Leni took the mask from her sister's grasp.
"You'll find that I've made some significant improvements," Lisa commented. "For starters, the adhesive around the edges will allow it to stick to your face more effectively. You may also spot the streaming camera here."
Leni blinked. "Streaming camera?"
"It feeds directly into a personal server of mine," Lisa assured her. "One that is heavily encrypted, and I don't use anymore. Also."
Some of those words flew over Leni's head. She didn't know enough about computers to make a good call on Lisa's claim. She would just have to trust her.
She handed the older girl a small bead. "This can be placed in your ear. I've rearranged Lincoln's police scanner into a two way communicator."
Leni examined it and placed it in her ear.
"Hello?"
Lisa grabbed the microphone off the desk and spoke into it.
"Testing," she said, "Testing. One-two-three."
Leni blinked and smiled wide. "That's so cool! It's like you're in the room with me!"
Lisa gave her a deadpanned look. Oops. That's not what she meant to say.
"I mean," she corrected. "I can hear you perfectly with this."
"Good," Luna finally spoke. "That way we can help you when you need it."
Leni nodded. She was smiling, but part of her mind was still in that argument they had. She wasn't really sure she wanted to hear anything from Luna at the moment. Regardless, she joined both Lincoln and Leni to Lisa's little gift presentation.
"I've also compiled what I think is a complete list of your abilities," Lisa surmised. "Or as Lincoln declared: Your "super powers.""
"What else are we going to call them?" Lincoln shrugged. "Okay, so we already figured out that you have super hearing. And flight."
"Okay," Leni followed.
"But we also learned that you don't have unlimited strength," Lincoln continued, "as the test with Lynn determined."
Leni nodded, remembering trying to lift up the car without much success, even with her new muscles.
"And you also have super healing," Lincoln told her, "as we've discovered with your knife wound healing overnight."
"That is not an excuse to get reckless," Luna clarified. "That cut wasn't deep, but you are clearly not invincible."
Leni didn't feel like agreeing with Luna, but she didn't disagree with her either.
"And, do to your description of the mugging," Lincoln continued, "We know you can move faster and see faster than the rest of us."
"See faster?" Leni wondered.
Lisa reached over with her little arms and slapped her brother. "That phrase is an insult to science, and I will not stand for it."
She sighed, explaining it. "Your… heightened metabolism gives you the ability to process information at an accelerated rate. You can perceive dangers coming at you and react much more quickly than the human eye can follow."
"If she can do that," Luna wondered, "Why isn't she… uh... as smart as you?
Leni was struggling to keep up with Lisa's vocabulary, but she got the sense that Luna was insulting her.
"Hmm," Lisa pondered. "It could be that only her reflexes are affected. Her natural intelligence remaining as is."
"Kids!" a voice called from downstairs. "Time for dinner!"
"Ah, finally," Lisa hopped down from her swivel chair. "Nothing more satisfying than a nice meal after a long day's work."
"Ditto," Leni agreed.
The small group excited the scientist's room, before the blond paused in her tracks. Ever since getting her powers, she could hear a lot of things going on at once. Whispers, conversations, arguments, police sirens… It took Leni a whole day to determine that there wasn't a lot that the police weren't already handling. But now… she was hearing something that she couldn't ignore.
"Everyone! Down on the ground! Get one the ground!"
"Nobody move! This is a robbery!"
"Come here, kid! Outta-da-way!"
"Mommy!"
Leni's breath became more labored. She needed to be there. Now.
"Leni?" Luna was walking behind her. "What's wrong?"
"Cover," was the only word Leni could get out before zipping over to her room.
With a change of clothes, she was out the window. With her new mask and earpiece in place, she felt confident she could handle the situation.
She just needed to be there. That's it.
She found the location of the robbery: a bank with a grand lobby. The robbers all had Disney themed plastic Halloween masks, and were all armed. The customers and employees were lying on the ground next to each other on their stomachs. Most of them had their hands behind their heads, though there were two exceptions.
One stubborn girl with her phone recording, and an elderly man with a cane. The old man was begging one of the robbers- Mickey Mouse- to leave him alone, as he physically couldn't get down on his hands and knees like he was told to. The girl had her phone raised to record every second.
"Hey!" one of the robbers noticed the girl. "Turn that phone off! You want to get shot, girlie!"
"On the floor, gramps! I ain't telling you again!"
Leni gulped as she floated in the room. What to do? How can she help all these people at once?
"What the hell…"
Leni gasped as she realized she'd been spotted. One of the robbers- Donald Duck- was staring up at her.
"Uh…" he said, to another, "You guys seeing this too?"
Soon, Leni had the attention of every robber in the room. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie, and Daisy all stared up at her in disbelief.
"Is that…?" One of them wondered.
"Shoot it!"
They opened fire at her. Leni was fast enough to see the bullets coming and duck and dodge out of their way. She flew around the room, playing the most vicious game of tag ever conceived, as bullet holes punched into the ceiling and lights above them.
All the while, everyone kept crying out from the gunshots.
"Need to stop this," Leni decided. "Have to start somewhere."
She flew over Goofy's head, and flew straight down, her heels acting like the tip of a missile. She landed on the guy's collar bone, before he could fire his shotgun. He crumbled to the ground, holding his shoulder and cussing up a storm.
Leni flew back up, just in time for more deadly projectiles to fly under her.
"Don't these things need bullets to fire?" She thought to herself. "Why do bad guys never need to reload?"
Suddenly one of the guns clicked. Mickey swore as he checked his weapon.
"I'm out!" he called to the others.
"Me too!" Minnie confirmed.
"Wow," Leni thought, "Lucky."
She dove for one with her arms outstretched. They were distracted, just long enough for her to make her move. She grabbed Donald by his jacket and lifted him off his feet. She threw him over her head at Daisy, knocking the two of them to the ground. She shot off like a rocket to Mickey, who was in the middle of reloading his machine gun.
With her arm reeled back, she laid out a punch across the masked man's face. He crumbled to the ground in a heap.
Now there was only Minnie.
He reloaded his handgun and took aim.
But Leni was already on top of him, grabbing his arm, pulling his body across her back, and judo-flipping him onto a service help desk. She used her flight to give the "fall" portion of the move a little extra damage, just to make sure he was out.
Leni surveyed the room. Looks like no one was hurt. Well, except for the bad guys. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Okay, guys," she called out, "I'm going to, like, ask everyone to calmly stand up, and walk outside the building." As she spoke, she thought of more things to say. People started to get up and rush out the door. "The police are on their way (I think). If anyone needs more immediate assistance, speak up, please."
The old man from earlier raised his hand. He was breathing heavily, and had found a seat at one of the waiting chairs. The camera girl had stood up, but hadn't budged either.
Leni sighed. She could understand wanting to record something amazing… but there is a time and a place for that!
"Okay," Leni was at the man's side. "Let's get both of you out of here."
She held onto his arm and patiently began to escort him out of the building. The girl, thankfully, followed close, her phone never leaving Leni's form.
Something thundered behind them. Leni felt a shiver up her spine and turned to the back of the building; where the bank's vault was, supposedly.
"Guys," a deep voice echoed through the room. "We got a problem."
A man stepped into the room, carrying an empty bag and scratching his head. He was absolutely massive, muscles bulging underneath his clothes. He was nine feet in height, easily, and his biceps were bigger than Leni's whole body. While the man's companions all wore suits with Disney masks, this one wore a black tank top, with baggy pants and boots. His head, which also looked too small for his muscular form, wore a smiley happy face mask.
"There's no money in the vault," he complained, "It's just a bunch of people's-"
He paused as he noticed his friends strewn about the room, unconscious.
"Junk…" He finished, before spotting Leni's colorful costume.
"No way," the man was incredulous. "You gotta be kidding me."
He ripped his plastic mask away by pawing it with his massive fist. His face showed a scar slashed across his nose, and an even more wicked grin across his lips.
"Are a superhero?" he grinned. "Like in the movies?"
Leni looked between the giant man and the two people she was supposed to be escorting. She looked at the girl, still holding her phone with an expecting look.
"Take him," she ordered, "And get him out of here."
"But-" the girl tried to argue.
"Now!"
Leni never raised her voice. If she ever had an argument, her voice would get kind of squeaky. This time; it was an order. It came out like a bark. The tone was harsher than she initially intended, like she was berating the girl and giving the order all in one word.
The startled teenager finally put the phone away and started to help the old man outside. Leni faced the last robber.
"I love superhero movies," the villain sauntered closer to her. "the costumes, the one-liners, the big, beefy punchouts. The guys laughed at me when I said I could be a superhero. But you…"
He gestured to her like she was a celebrity. "You get it, don't you?"
Leni braced herself, holding her arms out at her sides and bending her knees slightly.
"Don't." she ordered. "Surrender, and I'll see that you are treated fairly."
The veins on his neck pulsed as he clenched his fist. The more Leni stared at him, the less human he seemed. None of this looked healthy.
"And… just treated," Leni added. "For your ailment."
"Ailment?!" the man threw his head back and laughed. "I've never felt better! In fact…"
He cracked his knuckles.
"I think I'll start my own gang," he mused. "A regular Legion of Doom kind of gang. Like in the cartoons."
He raised a massive fist back and slammed it into the ground, almost turning Leni into paste.
"First I got to get out of here," he decided. "Right after I kill you!"
Leni floated around the room, zipping over and around the man's massive arms while he tried to swat her away like a fly. She chanced a glance over at the door. Luckily, the last two hostages were just making it outside. The people are safe, now Leni can handle-
Her train of thought was interrupted as the villain caught her.
"Aha!" he said. "Gotcha!"
He slammed her into the ground like he scored a touchdown. He then slammed his fist into her, knocking the wind out of her a second time.
Leni coughed and heaved, desperately trying to get air back into her lungs. He's too strong… How did those other superheroes do this? How'd they do it in the comics and movies?
"Leni!"
Leni gasped as she heard Lincoln's voice. He was here? How?! Where is he?
"Think like Spider-Man!" he instructed her through the earpiece. "Get him to talk! Say something! Anything!"
Leni huffed and fought to get back up. She looked up at the villain and saw him raise his massive fist above his head.
She kicked herself out of the way, diving across the ground and wincing as she rolled away. His fist slammed into where she was a half-second ago.
Rib. Busted rib. Making it hard to breathe.
As she gasped for air, she tried to think. She never had a broken anything before. It didn't hurt like she thought it would.
Later, she learned about the effects of shock.
"If you're a superhero," Leni huffed. "Why're you robbing a bank?"
He gripped his hands in front of him. "With this strength, I can do whatever I want. I can take whatever I want. And no one can stop me! It's a freaking dream come true!"
Leni looked to one of the robbers lying around her. She wondered if he would be so bold with the muzzle of a gun pointed at his head. She'd never do that, but still…
Wait, maybe…
Leni launched herself at the muscular man, reeling her arm back and punching across his forehead. His head rattled around like a punching bag, smacking itself against his back and shoulders. It was funny, but in a kind of morbid way.
She floated above the ground behind him, forcing him to turn around to face her again.
"If you're a superhero," Leni continued. "What's your name gonna be?"
"Ugh," he groaned. He glared at her before answering. "My... old profession already gave me the privilege of a name. Crusher."
Subtly, Leni started drifting away from him. Sure enough, Crusher stepped forward to follow.
"Don't you think powers should be used to help people?" Leni prompted. "So many people have lost so much already. Why would you want to take even more? And from people that don't even deserve it!"
Crusher let out a chuckle.
"Girlie," he sympathized. "That's not the way the world really works. Right and wrong… that's determined by who's in charge. Whoever has the power. That used to be senators and businessmen. Now it's me. I'm the strongest one there is. And what I say… goes."
"Yeah?" Leni took a breath. "Well, I say…"
Crusher had been reaching out with his arm at her, following her the whole way. He didn't notice that she had been leading him into the open vault. Leni grabbed him by his middle finger, and pulled it as she flew under his legs. The sudden movement made him lose his balance, and did a full front-flip, landing hard on his back. The wind was knocked out of him.
Before he could recover, Leni flew out of the vault.
"You need a time out," Leni told him.
With all the strength she had, she pushed on the vault door, and shut it.
A loud "Clunk" sound was heard, as the vault door locked itself.
Leni, holding onto her side, stepped back and watched. If this didn't work, she didn't know what else she would do.
There was a bag on the door. Then another one. Then there was an unsettling barrage of banging on the door. For all of the villain's efforts, the door held.
"Good job, Leni!" she heard Luan in her ear. "You caught the bad guy and had a good comeback!"
"Now, just get home, Leni," Luna instructed over the microphone. "Mom and Dad think you're out shopping right now and are kinda pissed."
Leni grimaced at the pain in her side.
"Great…" she leaned against the wall. "What do you have for broken ribs?"
"Freeze! Don't move!"
Leni jumped with a start. The police were here.
"Hands above your head! Turn around slowly!"
Leni obeyed, breathing heavily.
"Bad guy is in there," she pointed to the vault. "I locked him in."
The police officer and his partner looked at each other. One of them, the nametag said "Hobs," ordered the other.
"Make sure the rest of the Disney gang don't get away," he said. "I'll handle this."
He nodded and walked back to the main room. Leni could hear other officers arresting the robbers.
"You can put your hands down," Officer Hobs put his gun away. "You mind answering some questions?"
"Oh," Leni relaxed, "Sure."
"What happened here, exactly?"
Leni blinked. "I stopped the bad guys."
"Yeah, but how?" Hobs questioned. "Did anyone die? Are you armed?"
Leni tilted her head. "No one died," she said. Then she had a terrible thought. "At least, since I showed up. Is everyone-?"
"The people are fine," Hobs gestured for her to calm down. "We got their getaway surrounded outside right now. What's your name, miss?"
"My name?" Leni echoed. She thought it over. "Um…"
A cacophony of suggestions bombarded her earlobe.
"Miss Marvel!"
"Supergirl!"
"Guys! Guys!"
"Captain Sky!"
"Marvel Girl!"
Leni slapped her hand over her ear. "Stop."
"What's that?"
Leni looked back up at the cop.
"I, uh," she stammered. "I hadn't decided yet."
"I see…" he nodded. "Now, I'm going to ask you to come with the station with me."
"Leni, get out of there."
"Now, I know the whole superhero thing means that-"
Leni's feet left the ground. Hobs watched her with caution, his hand on his side.
"I'm sorry," Leni apologized.
She flew around him, giving him a wide berth and zipping through the bank's lobby. She was outside before anyone could do or say anything. There was a crowd of people in the street, watching and waiting. Leni paused when she saw them down below, but they sure didn't. When they spotted her floating above them, they broke out into a thunderous applause.
Leni waved at them, and flew back home. Its hard to say what will be worse, the rib or her parents scolding her for going out alone.
But it was worth it, to see those people safe and sound.
