Leni followed a trail of destruction down the street. It started with a booming voice while she was a mile in the air. It was followed shortly by a series of chronic earthquakes, and screaming people, and swerving cars. All of this, so early in the morning?
Odd craters littered the street, with cars either crushed where they sat, or swerved onto the sidewalks. What in the world happened here?
"That's a lot of meteors for one street," Lynn noted.
"Perhaps because they're not meteors," Lisa corrected. "Actually, they look like…"
"Footprints," Leni realized with a shiver.
As she flew, she heard another booming voice. It was close by, and it sounded like… sobbing?
She flew around the corner and yelped when she spotted the source of the noise. Sitting there, across the movie theater and with a slowly growing crowd, was a giant.
The giant had a greenish hue rolling off his back and shoulders, like a smoldering fire. He wore a black t-shirt with a blocky creature on it (Lincoln said it was from something called Minecraft?), and jean shorts. He wore light-up sneakers, and had curly black hair with his chocolate colored skin. He was curled up in a ball, his face buried in his arms and knees. His sobbing caused his shoulders to shake, occasionally bumping into the building behind him.
All the while, Lisa made her notes.
"Subject appears to have gained the ability to grow in size," she observed. "Due to craters both past and current, I can see that the subject has retained his mass as he grew. Therefore, his weight grew with him. Which is unusual, as is the nature of the young man's clothes, which also grew with him. Perhaps he is generating a type of energy all his own, suggested by the light rolling off of him at this moment."
"Lisa," Lincoln paused her. "Save it for later."
Leni drifted over to him. He hadn't noticed her. Her brother and sisters spouted all kinds of warning in her ear.
Please don't be a villain. Please don't be a villain.
"Hello?" Leni called out. "Excuse me?"
He didn't hear her. She raised her voice.
"Hello…!?"
The giant gasped, and slowly looked up. He saw her floating there, and her vision was largely encompassed by a set of wide green eyes. He wiped his tears away and gave a sniff that was as loud as thunder.
"…Am I going to jail now?" He asked Leni.
"Jail?" She drifted closer. She put her hands on his arm, which kind of felt like leaning against the roof of a school bus.
"Why would you go to jail?" she asked him.
He looked down, thinking it over. He shrugged.
"I broke stuff," he stated.
Leni melted at the sight of the poor thing. He was just a scared little boy. Er, maybe not so "little" anymore.
"I'm here to help. What's your name?" she asked him.
"…" he took his time answering. "David."
"Oof," Lynn muttered.
"David," Leni repeated. She smiled. "That's a nice name."
"You should change it!"
Leni gave a start and spun her head around, but didn't see anybody.
David found the source of the voice before she did. He leaned over the side, looking down at the street. Leni looked too, finding Mole-Man climbing out of a hole he dug in the middle of the street. He was still covered in dirt, head-to-toe, and the claws that served as his fingers looked as mean as ever. Oddly enough, they were the only thing not covered in dirt, shining as white as bone.
"Not that I'm dissing the name," he continued. "I mean, you're a superhero now, right? You need a superhero name."
His voice sounded nasally, like he was doing all his breathing through his mouth. Did he have a cold, or is that just how he is?
"Be careful David," Leni turned to the giant boy. "That's a bad guy."
"Well that's a little presumptuous," the digger argued over her. "I'm part of an elite superhero group. We're like the Avengers, only more real. And they sent me here to recruit you."
"He's lying to you David," Leni argued. "You can't listen to him. They hurt people. They're villains!"
"Girls," Mole-Man waved off casually. "They're all crazy, right David? All of them are just control freaks, right?"
"This is bad," Lincoln noted. "Really, really bad."
"We should consider moving this talk to a more secure location," Lisa suggested.
"Shut him up, Leni!" Lynn told the girl. "Knock him out!"
Leni turned to David one last time. She switched to a tone she picked up from her mother.
"Honey," she spoke kindly. "I need to handle this first. Can you hang in there for just a second?"
David nodded with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth.
"I promise I'll help you get home as soon as I'm done," Leni added.
"That's cute," Mole-Man brandished his claws at his sides. "Thinking you can take me on."
"You can take him Leni," Lynn encouraged. "This bozo's got nothing on you!"
"You got a brand-new power, too!" Lincoln added. "Keep in mind what we practiced!"
"I have to try first, guys," she answered them. She turned back to dirt coated teen. "I'll give you one chance; surrender yourself freely, and I'll see to it that you're treated fairly."
Mole-Man just laughed at her. Leni shook her head, disappointed.
She then took a breath, and assumed her stance, facing her opponent sideways while keeping her closed fists to her chest. One foot forward, one back.
Mole-Man dove forward, like a swimmer off a diving board. The asphalt parted for him like water, and before Leni realized it, he disappeared underground, leaving another gaping hole.
"What?" Leni blinked, befuddled.
"Did he run away?" Lynn wondered.
"Something tells me it won't be that easy."
Leni heard rumbling behind her and turned just in time to see an explosion of dirt, with Mole-Man rising with it, lunging at her.
He swiped his claws at her, one hand cutting across her arm, the other cutting into her side.
"Aah!" she shouted as she failed to dodge. That hurt!
Mole-Man rolled past her, landing back on his feet.
"You really want to call us villains?" he taunted her. He held up his claws to show the small amount of red liquid that he snatched away from her. "Villains are always out for blood."
"What. A tool."
"You know," Leni offered, "Not to be mean, or anything, but that voice is doing more harm than good for you. Have you tried speech therapy?"
She meant it in earnest, but Mole-Man sneered behind his goggles. He charged at her, slashing his claws in an attempt to cut her to ribbons.
"Everyone. Always. Says that!" he shouted with each consecutive swing. He tried to bring his claws down on top of her head, but she saw it coming and jumped away to get some distance between them.
"You think you're the only one to tell me that?" he gave an ugly sob. "When I got my powers, I was wishing to crawl in a hole and die! All because of my voice. Do you have any idea what's it's like, having everyone talk about you the second you turn around?"
Leni nodded in sympathy.
"Every day," she answered him.
"Well they can go to hell!" Mole-Man dismissed. "All of them! I can get into any place now! Vaults, bunkers, they're all mine! The earth is my plaything, now! I can create sinkholes, and I'll make enough of them so that the whole city is completely uninhabitable! I won't be the Mole-Man of Royal City. I'll be the Royalty of Mole City! The Mole-King!"
Leni lunged forward, laying a cross across his nose. She grabbed his arm, throwing him over her shoulder and flipping him toward the ground, all while rising in the air; letting him drop that extra foot.
He hit the ground, regained his bearings, and started tunneling underneath him. It was like he was swimming. The earth really was his plaything.
Leni can't let him get away. And she can't let him get the drop on her either.
"What's the last thing he'd expect?" Leni asked her family on the earpiece.
"For you to go in after him?" Lynn suggested with an audible shrug.
Huh. Not a bad idea.
"Wait. Hold on!" Lincoln tried to argue.
It was too late, Leni had made up her mind. She silently thanked her brother for packing a small flashlight as she pulled it out of her pouch. She dove in the hole after Mole-Man. The feeling was instantly claustrophobic, and the sensation of all the dirt crumbling on top of her was driving her crazy. But the confined noises, narrow pathway, and vibrations of moving dirt and rocks made it easy to find Mole-Man. She spotted his legs, his shoes scraping pebbles in her eyes.
He had no idea!
Leni grabbed the digger's leg, making him freeze like a kid caught with the cookie jar.
"Huh?" was the only thing he got to say.
Now, the trick was, how to get him out? Well, Leni had never tried it before, but now was the perfect time to test if her flying powers could work in reverse.
She willed herself to move backwards, keeping a tight grip on the Mole-kid's leg. She shot out of the hole, covered in cuts and mud and bugs, holding her prize up like a caught, panicking, and screaming fish.
"Let me down!" he begged. "Let me down!"
"Why?" Leni wondered. "What's wrong?"
He whimpered. Audibly giving up and… was he crying?
"I'm afraid of heights," he simpered. "Please put me down. I'll be good. I swear. Please put me down."
Leni looked down, they were a couple of stories in the air. Ultimately, it wasn't that high up, but... if you were scared of heights and being dangled by your foot like this...
Leni felt pity for him. She sighed and slowly let him down. Slapping one of the cuffs on him. Amazingly, he didn't fight back or try to escape.
"I'm sorry you felt so hurt," Leni sympathized. "And, like, I'm sorry you didn't have anybody to help you with it. I have my fair share of bullies too."
He didn't say anything, he just sat there in silence.
Leni turned to the reason she came here to begin with, the giant boy that had been crying. He had moved from his seated position to sitting on his hands and knees, watching the fight like they were action figures, no doubt.
"David!"
The two looked over and saw a man sprinting towards him. He had familiar features on him.
"Daddy!" The child boomed, he reached out towards him, but thought better of it. "Wait."
The father didn't stop until he was at the boy's side. He held onto the boy's arm, like it was a tree he waited his whole life to see.
"David! Buddy!" he called up to his son. "Are you alright? Are you hurt? Where'd Nancy go?"
"No," David sniffed and started to tear up. Globs of water ran down his face and dripped off his chin. "I'm sorry! I saw Freddy Smithson while we were out, and I just..." He sobbed and tried to wipe his face.
"It's okay, buddy. It's okay. Daddy's here," the man tried to soothe him. He turned to Leni. "I don't know who you are, but thank you."
"It's my pleasure," Leni nodded.
The boy looked at his dad. "Dad... I want to go home."
"I do to, buddy," he assured him, "But i don't think you'll fit in the apartment!"
Leni looked at the boy, and saw despair cross his face. It was starting to set in, just how big he was, the problems that creates, and the options that takes away.
"Can I try something?" Leni asked the father.
With his approval, she drifted up to David's head.
"David, sweetie," Leni advised. "Can you close your eyes for me? I want you to try and concentrate. Focus on being small. Okay?"
He obeyed. His face scrunched up in concentration.
"I'm... trying!" he complained.
"Try thinking of it like a giant switch," Leni added. "like, a big, red switch."
Another minute later, David's stature seemed to falter. He shrank in size, going from several stories in height to only a few feet tall. A regular eight-year-old.
"Oh, thank god," the father scooped up the boy in his arms. "Thank you."
Leni nodded with a smile. She turned back to Mole-Man.
"And now to take care of you."
Leni set down in front of the police station. Instead of the usual drop off though, she came inside with her recent addition.
When she walked into the lobby, she took it in for the first time. She'd never been inside a police station before. Perhaps at one point it was designed to be grand and welcoming, but time seems to have eaten away at the establishment. Much of the paint was faded, and the electrical lighting seemed dimmer than what it should have been. The plaques on the wall didn't seem as awe inspiring as Leni had initially thought.
"Leni," Lincoln buzzed in her ear. "What are you doing?"
She didn't answer, as the lobbyist got her immediate attention.
"Can I help you?" He asked, unsure. He was leaning forward over the desk, standing on his feet. More cops walked within the department, but whenever she was spotted, they stopped and stared. It was almost like they were unsure of how to react to her.
"Um…" She stammered.
"Hobbs!" someone from within the department called out. "You got another one!"
Leni snapped her head to the calling voice, though didn't see who yelled it out. She turned to the lobbyist.
"I think I'll just wait for Mr. Hobbs," she answered.
He nodded, giving her a weird look. He sat back down, and no sooner did Hobbs appear with a tired look on his face. He sighed through his nose as he saw the two of them.
"Cody!" he called over his shoulder. "Give me a hand here!"
The man in question appeared and took Mole-Man off of Leni's hands, escorting him down a hallway.
"You," Hobbs ordered Leni. "With me. Now."
He didn't sound like he was in the mood for playful banter. Leni followed him through a surprising number of cubicles, until they arrived at an open desk that must be his office.
He sat down at the desk and waved at a chair.
"Have a seat," Hobbs was still ordering.
Leni sat down, painfully aware of the eyes boring into the back of her head. She kept her hands where people could see them.
Hobbs seemed to be taking his time, rubbing his eyes and trying to figure out where to start.
"Miss… anonymous," he started, "Sky Girl. Whatever your name is… Are you aware of the term vigilante?"
"No," Leni answered honestly.
"It refers to an individual, or a group of people," he pointedly explained. "That takes the law into their own hands. Without the consulting justice systems put in place for that sort of thing."
Leni looked down, focusing on a corner of the desk, thinking about his words.
"It's also illegal," he added. "And people can go to jail for it."
Meanwhile, Lincoln was reading something out. "…takes the law into their own hands… typically because the legal agencies are thought to be inadequate. Leni, you're a vigilante because the police can't do what you do."
Leni nodded and cleared her throat. This needed to be one heck of a sale. And… maybe she came in here to do just this.
"I'm not trying to be a vigilante," Leni answered. "I'm not trying to be a criminal, or, like, be difficult."
"You want to do our job for us."
"No. Well, like, yes. But… not like that."
She took a breath. It was going to take a minute, but she needed it to be said.
"I'm here to help," she said, "That's all. I saw people… getting hurt. And I just… I didn't want to do nothing."
Hobbs nodded, like he understood.
"Those people…" she continued. "Mole-Man-"
"Mole-Man?" Hobbs questioned. "Pigpen? Covered in dirt?"
"Yes," Leni agreed. "And people like him-"
"What kind of people?" Hobbs interrupted again.
"Springlocke," Leni listed off. "Spider. A few more kids running around: Noxious, Ink, and the leader, Meltdown."
Hobbs made a face and started laughing. It was uproarious, and pierced through the other noise in the office area.
"Man…" Hobbs sighed. "Man-oh-man… I live in a comic book now. This is freaking crazy…"
He pulled a bottle of mints out of the drawer. The drawer caused the whole table to shake, knocking over a picture off his desk, and making the officer swear.
Leni picked it up and looked at it. It was a family picture, a father and daughter screaming in delight of the moment.
"That's my daughter," Hobbs patiently took the picture from her. "She's graduating this year. Or, she's supposed to be. You know her?"
It was a loaded question, an attempt to learn Leni's name by getting more informational clues. Leni looked up at the man. She remembered the reason she came her, and decided on her answer.
"I don't know her personally," Leni confessed. "I just see her with her friends at school. She seems nice."
"Hmph," Hobbs huffed.
A second of silence passed between the two of them.
"Mr. Hobbs," Leni said, "Officer. I'm not trying to be difficult. I just want to help with the police. To keep people from getting hurt."
"…You have to word it carefully, Leni," Luna was suddenly in her ear. "Say this: I want to cooperate with the police to protect the citizens. My family among them."
Leni's back stiffened and she parroted the words. "I want to cooperate with the police to, like, protect the citizens. My family too."
"Close enough," Lynn shrugged.
Hobbs looked at her in the eyes. Was he absorbing details, or mulling over her words? His eyes darted to her ear for a second. Maybe he knew from the start that this was a team effort on her part.
"Follow me," he stood from his desk. Leni obeyed and, within a minute or so, was standing in front of a cell. Guards armed with guns stood by at the ends of the hallway. They seemed to twitch their eyes around like they were consumed by paranoia.
"These are the perps you brought in already," He waved an arm at them all. Crusher was shoved into a corner, looking at her with burning hatred. Springlocke was sitting on the bench, with Mole-Man being the most recent addition.
"Huh," Lincoln noted. "Kind of hard to believe that, after everything that's happened, we only caught three villains."
"Because there's supposed to be five," Luna pointed out. "Dream Queen and Spider are missing."
"Where are the other two?" Leni asked, horror striking her voice.
"We can barely hold these three as it is," Hobs explained. "The boy took a turn for the worst. He's under a careful watch at the hospital. And the girl..."
He sighed. "We turned her over first. The rest of them are making the same trip in a day or two. Whenever the armored carrier gets back."
"What!?"
"Miss," Hobs argued. "We couldn't feed her, we couldn't reason with her... The moment we took that gag off, she very nearly killed six officers. We had to send her away."
Leni lowered her head. Midori Summers was in a dark place, and seemed contempt to stay there. Maybe they couldn't reason with her.
"Some people don't know it yet," Hobs added. "but the city's about to pop. We can't hold people like them here."
"Lis-" Leni stopped herself. "A friend of mine made special handcuffs to dull their powers. She's been forwarding the blueprints and methods to the government. They can help with-"
"They're demanding we turn these kids over to them. You included." Hobbs informed her.
Lynn cursed on the other end of her earpiece. Luna sounded like she was about to join her.
"Science experiments," Luna told her. "If they turn over those kids to the government... They'll never be seen or heard from again."
Leni's mind flashed back to little David and his father.
"You can't let them take them!" Leni begged.
"I might not have a choice!" Hobbs argued back. "These people are a menace! And I got a general on my ass, telling me to hand them over tomorrow!"
"They're lost!" Leni pleaded. "And they're scared. They need treatment! Medicine!"
Hobbs shook his head. "This isn't my call to make, girl."
"They're has to be some way to help them," Leni carried on. "Something that not even a general would be willing to do."
The room was silent for a moment.
"Excuse me."
Leni turned to see a new face. An old white man with gray hair and suspenders.
"You're the super-girl?" he gestured at her. She nodded. "You two. My office."
They followed him into a room that reminded Leni of the Principal's office. At least, it had the same amount of weight in the air, in her mind.
"Sit."
Leni was shocked to find the other adult in the room obey the order, taking the chair next to her. The gray-haired Commissioner poured packets of sugar into a mug as he spoke. Taking his time with stirring it. The name on his desk said "Reilly."
"Comic books were all the rage, back in my day," he went on. "I still read some, with my grandson, sometimes. Nowadays, people only tend to care about comic books if it does something that offends them."
Leni glanced from the old man to the slightly younger one next to her. His eyes were impatient. He's been lectured in this room before.
"Frankly," he continued. "I'm amazed more people haven't died. We got the usual victims. Gangbangers making their moves. Looters. Murderers. All that ugly sh- stuff."
"Old fashioned," Lincoln surmised. "Doesn't cuss in front of girls."
"Yeah, yeah," Lynn complained. "Get on with it."
"These vigilantes are a problem, though," he looked at Leni. "Wouldn't you agree?"
Leni shifted in her seat.
"Yes," she nodded.
"What do you suggest we do about it?"
Leni looked at him. His eyes were critical, and weary. She needed a good answer to give him. She didn't have one… and all this attention is making her very uncomfortable!
Wait a second.
"Attention…"
"Pardon?"
Leni locked eyes with the Commissioner. Leni wasn't sure about what she wanted to say. She had the idea in her mind, but the words came slowly.
"What if…" she started to say, "What if the sup-er, I mean, victims… What if they, like, had interviews?"
"Interviews," Commissioner Reilly echoed.
"Like," Leni continued. "I used to do fashion shows, like, all the time. Like for charity. And we'd give out pamphlets with information on the event. Like with cancer research, or autism awareness, or other stuff like that. A lot of people attending the shows would leave with a little more knowledge than before."
The two men blinked at her.
"So your saying… we should hold a fashion show…"
"No," Leni waved her hands, only slightly distracted by the images that conjured up. "I mean… People need to know what's happening. These are victims we're dealing with. Powers or no powers. If the people knew what that general guy was trying to do…"
Leni let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"I think they would help," Leni concluded.
The man across the desk nodded and looked over to Hobbs, who shrugged.
"It's not a bad idea," Hobbs said. "Weirdly enough. Public outcry. Safest place for them might be the spotlight."
"Might be…" the Commissioner thought it over. "Alright kid. We'll try it your way. I got a brother in law on prosecution. I'll run some things by him, take this on from a legal angle. Jacob, how's Holly these days?"
"Chief." Hobbs sounded like he was pleading. "Don't do that to me."
"She ain't gonna kill you," Reilly waved off. "Not without dinner first. Just ask her, will you?"
Hobbs didn't answer. He just shook his head and rubbed his eyes.
"You, on the other hand," Reilly pointed to Leni. "Are going to be in contact with us. Working with us. Hobbs will be your contact."
"Wait. Hold up."
"This seems kind of…" Lincoln audibly tensed up.
"Superfluous," Lisa finished. "Considering we're here."
"This line is crowded enough as it is!" Luan complained.
"No complaints," Reilly held up his hand. "You're here to help, this is how you help. We communicate. You let Hobbs know when a crime is in progress. You report every detail truthfully, and we can respond that much more quickly to a scene. Capiche?"
Leni nodded. "Yes sir."
"Good," Reilly sat back. "Go get 'em, tigers."
The two stood and walked out. Hobbs paused a few steps out of the office and sighed.
"Alright," he said, "Alright. You got your phone on you?"
She brought it out and they tapped the devices together.
"No cat videos," he instructed. "No emojis. Just business and emergencies. We clear?"
"O-okay," Leni gulped.
A brief few seconds of silence passed.
"Uh…" Leni stated. "I know this is going to be, like, really hard to do… but I know it's the right thing."
Hobbs nodded.
"Well," he said, "If the right thing were easy, everyone would be doing it.
"You're a brave kid," he noted. "I'll give you that. Just go home for today. Hug your parents. Maybe tell them what you've been up to."
"Maybe," Leni answered with a smile.
Meltdown sat in his chair, mulling over the new information.
"Lincoln," he repeated. "You're sure that's what you heard?"
"Hundred percent." Nox reported. "I mean, who names their kid "Lincoln?" Who hates their kids that much?"
"Yours," Ink mocked. "Actually naming you Dirt."
Nox started screaming at her, yelling profanities. Meltdown stood from his chair, and chucked a fireball at their feet.
"Enough!" he silenced them.
They flinched as the embers scattered at their feet. They saw his eyes glowing red like hazard lights. The image made him look like Superman. The air was heavy with the unnatural heat.
"We have enough to deal with already!" He scolded them. "Without infighting!"
He took a breath, his eyes dimming down, though his face still retained his fury.
"We need to deal with this," he decided. "Deal with her. She takes out Springlocke. And now, Mole-Man's off the field. And we don't even have the new recruit like we thought we would."
"Maybe you shouldn't have trusted him with the job," Ink dismissed.
"He was perfect for the job," Meltdown corrected her. "It's that self-righteous nobody that's the problem. Now we got the leftovers of all the gangs in town teaming up against us. You want to fight that many thugs, just the three of us?"
The two shifted uncomfortably.
"I didn't think so," he paced in front of them. "We only got the one crystal rod left. And we can't have her getting in our way again."
"So what do we do?"
Their leader thought for a second.
"I'll be right back," he decided. "Don't wait up for me."
He brushed past them, leaving the hideout they had set up in their confrontation with Spider. He wasn't in his costume, so walking down the street wasn't a big deal. And no one knew his face or what he'd been up to, so making his way into the Library was no problem. All the same, people swayed away from him.
It was his face. The entire walk was worn with a look of hatred. It didn't matter who crossed his path; everybody was in danger, and anybody could set him off.
He reached the library and sat at the desk without incident, though. He opened up a web browser and googled a single name.
"Leni Loud."
He found some social media sights, finding the photos of a blond girl with a staggering amount of selfies. Most of which featured other people. Friends, family… this one featured an older woman that might have been her boss.
Sifting through the multiple sights the girl used, and the bits and pieces of information from here and there, he managed to piece together a picture. He put names to faces. He got pieces of their personality. He understood the naming convention behind the family.
It was huge.
How many kids were in that house? He had to start over a couple of times. He narrowed it down to fifteen, but then realized that two or three of them might be friends of Leni, not siblings. There's the marker of where she took these pictures. Her house. The mall. A school. These profiles haven't been updated in a couple of months.
Rita. Lynn. Lori. Luna. Luan. Lynn Jr. Lincoln. Lucy. Lola. Lana. Lisa. Lily.
Leni.
"How bold of you, Loud," He muttered to himself. "Making enemies when you have so much to lose."
