"Mom? Mom? Mommy!"

The shakes jarred Leni awake. She took in a breath as she yawned and stretched her arms. She must have fallen asleep on the couch.

"Not now Lola," Leni turned over. "I've been up all night. I'll play with you later. Just let me sleep."

"Lola?" the voice sounded bewildered. "Silly Mommy. I'm Amy."

Leni's eyes shot open and she raised her head to look at the little girl standing next to her. She blinked with bewilderment at the toddler.

She had to be six or seven years old. Short black hair, yellow skin, pink T-shirt with a dancing cartoon flower on it, blue shorts and white light up shoes.

Leni blinked. "Hi," she greeted. She sat up. "Are you one of Lola's friends-"

"Hey Mom!" a call from the other room snapped her attention. Wait, this was the living room, but the kitchen's under the stairs. The dining room is completely open to the living room. This isn't their furniture. There's a mirror by the door. Whose house is this?!

"Mom?" the second voice called again. This time she poked her head through the doorway. A pretty girl with dark skin and curly hair smiled at her. "Dad said he had to work late tonight, so he thought you could use a hand in the kitchen."

Leni didn't answer, but the girl didn't stick around. She headed back into the kitchen. Leni looked around, going up to the mirror. It was still her. Her blond hair was longer. She still had a pair of shades on her head. She had a turquoise top, and white mom jeans. Her figure had certainly… filled out. She was older, somehow.

"Mommy?"

Leni looked down. The little girl was looking up at her with pleading eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

Leni opened her mouth, but she couldn't think of an answer. The other girl set something down in the kitchen and walked out with a skeptical look.

"I'm…" Leni found her words. "I'm fine… Amy. I just… I think I need to sit down for a second."

Leni walked back to the couch, the new teenager held her hand as she set down.

"Amelia," the older girl lightly suggested. "Why don't you go upstairs?"

The little girl spared another glance at Leni before trotting off. Leni held a hand over her face.

I think I'm going to be sick. She thought to herself. I'm a Mom!?

"Mom?" the older girl held her shoulder. "Mom?"

Leni looked over to the girl. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "But… Who are you?"

"Oh boy," the girl placed her palm to Leni's forehead. "You really did hit your head this time, didn't you?"

Leni blinked. Was it that simple an explanation?

"Breathe in and out, Mom," she instructed. "You're Leni Loud. I'm Avery, your daughter."

"Daughters. Right." That must be this girl's name. She pointed at the stairs. "And she's… Amelia."

"Yes," Avery agreed before continuing, "Your husband is Victor Reid."

"Wait," Leni paused. "Husband?"

She looked at her hands. If she's married, then…

There. A ring, on her finger, and a modest diamond.

"You kept your maiden name when you married," Avery explained. "Then you decided you wanted to adopt… well, everyone, I guess."

"Adopt, right," Leni nodded. "Wait, everyone?"

Just then, the door opened, and a flood of kids poured in. Five total. Leni stared at the bunch, wide eyed.

There was a tall teenager with a plaid green shirt, and red hair. He just placed a pair of headphones over his ears. Two blond twelve year old boys were shoving and horse playing in their jerseys. A thirteen-year-old with a head brace had her head stuck in a book. And finally, a two-year-old boy clumsily stepped in, with short black hair, wide blue eyes, and a thumb in his mouth.

These were her kids.

This was her… family.

"Hey, guys," Avery stood up. "Let's take it easy today. Mom's not feeling too hot right now."

"What, she split a seam?" The older teen snickered. Then he got a slightly more worried look as Leni stared at him.

"Shut up, Benjamin," Avery stood up to the taller, more imposing boy. She looked at the others. "Barry, Bryce, go clean your room before Mom sees what you did to it, again. Audrey- Hello? Yes, you Audrey- put down the book long enough to keep an eye on Amy upstairs. And Bradley…"

The toddler stomped up to Leni, with his thumb in his mouth. The little boy looked up at her, and then held his arms up to be picked up.

Leni, of course picked the boy up and wrapped him in a hug.

"Mommy?" the little boy babbled. In her ear.

"It's okay, sweetie," Leni soothed the boy. "I'm right here."

Victor Reid. Leni Loud. Benjamin, Avery, Audrey, Barry, Bryce, Amelia, and Bradley.

Suddenly, the cloud of confusion in Leni's mind didn't matter anymore. The metric ton of questions didn't seem all that important. She had five… six… seven beautiful children.

What more could she ask for?

Well, she could ask for that phone to stop ringing.

"Mom," Benjamin pointed out. "It's your work phone."

"Work phone?" Leni looked up. She picked the device off the coffee table and, seeing the call labeled as "Linky," answered it.

"Hello?" she answered uncertainly.

"Hey," a very grown voice answered nonchalantly. "Got another one nearby, are you busy?"

"Lincoln?" Leni couldn't believe it. "You sound… different."

"Not really the time, Leni," Older-Lincoln scolded. "This guy's kind of a nut. He's calling himself… What is this? Zombiefarious? Ugh. I hate it when they try too hard to be clever. Anyway, I need to know if you can handle this or not."

"Handle it…" Leni looked at her free hand. She remembered. She could feel the power inside of her. She was a superhero. "Um… Yeah. Yeah, I can handle it."

"Cool," Lincoln answered. "He's on North Street right now. You'll know him when you see him."

Leni hung up the phone. She looked at the children around her.

"Your suit's upstairs, Mom," Avery gently reminded her.

"Upstairs," Leni repeated. She followed those instructions and, after deducing that the master bedroom was at the end of the hall, wandered into her room.

It was almost on instinct, going over to the vanity and pressing a hidden button. The dresser and mirror folded themselves into the floor and wall. In its place, a display case featuring a suit and a mask on a mannequin. It was just like her old costume, a turquoise dress with black leggings. The cape looked like silk. The boots, and gloves and new shoulder pads were all more streamlined. It looked like the design she created so many "years" ago had been perfected. Even the mask had two colored lines by the eyes.

"Wow," she uttered. She wasted no more time, and dressed herself in her new uniform. It felt instantaneous that she was standing in the mirror admiring herself.

"I. Look. Good." She nodded in approval. Her reflection agreed.

Without another second's hesitation, she dashed out the nearby window. Flying up and above a city she loved. Feeling the rush of the wind, but none of the cold. She may have forgotten a lot, but this is one thing she remembered.

She saw the ruckus being caused downtown. Police had their cars parked at both ends of the street. The suspect was thrashing around the center. He was six feet tall, wearing harness around his torso. He was muscly, flailing his arms about. Visually everything was fine until you see him from the neck up. Skin melded into the bone of his spinal column, and stopped just short of a bare, white skull. There were no eyes, or ears, or any sign of any other organs that should have allowed the boy to function. In fact the sockets were totally black, not exposing the brain that should be rolling around in there.

And suddenly, Leni was thankful she couldn't see that.

Leni floated over the cars, not intentionally ignoring the officers, but was absorbed by the sight of the rampaging criminal.

"Hey, hero!"

Leni snapped her head over to the old man calling her down. His hair had more gray than color, but Leni was able to recognize her police officer friend.

"Officer Hobbs," Leni greeted as she set down.

The man gave her a strange look. "Commissioner," he corrected with a shake of his head. "Kid's drugged up. We can't get near him long enough to calm him down. Bullet proof too, as far as I can tell."

Leni raised an eyebrow. "How do you know he's bulletproof?"

Hobbs rubbed the back of his head. "Youngbloods," he shrugged.

Leni nodded and drifted over to the giant. As she made her way to them, more people noticed her, and started to cheer her name.

"Le-ni-Loud! Le-ni-Loud! Le-ni-Loud!"

Leni blushed as she descended. This should be easy, she was an adult now, after all.

"Excuse me, young man!" Leni called out. The boy turned to look at her. His blank bony face betrayed nothing.

"I can tell you're distressed," Leni approached him. "We can fight this out, or we can talk this out. Its your choice."


Leni walked through the sliding doors with her guest in tow.

"I know these powers are confusing," Leni encouraged, "but if you give these people the time, I'm sure they can help you."

"Okay," the skeletal jaw clacked open with each syllable. Leni wasn't sure how the sound was being made, but the words came unhindered. "Okay, I'll try."

The boy was escorted away, and Leni walked into the room. It was filled with people at computer stations. They were all facing a screen on the opposite wall, and a man was standing in front it with a headset.

"Okay. Good job, take ten." The commander ordered into the headset. "Who do we have on patrol in the area? Okay, give them the heads up. They'll know what to do."

As Leni approached the center of the room, the commander turned around to show a familiar face.

"Leni," Lincoln waved as he walked to meet her. "Thanks for coming in. We were really short staffed today- Whoa!"

Leni attacked her brother with a bear hug around his neck. She didn't care where they were or if people stared. She was just glad he was here. She pulled back and looked him up and down.

"Lincoln…" she gasped. "You're so tall! And you're growing a beard!"

The young man blushed as his subordinates snickered around him.

"Let's talk in the next room," he led her down to a side door, opening to an office.

"You're walking," Leni noted. "You healed up!"

"Are you okay?" the young man put a hand on the woman's forehead. "Did you hit your head again?"

"I… I guess so," Leni sighed. "I don't really remember… anything. Like, what is this place?"

"Superheroes Incorporated," Lincoln proudly crossed his arms and leaned against his desk. "It's the company you started."

"No way. Are Lori and the others here?"

"Yeah," Lincoln smiled. "Lori's handling the financial stuff and keeping everyone honest."

"Lana and Lola?" Leni pushed. "What about Lisa?"

"Lisa's head of the development bracket, sharing and inventing new tech for our field operations. Lana's going to join her next year, if you can believe it. Engineering department. Lola's thinking about the business management with Lori, but she hasn't settled on anything yet."

"What's Luan up to? Did Luna start her band?"

"Luna and Luan have been doing some amazing work in our advertisement departments. Luna more in her own way."

"What about Lynn and Lucy?"

"Recruit training and chronicler, respectively," Lincoln answered. "Lola's thinking about the business management with Lori, but she hasn't settled on anything yet."

A new thought occurred to Leni. "And Lily?"

"Turning fifteen this year," He shook his head, "If you can believe it."

"Fifteen…" Leni blinked. That little baby is already in high school. "I should have seen…"

"Hey," Lincoln reach out. "It's okay. We can catch up with her some time."

Leni looked at her brother. "What about you?"

"Mission coordinator," he smiled. "I think up new strategies and direct our operatives to key positions."

"Other superheroes," Leni breathed. "I'm not the only one."

Leni breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was alright, even if her memory is a little fuzzy. But… something's not quite right.

"What about my husband?" Leni asked her brother. "Who is Victor Reid?"

"You're an idiot."

Leni blinked. That didn't sound like her brother, but who else could it be?

"Are you really going to fall for all of this?" her brother said in a different voice. "I will have my revenge on you, Sky Girl. So, you better not die before I get back. So says the Dream Queen."

"Midori Summers?" Leni's eyes grew wide.

"Leni? Leni, are you there?"

Leni shook her head and blinked. Her brother looked at her like nothing happened.

"I…" She shook her head again. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said Victor called earlier," he explained. "He said you hit your head, and its too soon to be flying around the city."

"Right, right," Leni agreed. "That… that makes sense… I think."

"He says he's on his way to pick you up," Lincoln wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'll walk you out."

The two walked down the building, sitting in the elevator for an uncomfortably long time. The longer it took, the more a sense of dread overtook Leni. She couldn't explain it, but this person holding onto her felt more like a stranger than her brother.

Actually, she doesn't remember taking an elevator to get up here to begin with.

"Hey," Leni croaked as she realized her throat was dry. "Remember that time, when I helped with Easter Dinner?"

"Um… Remind me?"

"I just remember how good it all looked. And how it smelled," Leni explained with a nostalgic smile. "I think I found my passion for cooking then."

Lincoln smiled at her.

"Yeah," he agreed. "You always knew your way around the kitchen."

They rode the rest of the elevator in silence. When the doors open, Leni found themselves in a lobby. They made it halfway across when Leni halted her stride completely, forcing her escort to stop as well.

"Lincoln," Leni prompted. "What are our parents names?"

"What?" Lincoln looked at her. "Leni don't be ridiculous. Come on, the car is here. Its time for you to go home."

"No!" Leni threw the arm off of her. "You lied, Lincoln!"

"What?" He looked confused. "About what?"

"I burn everything!" Leni pointed out. "You guys do everything you can to keep me out of the kitchen!"

The front doors open, and Leni's children poured into the building.

"Mommy!" they collectively rushed her. They crowded around her, jumping up and hugging her, each on begging for her attention.

Leni's heart crumbled. She couldn't answer any of them. She took a deep breath and looked around. That fuzziness at the edges of her vision. It felt like a storybook. It felt faker than the faux fur on tv.

"The last thing I remember…" she muttered out loud. The children stopped harping on her and stared. "Was there was a call of a lot of missing persons. Including Sam Sharp. Luna asked me to look for her, and… I found her in a warehouse. With…"

"Victor Reid."

Leni turned to the front sliding doors to see a man walk in. He looked rich, with a white suit and leather brown shoes. Although, the rich air stopped just short of his head. The head of a goat was there, with white hair and curling horns next to his ears. He wore black glasses, and his fingers were reduced to three digits. Two of the digits looked like they should have been hooves.

"Very good, Sky Girl," he greeted her. "I admit, even with the limited information, I thought I collected everything I needed to know about you. Clearly, something went awry."

"Who are you?" Leni demanded.

"Oh, you can just call me Goat," he waved aside. "Besides, its not about what I want, its what you want, isn't that right?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," he explained, "Isn't this all you ever dreamed of? All you ever lusted after? A good life? A loving family? Is it not all to your liking? If not, then we can begin again! We can make everything just the way you want it!"

Leni felt a tentative tug on her arm. She looked at her oldest, Benjamin.

"Mom?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

"Do you need anything Mom?" Avery asked.

"Do you need a nap?" Amy asked.

"Are you sick?" Barry and Bryce harmonized.

"You should turn in for a while," Audrey recommended. "Maybe just read a good book."

Leni looked down at the youngest. With wide brown eyes, he looked up at her and pulled the pacifier out of his mouth.

"Mommy…?"

If Leni's heart broke before, it was shattering now. She felt tears well up in her eyes.

"It's perfect," she whispered hoarsely.

"Yes…?" Goat leaned over her.

"It's… too… perfect…" Leni looked up with watery eyes. "I can't stay here. Not when the real world's in danger. I already have a family back home, and if that's all I get, then... that's fine."

"Even if I never walk again?" Lincoln's voice haunted her eardrums.

Leni's shudder seemed to tremor out into the world around her.

"Yes," she answered.

"No," Goat started to panic. He looked up at the building around them. "Stop!"

Leni ignored him, and dropped to her knees, hugging her children.

"Stop this!" Goat bleated. "It can be better! I swear!"

"Mommy," Avery whispered. "I'm scared."

"I know, honey," Leni held them tightly. "Just hang on to me. It's going to be okay."

Leni's vision blacked out as the entirety of the building came crashing down on top of them.


Leni's vision returned in the middle of flight. She threw a punch that she already had cocked back past her shoulder.

She swung it with all her might, hitting Goat across his jaw and making him collapse on the floor.

Leni landed, trying her best not to stagger and fall herself. She looked around the warehouse. All the victims were here, lying on cots low to the ground. Leni couldn't think to count how many there were.

She put a finger to her earpiece.

"Guys?" she called. "Are you there?"

"Yeah, we're here," Luna sounded unsure. "Where else would we be?"

"What happened?" Luan questioned.

"That's…" Leni shook her head. "That's what I want to know."

"We found the guy by guessing his hideout," Lincoln explained. "Then he saw you, and you punched him."

He said it like that should have been sufficient information. Leni breathed heavily, trying to calm her nerves.

"You okay?" Luna asked her.

"…Yeah," Leni answered with a sigh. "I'm okay."

She looked up at the victims slowly stirring. Some were waking up. It looked like they were going to be okay.

She pulled out the extra cuffs that Lisa was putting in overtime just to make.

"Let's just put this guy in jail already," Leni dismissed.