Chapter 1: Familial Setting

The sun peeked over the horizon above the town of Royal Woods, Michigan. A rooster gave its morning call from a nearby farm, signalling the start of a new day. For the Loud family it was the start to a normal Saturday morning, and by normal, that meant chaos. But chaos was normal for them with eleven siblings under one roof. Each of their personalities fit a specific role in the house's dynamic. Though their family was as peculiar as any could be, life in their crazy home was something they had come to accept as their own form of being a normal family.

"Kids, come on down!" The voice of their father yelled up the stairs, "Breakfast is ready! I made my signature Lynn-tastic omelets!"

At the sound of Lynn Sr. announcing his delicious meals, eleven pajama-clad kids practically bum-rushed out of their rooms, racing down the stairs to get to their respective seats to dig in. Their father's specially made omelets were second to none, and he even made sure to make each one to their liking, complete with their favorite cheeses, meats and veggies. In tandem they took to their chairs with their omelets handed to them by their father. The eldest sat at the grown-up table while the youngest five sat at the kiddie table, taking their meals with them.

"Now kids, what do you say?" Their mother asked.

"Thanks dad!" They cheered at once and began to eat. After a little while the matriarch of the Loud family spoke up.

"So, what are we all doing today?" Rita Loud asked as she sat down with her tofu omelet and kicking off a conversation, "I know it's a Saturday and you kids are aching to get out there!"

"Oh, the mall's having a superb deal on their old clothes at Lord and Taylor today!" Leni was the first one to speak up. The ditsy shopaholic sounded very excited for what was happening at her favorite place, "Fifty percent off all clearance items! It's totes amazing!"

"Good for you honey, I'm sure Lori will take you over this afternoon, right Lori?" Rita asked her eldest daughter, who rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, me and Bobby were literally gonna hang out at the mall anyway, so I might as well take you too." Lori brushed it off, more concerned with finishing her breakfast than talking. Leni looked at her sibling with happy eyes, as if she had just told her something spectacular.

"Like, thanks Lori! You're the best!"

"I know."

Meanwhile at the kiddie table, the youngest of the Loud siblings were chowing down. Rather than talk about anything related to shopping or dating, something else was going on. As they ate, they noticed that a certain red-capped sister of their's was eating her omelet at a rather abnormally pace. Lana was devouring her breakfast so fast that food bits was starting to scatter around the table where she sat. Lincoln and Lola, who were sitting on either side of her, watched as their sister inhaled the omelet.

"Jeez Lana, show a little class!" Lola shouted and backed away from her twin, who was scarfing down her food with vigor. She'd ditched her fork for her hands and soon enough the sausage, onion and swiss cheese omelet she had on her plate not one moment ago was gone. Lana even started to lick her plate like a dog. Satisfied that she had eaten well, Lana let out a loud belch that got the attention of the adult table.

"Ha! Nice one, Lana!" Lynn gave a thumbs up.

"Whew, that was good!" Lana pat her stuffed belly and leaned back on her chair, "Thanks for the meal, dad! That hit the spot!"

"Anything for my little mechanic!" Lynn Sr. gushed out.

"Oh, speaking of mechanics," Lana shot up after she realized something, "I'll be working on Vanzilla today, Lori. You're gonna have to wait for me to fix her exhaust coupling and the accelerator before you head to the mall. Wouldn't want another fender bender again, right?"

"What are you talking about? I'm a good driver," Lori said back, and her siblings responded with deadpan expressions, "Okay, so I have a lead foot! So what? Time is of the essence here people! Don't any of you have literally any sense of urgency?"

"Fear not sis, it's not because you drive us crazy," Luan quipped, and Lori responded with a fierce glare and clenched teeth, "It's because you car-en't a safe driver, hahaha! Get it?" The rest of her siblings groaned at her puns, except for her dad who was giggling the whole time.

"Oh don't worry, I get it," Lori quietly seethed, imagining just for once taking her fist to Luan's stupid smirk without getting into trouble. Oh what a sight.

"The Muscle Fish v. Ace Savvy movie came out this weekend," Lincoln said as hyped as can be to see his favorite comic book heroes and villains finally make it to the big screen, and just in time for him and his friends to see. "I'm gonna see it with Clyde and the guys tonight. It's going be awesome!" Lincoln exclaimed with finger horns up in the air.

"Pft, what a nerd," Lola sniggered, Lana joining her. Lincoln gave the twins a glare.

"Well this nerd is gonna see the number one movie in America tonight, so I'm feeling good Lola. Sorry, it's rated PG. You're gonna have to wait until you're older to see it," Lincoln teased, pointing a fork at his little sister who returned a glare.

"Ugh, who'd want to see some dumb superhero movie anyway? They all have the same stupid story about good guys and bad guys," Lola rolled her eyes, "I mean, what do they even do? What's their superpower, flying around and looking ugly?" She asked. Lola was not a fan of caped crusaders or any other things that were too boyish for her. She'd stick with princess movies, thank you.

"Y'know Lola, I'd bet you there's some superheroes that you'd like!" Lincoln argued, which instantly got everyone else's attention. The solo son of the Loud family was a major fan of comic book superheroes, and what they all knew about superheroes is what made them super in the first place; their powers. From flying to shapeshifting to magic abilities there was an endless smorgasbord of superpowers in the world of comic books. Lincoln read them all, never once taking a side as to which comic industry was better. He'd read and enjoy them as any real comic book fan would do.

"Oh yeah?" Lola scoffed, "Name one."

"Well," Lincoln scratched the back of his head, "there's the Star Sapphires. They're like pink Green Lanterns."

Instantly catching on with the mention of a pink hero, Lola asked, "Alright, I'm interested. What do they do?"

"Well, all of them are girls, just like you. Like the Green Lanterns, the Star Sapphires use a power ring," Lincoln gestured towards his middle finger where the ring would be, "And while the Green Lanterns use the emotional power of will, the Sapphires use the power of love."

"The power of love? Really?" Lola said incredulously, wondering if Lincoln was just pulling her leg. As stated before, Lola never really read any comic books, so she was taking everything that her brother told her as the truth. But the power of love? That sounded silly.

"Yep! They make constructs made of pink light with their rings to battle their enemies across the universe," Lincoln said to her, "And it's not just pink and green, Lola. All the colors of the emotional spectrum are used, like a rainbow."

"Aren't there other Lantern colors as well, like red and blue?" Lana asked, getting in on the conversation.

"Yep, there's the Red Lanterns, they're powered by rage. And the Blue Lanterns, who use hope as their power." Lincoln said back, really having fun telling his younger siblings about all his comic book knowledge. "Ace Savvy had a crossover many years ago with the Green Lanterns when a bad guy stole a Lantern ring. It came out when mom and dad were kids."

"I read that comic, son!" Lynn Sr. said, overhearing his son talking about old comics, "Ah, Ace Savvy and the Lantern Strike. Now that was a timeless classic. I read that all the time when I was your age, back when comic books were considered to be bad for us kids, part of my rebellious age."

"Oh stop it Lynn, you were never rebellious in the first place," Rita playfully admonished her husband.

"But I still read that comic, and I enjoyed it very much."

"Well, my favorites are the Black Lanterns," Lucy said, surprising everyone since she usually never really talked about any literature besides her poetry, "I read one of their editions thanks to Lincoln's comic books. The rings are worn by the undead, and their leader is the grim reaper. Plus black is my favorite color. Sigh, if only I could have a ring that would raise me an army of vengeful ghouls. That'd be killer."

"Uh huh," Lincoln said slowly. One, he wasn't really surprised that the Black Lanterns would be Lucy's favorite, considering the little goth liked all things dark and dreary. Two, the thing he was indeed quite surprised about was that Lucy had read some of his comic books. He also noticed that a certain scientific toddler was keeping to herself the whole time, munching down on her omelet, having not said a word since the whole superpower conversation started.

"You haven't said anything Lisa," Lincoln said, getting the attention of his little sister, "Not a fan of superpowers?"

"You mean the inane science-fiction fantasy elements? No thank you, I'd like to base myself on real, actual things that occur in the world of reality," Lisa responded.

"Lisa's too smart for comic books," Lana smirked at her younger sister, "Don't want those colored pictures to lower her brain power, right Lis?"

"It's not that I don't enjoy comic books," Lisa argued, putting down her boot and her fork, "They just don't tickle my fancy. There are other forms of literature that enjoy more than simple panels on pages, such as novels and textbooks." She explained to her siblings. While Lisa might not be a fan of comic books and superheroes, she could understand why they were so popular. Audiences, Lincoln included, liked reading stories that detail human abilities far beyond their own, hence the name superpowers.

"But if you had a superpower, what would it be?" Lucy asked. "I'd imagine telekinesis or telepathy would be up your alleyway."

"Yeah! Something to do with that big brain of your's, right?" Lola said, pointing at her sister's head like she could see the organ inside.

"Actually," Lisa said, punctuating her point by raising a finger, "the most useful abnormal human ability, street name superpower, that would find to be my favorite would be the ability to view various molecular objects too small to see with the naked eye." She finished, and noticed that her siblings were giving her confused looks. Once again her impressive vernacular leaves them clueless.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, "Oh for... microscopic vision you nimrods." Lisa clarified, "So I can see things without using an electron microscope and help my research."

Her sisters and brother let out an "Ooh," as she returned to finishing her breakfast.

"I'd turn into animals! Like Beast Boy!" Lana practically jumped into her part of the conversation, slamming down her hands on the table and making her plate bounce. She seemed pretty excited to talk about her favorite superpower, "I'd finally be able to live out my dream and be a lizard!"

Lily let out an adorable "RAWR!", putting her hands up like tiger claws.

"Simple things for simple minds I suppose," Lisa muttered.

"There are other heroes that can turn into animals, Lana, like Miss Martian and Vixen," Lincoln added, getting the animal lover's attention, "Plus one of them's an alien."

"That's so cool!" Lana gushed out, starry-eyed. "Tell me more!"

Over at the other table, Luna watched as her younger sisters and brother conversed with each other on the topic of their favorite superpower. For the rocker it was honestly heartwarming to see them so talkative among each other, even Lisa and Lucy were getting interested in what their brother was talking about. Luna noticed that her table might have gone quiet, but they too were hearing what the kiddie table was talking about.

"Could you imagine all of us having superpowers, dudes?" Luna asked. Luan and Leni smiled while Lori rolled her eyes.

"That's literally giving me a headache just thinking about it," Lori said, woefully imagining all of her younger siblings having various superhuman abilities, running around the house causing chaos, and more importantly, not listening to her. She shuddered at the thought.

"Are you kidding me? I'd love to have superpowers!" Lynn exclaimed, jubilant as can be, "My favorites? Definitely super strength AND super speed. With those two powers I'd be the greatest sports player in the world!"

"Invisibility is this comedian's favorite," Luan said, putting in her two cents by pointing to herself, "It's such a simple yet devious power. You know how easy it would be for me to prank people? They wouldn't even see me coming, ha ha ha! Get it?"

"As for me dudes, I'd take anything related to music," Luna admitted, "Maybe a supersonic scream to get me on that high note."

"I would totes have a cute power, maybe even one that would help me style my dresses," Leni pondered, "Like, something to do with fashion!"

"This conversation is literally stupid," Lori grumbled out, finished with her omelet and texting on her smartphone.

"Aw c'mon Lori, don't be a stick in the mud!" Luan argued, nudging her older sister with an elbow, "I bet there's some superpower you dreamed of having when you were Link's age."

"Yeah, like superfast texting," Lynn giggled, "So she can keep in touch with Boo-Boo Bear!" She puckered up her lips, making smooching noises as she did. The rest of her siblings had a laugh at that, except for Lori of course, who was steaming in her seat. The father and mother of the Loud children enjoyed the morning show of their children making talk with each other on such a silly topic, and for them it was just too pure.

"Life would certainly be interesting with ten super-kids, right honey?" Lynn Sr. said to his wife.

"Interesting indeed, Lynn."

...

The day had turned to the afternoon, the sun now at its highest peak. The house had been gifted the sweet sound of silence for the time being, since half the kids were either gone to do whatever chores they needed to do or stores they had to visit. Lori and Leni had gone to the mall as they had discussed earlier after Lana had taken care of Vanzilla's mechanical issues. Luna had gone off to practice with her band at the house of one of her band friends, who just so happened to be Sam Sharp, Luna's secret crush. Luan was at a birthday party, being the main attraction, and Lynn was at the ball park hitting it up with her team.

That just left Lincoln and his younger siblings: Lucy, the twins, Lisa and Lily.

And speaking of Lincoln, the boy had dug through the cardboard boxes he kept underneath his bed. In them lay his extensive comic collection from every brand he could find in Royal Woods. He'd recently beaten some levels in Super Mario Odyssey and was ready to take a break rereading some of his older comic books. Before he could strip himself out of his undies and begin to dive into the adventure, he heard his phone go off.

A quick look at the screen revealed who was calling.

"Hey Clyde," Lincoln said, answering though speaker.

"'Sup Lincoln, are you ready for the Muscle Fish v. Ace Savvy movie tonight?" Clyde excitedly asked his best friend, "Rusty, Liam and Zack just arrived at my house and we're loading up snacks to sneak in." Lincoln had done his fair share of bringing food into movie theaters to avoid having to pay for ridiculously overpriced candy. Naturally Clyde and the rest of his friends would do the same thing.

"I brought my big coat!" Lincoln heard Rusty say.

Clyde continued talking, "You wanna stop on by and play some Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with us before we head out to see the movie? Zack brought his adapter and some spare controllers." Clyde said. Lincoln knew that he couldn't deny his friend's invitation to a game of Smash.

"I'll be there in five!" He said and hung up, grabbing his shoes and coat as he ran out of his room. "Mom, dad, I'm heading over to Clyde's!"

"I left some cash for you on the table, honey!" Lincoln heard his mom say back, noticing a twenty dollar bill on the end table near the front door, "I know you boys are gonna be out all night, so please be careful!"

"Have fun, son!"

"We will! See ya!" Lincoln snagged the twenty and stuffed it in his pocket. He hopped on his bike and took off towards Clyde's house. As he made his way across sidewalks and streets to his friend's abode, Lincoln could feel the excitement pumping in his veins to see the movie with his buddies. It would be another day of him and his friends having another get-together, and he felt like nothing in the world could change that.

If only he knew...