secret laboratory.

"Keep pushing!" Meltdown shouted. "We're almost there!"

Leni took in the biggest breath she had and blew it out to push King down the hallway. The force of the winds turned the hallway into a wind tunnel. The lion man tumbled into the main room, and as he tried to stand up for balance, he slipped and fell into the dish in the center of the room.

The generator had a few installations done since the last time the heroine was here. The two intersecting archways still met to a control hub perched above the dish. Now the base of the arches had additional legs that reached and connected between the dish and the hub. That crystal was still here, now held up by the new legs of the machine.

Lori and Raj were up in the little hub, Raj was swinging his arms and dancing his fingers across the consoles, messing with settings and calculations with a blazing speed. Lori seemed stunned by King's presence her face growing paler the longer she stared at him. The teen prodigy said something to Lori, making her blink and snap out of it. She went back to twisting the knobs on a radio looking thing, looking for something.

Leni flew into the room, looking at King but listening to Lori.

"Um," she reported to Raj, "There's literally nothing on the screen. No leeks, or anything. I think we're ready."

"Almost," Raj fiddled with something. "Just… There!"

The machine started to thrum and come to life around them. Leni got the feeling that the reactor was somehow bigger than the room they were standing in.

Leni smiled. It was working! They can do this!

Her smile dropped as King started climbing out.

"I thought he's supposed to lose his powers!" Leni called out.

"It's just getting warmed up!" Raj called out. "Leni, you have to keep him in the dish!"

Leni nodded and dove forward, striking King in the chest like a missile. King stumbled back and swore under his breath.

"I am… getting rather annoyed, child," King growled. "I've had enough of you running away from me."

"I'm. Not. Running." Leni stood tall.

"Neither am I," Meltdown joined her.

The crystal above them glowed like a flood lamp, stabbing the eyes of anyone in sight. The machine only whirred and grew louder around them. Leni prepared to take off. Meltdown lit his body up like an inferno. And King, backed into a corner, roared in a final attempt at intimidation.