Chapter XVII: The Calm
-Royal Woods-
"Thanks for dropping me off, Mr. McBride!" Lincoln heartily thanked his best friend's portly father the moment he stepped out of the sedan. It had been quite a long field trip for Lincoln Loud and his friends. The Air Force museum trip had lasted the entire school day, and so when the bus had returned to Royal Woods Elementary, the kids were rearing to get back home and relax for the evening. While most of his friends went on their way home by bike or picked up, Lincoln needed to hitch a ride thanks to his parents and older sisters currently busy. And while it was so, so tempting for him to simply use the power of flight that he had to fly back home, he knew better than to tempt fate again, a lesson he readily learned from the last time he decided to go on his own.
Thankfully, Clyde had stepped in like the good friend he is and offered a car ride with his dads, which Lincoln eagerly accepted. The two best friends had talked non-stop about the museum and its impressive collection all the way until they rounded the corner to Franklin Avenue and stopped at the front of Lincoln's home.
"It's our pleasure, Lincoln. Oh, and tell your parents we said hi!" Mr. McBride said back, giving a small wave in return as he put the car in drive and began their route back to their own home on the other side of town.
"See you tomorrow, Lincoln!" Clyde stuck his hand out the window to say goodbye to his friend for now. "Hope everything goes well with your sisters!"
"Thanks, Clyde! See ya!"
As he finished watching the car disappear around the streets of his neighborhood, Lincoln made his way to the front door of his house with a skip in his step. Today had been a great day for the young boy. Hanging out with his friends at the air museum was just what he needed to get out of his former funk. Though before he could even reach the doorknob, the mere thought of his sisters reminded him of the texts that Lynn had sent him earlier, stopping him from opening the door. A sudden chill travelled up his spine once he remembered, recalling the conversation that he and Lynn had earlier today, about how they were somehow seeing the same thing in their dreams.
He whipped out his phone from his pocket to check if there were any more unread messages that his sporty sister had sent him, but his screen showed up blank. That was a little odd, but he suspected that Lynn's phone was probably dead or charging. She had a habit of leaving it unplugged for days on end. Hoping that such a reason was the case, and not his overactive imagination believing she was taken by government agents while he was away, Lincoln pushed the door open and stepped inside.
"Hey, I'm home!" He loudly announced the moment he took his shoes off, wondering if anyone heard him.
"There you are!" Lincoln turned his head to see Lynn standing in the living room, much to his relief. She wasn't the only one in the room as Lisa, Lucy, Lily and the twins were there too, sitting down on the couch while Lynn was standing up before them, arms crossed and more than likely waiting for her brother to come home. He wasn't expecting to have half the family waiting there for him in the living room, as Sibling Meetings usually took place in Lori and Leni's room.
"Oh, hi Lynn. Sorry it took so long for me to get here. The buses kept hitting traffic on the way back to school." Lincoln said as he slung his backpack off of his shoulders. He peered over to his younger sisters, noticing that there were a few absentees present. "Where's everyone else? I thought you wanted it to be a Sibling Meeting."
"Well it would have been a real Sibling Meeting, but Lori's got work, Leni's out at the mall, Luna is on a date with Sam and Luan's at her comedy gig. So it's just the six of us for now." Lynn responded, listing off the older sisters with her fingers one by one.
"And mom and dad?"
"They went out for an invitational gathering with some of their mutual acquaintances in the next town over," Lisa responded, pushing up her glasses as she spoke, "They won't be around for at least a couple more hours. Mother Unit graciously left her credit card for us if we decide to have take out for the evening instead of cooking, considering that Father Unit is also out of town. I suggest we utilize said resources and order some delicious Chinese for dinner."
"Ugh, no! Let's get some pizza!" Lola argued.
"No way, Lola! You always want to order pizza! Let's get something different tonight, like Mexican!" Lana eagerly said.
"Guys, we can argue about dinner later! Right now, Lincoln and I have something to tell you kids, and it's about... well, y'know. Our powers." Lynn stated, effectively shutting up her younger sisters with how serious the topic had changed. With her siblings now quiet and listening intently, Lynn went on to continue speaking. "Before Linc and I talk, does anybody want to share anything they might have experienced over the past couple days? Any sort weird crap happening to any of you, and I mean outside of what we're going through right now? It's kind of important to what's happening."
Perplexed by what she was asking, the younger sisters shared several confused looks between one-another. Lola and Lana would have known if there was something odd going on with each other, since they shared a bedroom, but neither could recall anything stranger than their powers. Lisa and Lily were in the same boat as they were, nothing coming to mind that really stands out to answer Lynn's question.
"Nah, I don't think so."
"What Lana said."
"We're all good so far, right Lisa?"
"Indeed, my telepathic baby sibling."
The only one who remained silent, and slowly became the focus of everyone's attention, was the young magical goth currently sitting at the end of the couch, trying her best but failing to not look inconspicuous. Based on how she was twiddling her thumbs and avoiding making and sort of eye contact, it seemed that Lucy may have experienced something beforehand that may have some interest to what Lynn and Lincoln were talking about.
"Lucy? You're being awfully quiet right now. Is there anything you want to share with the rest of us?" Lincoln gently asked his younger sister, knowing from first-hand experience that magic was a volatile power and didn't wish to push Lucy's temper. It took a couple silent moments for her to speak, but eventually the little sorceress took a deep breath before she answered her older brother.
"I had a dream a couple nights ago," she quietly said, and near-instantly Lincoln and Lynn shared a look of surprise, "It happened after I was done writing a haiku for Lynn to cheer her up, back when we were just learning about our superpowers. I didn't want to tell anybody, since I've always had lucid dreams whenever I get really sleepy, but this was... something different. It felt so real."
The young goth couldn't help but shudder as she began to remember what happened during her slumber, clutching her own shoulders as the images slowly came back to haunt her again.
"I was terrified..."
...
Some days ago, in Lucy's mindscape...
Lucy knew she was in the midst of a dream when she looked up and saw the thunderous sky above her, great flashes of red lightning striking across the dark clouds. There was no white moon, or shining sun, but Lucy could clearly see everything around her. Surrounding the little goth was a forest of twisted dead trees as far as she could see, their branches like gnarled insect legs. The wet dirt felt soft under her hands and feet, the black-brown mud staining her undershirt before she quickly stood up, wondering what this place was. As someone who was adept in the arcane and spiritual meaning, Lucy knew that there were meanings behind certain dreams, but she felt that this place may have something more to it.
Noticing a faint glow below her vision, Lucy turned her eyes down to see that there were a myriad of magical runes emanating on her arm, each with a different color. Lucy let out a sharp gasp at seeing her young self being covered with tattoos. She brushed her hand over her skin, realizing that these were not fakes as she wanted to believe. These magical constructs were tattooed onto both of her arms, as she found out while she was trying to get rid of them.
Before she could even ponder as to what was going on with her own body, a sudden, deafening crash of thunder roaring behind her trembling body stopped her worries, and she turned around at the source of the noise to see a gigantic tower made of black stone reaching high into the heavens, only a couple yards from where she was standing. It's shadow casted high over her, with an ancient Gothic-style architectural design, with great grooves and ornate windows stretching across its structure. Several more bolts of crimson light struck the tower's walls, or rather the many antenna-like structures that stuck out of the tower like cactus thorns.
'Where the heck am I?' Lucy wondered, taking a couple nervous steps towards the large tower. The nervous goth barely had time to react when a bolt of lightning hit the ground in front of her, sending her flat on her rear out of shock. Lucy was in the midst of catching her breath before she heard something call out to her.
"ππ¨ππ¬..."
It was a gentle, almost heavenly voice. Lucy was not expecting to hear her own name being said, and she looked around hoping to find out where it had came from. Eventually, she did find something; floating at the top of the front entrance stairs that rose a hundred feet up lay a large ring made of glowing white light. To Lucy, it reminded her of the halos of angels that she saw on many medieval art pieces. It puzzled her to see something like that here in this place of such darkness.
"πΎπππ ππ ππ, πππΎπ."
Lucy felt the words rather than heard them as the halo spoke to her, like a resonating boom drumming at the back of her head. Somehow ignoring the fact that the halo was talking to her, Lucy was compelled to follow the ring's wishes and began to walk towards the tower. Overhead, the storm continued to rage, picking up in intensity the closer Lucy got to the halo.
One bolt of red lightning struck barely a meter away from her, and Lucy yelped back in surprise, nearly falling to her rear. But still she persisted, continuing on even as the storm began to intensify, the clouds billowing up a wind that grew in strength with each foot forward. The little goth kept her eyes on the halo, covering her face with her arms to shield herself from the wind.
Eventually, she did reach the stairs, finally clear of the storm. Brushing off the dirt and grime that dirtied her face, Lucy once again heard the halo speak to her.
"ππππ, πππΎπ..."
And she did, slowly ascending the stairs to meet the halo. The light coming from the ring was almost blinding, and Lucy failed to notice that the world around her had gone completely silent even as the tempest raged on. The only sound she could hear was the soft hum coming from the halo. Its white glow had forced Lucy to shield her vision from staring right at it, using her hands to cover her eyes, but for some reason she could, through the cracks between her fingers, see its circular shape clear as day within the glow. Yet the Loud girl's journey was in vain as a stray bolt of blood-red lightning, the largest yet, struck her right in the back with an earth-shattering impact.
There was nothing that Lucy could do but scream as her vision went white as the world around her exploded with light...
And then she woke up.
Lucy could feel her black heart hammering in her chest the moment her eyes pried open and shot up, shaking like a leaf in the wind while clinging to her black covers with clenched fingers. The darkness of her room greeted her the moment she awoke, with the light of the full moon peeking through the shades. Lynn, still sound asleep, remained motionless in her slumber when Lucy craned her neck to check on her older sister.
Knowing that she was safe, Lucy took some long, deep breaths to calm herself down from that intense dream of hers, feeling beads of cold sweat dripping down her forehead and temples and the slick damp of her nightgown pressing to her skin. She'd had her fair shares of lucid dreams and nightmares before, but nothing could have prepared her for what she had just experienced. She doubted that she could ever forget such a thing.
"It was just a dream," she nervously whispered to herself, peeling the covers off her bed and headed for the bathroom to wash the sweat from her skin, "Just a dream."
Or, at least, she hoped it was.
...
"...and that's what happened." Lucy finished explaining the story to her astonished brother and sisters. Lincoln's jaw was hanging out of his skull, and Lynn looked a few shades whiter than normal. Even the other sisters were sharing similar reactions.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Lynn asked her younger sister, sounding genuinely confused and a little hurt that Lucy had kept something like that from her. Despite the sheer differences the two of them had, Lynn still deeply cared about Lucy and her wellbeing, and after hearing about the nightmarish event that Lucy had some nights ago only made her older sister instincts flare up. Lucy, however, only frowned deeper, curling her legs up to her chest.
"I didn't think you would've believed me," the goth responded, "After all, you did make fun of my powers when they first appeared."
Lynn made an uncomfortable face, remembering that day when she had insulted Lucy's once-thought fake magic powers and nearly received a bolt of lightning to the face.
"T-That was different, and I'm sorry for saying that," Lynn quickly said, quickly attempting to relieve the troubled goth, "But this is what Lincoln and I were talking about. There's something strange going on with us, and it's definitely related to our powers because I had a dream just like yours Lucy, and the exact same thing happened to me and Linc. That white halo in your dream? We saw the exact same thing in ours too, sis."
This time it was Lucy's turn to be astonished, her hidden eyes widening behind her dark black bangs.
"Are you serious?" She whispered in shock.
"Very serious, Lucy. We're telling the truth." Lincoln spoke up in earnest.
To make sure they really were being truthful, Lucy raised her right arm and allowed her hand to spread open, summoning a swirling cyan-green flame that stuck to her palm. After a few moments of using her binding spell, Lucy lowered her hand, the magic telling her what she was worried about.
"Oh gods, you really aren't lying." She gasped, looking down at where the flame once was. "Could this be a sign of how our powers came to be, as a message from this ring of white light?"
"That's what I'm starting to think too," Lincoln said, scratching his chin in the meantime as he started to piece together what he believed was a solution to what was happening, "I mean, these dreams are also kind of symbolic, right? In my dream, I was trapped inside a gigantic storm, and my powers are based on the wind. Lynn's is heat, and she said that in her dream she was surrounded by giant stars. And now with you Lucy, you said that there was some sort of large black tower in your dream? Maybe it's related to your magic, or something like that."
"Yeah, but what about that halo thing?" Lana piped up with a hand raised. "If our powers are connected, there has to be an explanation for it! Right, Lisa?"
It didn't surprise that the tomboy would turn to the most intelligent sister of the family. For most of the Loud children, including their own parents, Lisa always had an answer for everything that happened to them. It was a common occurrence for Lisa to provide an explanation for any curious or lost soul that came her way. The scientific toddler did pride herself on her smarts, but with the current events going on in the Loud house over the past several days, things had changed around here. The change had happened to Lisa as well, perhaps proving that she did not have the answer to everything that happened in this home of theirs.
"Quite frankly, this talk of dreams and rings and magic would have given me a migraine just from listening to you, but things have certainly changed for our family over the past week," Lisa made no attempt to hide the solemnness in her voice, "If someone had told me that Lucy would one day wield vast magical abilities, I would have called them a daft buffoon for believing that magic exists and recommended a straight-jacket. But alas here we are now, with our resident goth wielding magic, as much as it irritates me to say it, and the rest of us gifted various superhuman abilities."
"Is that acceptance I'm finally hearing from you, Lisa?" Lucy couldn't help but smile at the sound of Lisa of all Louds admitting that magic was real. She had to put up with most of her sister's dismissive attitudes for her being a member of the arcane arts for so long, Lisa especially since she was an admitted girl of science. Lisa realizing and accepting that her sister's supposed fictitious abilities had come to life brought a small glimmer of joy to the goth. If only her mood was shared with the little nerd.
"Say anything else and I'll laser your precious Edwin bust in half." Lisa quickly snapped at Lucy.
"So you really can't think of anything? But you're the one who found out where our powers come from!" Lana continued to argue at Lisa. The little mechanic was in disbelief that Lisa of all Louds couldn't give them an answer.
"I found your powers, but like I stated when they first appeared, I did not create them."
"Then what did?" All eyes turned to Lily, the little baby sitting at the end of the armchair next to Lisa, and suddenly the air around them became very heavy while the telepath continued. All it took were those three words to send the entire conversation into a very deep and unsettling turn. Lily, being the burgeoning telepath, immediately sensed the change in her family's mood. "I mean, what else could it be?"
"It's the halo."
All eyes immediately turned to the one person who had spoken the least so far; Lola Loud.
"It has to be, right?" The ice-wielding pageant princess said with clarity. "I mean, why else would you guys be having these sort of dreams right after we got our powers? It makes sense, doesn't it? I'm usually the only one that suffers with the lucid dreaming around here, and it happens to me because I've got a killer sweet tooth. Maybe it's trying to tell you something, I don't know."
"Tell me something...?" Lincoln muttered to himself. Could what Lola said be what he and his siblings needed to hear? The white-haired boy felt like he may have just found the answer he was looking for. It suddenly clicked for him. "Wait a second, that's it! Oh my gosh, that's totally it!"
"What is?"
"Don't you guys get it? It wasn't just floating there, the ring was talking to me! And Lucy and Lynn! I think it may have been trying to get us to figure out something really important, like how we got our powers in the first place!" Lincoln excitedly said, a sudden rush of dawning realization kicking in. Lincoln wanted to kick himself for completely overlooking the fact that the halo had indeed spoken to him and his sisters not for some random reason, but rather for a singular purpose. There was no wonder as to why the halo was trying to get him to follow it in his dream, it was literally leading him towards what he wanted to know. How or why he didn't know at the moment, but that was why he and Lynn had called this Sibling Meeting.
The athlete and the goth shared a startled look. If what Lincoln was saying was indeed what they were hoping to find out, then this could be the start of finding out where their powers had come from.
"This could be the revelation that you are so desperate to discover, my elder brother." Lisa said, scratching her chin as she gave it some thought. "Your detailed descriptions of your slumbering imagery do offer us a rather important piece of evidence other than similar occurrences. This halo as you described seems to have a sense of association, as you stated beforehand. Each of your dreams where you encountered this halo also referenced your own unique powers in a rather intense manner, such as putting dear Lincoln in the middle of a massive hurricane."
"So maybe it is trying to get us to figure out where our powers came from, but in it's own way." Lincoln said, also thinking deeply. "That kind of makes sense, but it's still so weird that we've seen the same thing. Maybe it is where we got our powers. The question is, why?"
"Why, indeed."
"Are we gonna have those dreams too? That's awesome! And don't worry, I'll do my best to get that darn ring to do some talking." Lana excitedly said, pressing her fists together, and then muttered under her breath, "Never thought I'd actually look forward to getting some early shut-eye."
"That's only a part of it, Lana. If we're to finally figure out how we got superpowers then we have to do this as low-profile as possible. We can't draw attention to ourselves, or get mom and dad on our cases, because it that happens-"
"Then it's game over for all of us. So please don't do anything drastic, like start popping sleeping pills or getting into trouble. Goodness knows we get into too much already." Lynn finished for Lincoln, sounding as stern as possible. The last thing they needed was to draw attention to themselves at this point in time. Still, there was one key factor that Lily remembered.
"But what about everyone else that isn't here? Lori, Leni, Luan and Luna? They oughta know about this too, it's only fair." Lily asked, raising her small hand up. The infant had a point. This wasn't just about the seven of them currently in the house. The issue of the origins for their superpowers involved all of their siblings, including the ones currently absent.
"You're right, Lily. We'll tell them the moment they come home, so don't you worry your cute little head." Lynn gingerly responded to her youngest sister. And with that said, it seemed that their little Sibling Meeting had finally come to a close. Lynn scanned her siblings to see if any of them had more words to say, but it appeared that there was nothing else to be talked about that they haven't discussed already. "Okay, everyone up to speed on what's going on now? Good. Remember, low profile. We'll figure out dinner in a little while, so consider this meeting adjourned."
Lynn raised a rolled-up magazine and slammed it on to the living room table, imitating a gavel like Lori did. Steadily the rest of their siblings left the room, heading back to what they were doing beforehand. The only one who stayed behind was Lucy, who waited until everyone else was gone before she spoke to Lynn and Lincoln.
"Thank you for letting me speak about my dream, Lynn. And adjourned? I didn't think you knew that word."
"I got it from one of your poems, sis. And you're welcome." Lynn made a face as she scratched the back of her head. "Sorry about making fun of your powers, it was a bit of a stressful day for me."
"None taken, Lynn. You want a hug?"
"Yes, please."
The two sisters and roommates embraced for a quick hug before Lynn's stomach decided to make itself known with a rumble.
"Whoops, excuse me. Alright, next up on the list: dinner. You mind ordering for us, Lincoln? You seem like you've got an idea for what to get." Lynn said, turning her attention to her brother. The white-haired boy thought about what to order for dinner before a sudden and exciting thought came to his head, one that he was sure to make all of his sisters happy. A big, smug grin grew on his lips.
"Oh, don't worry. I've got a good one, Lynn."
...
Unbeknownst to the children currently in the Loud abode, parked further down Franklin Avenue sat a large, brown-colored SUV, silent and inconspicuous. At least to any ordinary passerby there was nothing strange about it, just some random maintenance vehicle parked on the street. But hidden behind its blacked-out windows and lack of a license plate was a different story. Inside the van were two familiar agents, the same ones that had managed to record Lincoln's nightly escapade, undergoing their latest mission assigned to them by the Major himself.
"See anything unusual yet, Josh?" Aidan wondered, sitting in the back of the SUV with her eyes glued to several monitors hooked up to the car's interior. The two agents had been keeping an eye out on the Loud family ever since word had gone out from Starwatch HQ on the reveal of actual metahumans in the United States, and from a single family no less. Aidan and Josh, currently the only two Starwatch agents in Michigan, were now acting as the agency's forward scouts, keeping tabs on anything extraordinary that may happen in Royal Woods.
Thanks to the two of them being the agents who discovered metahuman activity in the first place, Starwatch had given them both significant upgrades for their findings, such as the new surveillance vehicle, and promotions from field agents to Starwatch officers. Vassallo had called ahead and congratulated Aidan and Josh for their findings, before giving them their latest orders; continue spying on the metahumans before the agency decided to visit Michigan armed and ready to secure the metahuman threat. It would be some time before then, so the two currently sitting inside the unmarked SUV were Starwatch eyes and ears on the Loud family. Aidan had managed to install both microphones and spy cameras over the property, well-hidden and secure, while the kids were out and parents went to work.
It hadn't taken long for Starwatch to pinpoint the location of the boy, Lincoln Loud, and his family in Royal Woods. Thanks to their connections to law enforcement and communication networks across the country, the agency was easily able to figure out where he lived. It turned out that the family was quite famous in these parts for having such a massive number of children, ten girls and a single boy, and the shenanigans they got into. So far it seemed that no-one in this town had any clue of the fact that this family were really metahumans living among them, and the Loud children were apparently keeping their powers a secret from any outside eyes. Unless they counted Starwatch, who they were currently unaware of.
Aidan and Josh knew that capturing ten children with vast, unimaginable powers would not be an easy task, even for Starwatch, so right now all they could do is watch and wait, hoping to see more potential metahuman activity to report to the Starwatch labs for appropriate containment. The more info they had on their abilities, the better prepared the agency would be to take them in.
But so far, there was little to nothing extraordinary coming out of that house. While Josh was busy sitting in the passenger seat reading a book to not attract attention, Aidan was in the back making sure that the house was monitored with the impressive camera equipment that the SUV came with.
"Nah," Josh barely turned his head as he responded to his friend, "All I'm getting from here is the typical American household. I can't see much from this angle, anyway. Oh, look sharp, we've got delivery incoming." Josh eyed the small black sedan pull up to the front of the house, and leaving the vehicle was a young woman who held a large white bag filled with food.
"Ooh, delivery? That sounds nice."
"Yeah, but I can't see what's on the bag." Josh leaned forward to try and get a better view. "Can you get a shot on that logo?"
"Gimme a second. Oh, they got pancakes."
"IHOP? Eugh. Order some real food why don't they?" Josh grumbled, leaning back on his seat as he watched one of the children, the brown-haired tomboy in the red and white jersey, open the door and hand over a small wad of cash for the delivery girl. "Can we get some names of the kids inside?"
"Let's see." Aidan typed in a few commands on her keyboard. "We've got Lincoln and six of his sisters currently inside the house. And they are Lynn Loud, at thirteen years old. Lucy Loud, nine years. Lola and Lana Loud, both at seven years old and twins. Lisa Loud, some sort of prodigy at only four years old. And finally the baby, Lily Loud at two."
"Yeesh, that's a lot of L's. You'd think after the third kid they'd pick something original." Josh said.
"Honestly, having a family that size would give me an aneurysm. I had two little brothers growing up and I wanted to strangle them when they got on my nerves. I have nothing against big families, but I just can't imagine having ten siblings under one roof."
"Eh, to each their own. Hey, y'know how we figured out that the boy can fly," Josh angled himself around to speak directly to Aidan, who took her headset off once Josh was facing her, "It makes me think about what other things the rest of the kids can do, like can they also fly? Or shoot lasers from the palms, or raise the dead?"
"That's why we're here Josh, to keep an eye out for something strange to happen and let the Major know."
"Right, right."
...
"Hey guys! Dinner's here! Lincoln got us pancakes!"
Lynn's announcement was quickly followed by a stampede of tiny feet running down the stairs straight to the kitchen. It appeared that Lincoln's suggestion to order breakfast for dinner was sitting well with the rest of his sisters, as their hungry tummies were eager to get some food. Plus, the six of them having the entire house to themselves for dinner seemed to brighten their evening up even more.
"Pancakes!? Oh Lincoln, you know us so well!"
"Dibs on the funfetti pancakes!"
"Please allow Lily and I room to acquire the tasty breakfast items, dear siblings!"
"There better be double chocolate chip, Lincoln. You know they're my favorite."
"Don't worry, I made sure to get all of your favorite selections," Lincoln said as he reached into the large white bag and began handing out Styrofoam-protected food to his sisters, and once he got his own, a fun idea popped into his head, "Hey, how about we go eat in the living room and watch some TV? I think there's enough space for all of us to fit, considering we're the only ones here."
"That sounds awesome, Linc! Let's get it!" Lynn cheered, and sure enough the Loud kids funneled into the living room, food and utensils in hand. Lynn plopped down on her side of the couch and snagged the remote. "So, what movie you guys want to watch?"
...
"All this spying is making me hungry." Aidan grumbled, watching the Loud kids argue on what movie they wanted to see. The female agent gently removed the headphones from her head and turned to her friend again, this time with a different question. "You want to get some Thai, Josh? The cameras will pick up something even if we're not here. I haven't eaten anything all day."
"Sure, why not?" Josh plainly said. "I'm sure we can have a break."
The male agent hopped over to the driver's seat and set the ignition over to drive, and slowly the van pulled away from its spot on the street, making a U-turn to avoid potentially being seen by the Loud kids. As the van drove off, leaving the Loud house behind them, they failed to see something else hiding in one of the trees, aiming its dark red, hexagonal optic at the van, and then back at the old house below it.
-Lake Huron-
"It appears we're not the only ones aiming to catch these kids."
"This... complicates things," the male voice said, his tone showing a hint of concern, "but I am confident that we can adapt to the situation at hand."
Having a governmental agency interfering with their hunt was something that they hoped to not deal with, but had expected anyway. Earth had changed dramatically in many ways since their last visit here, so it would make sense for a contingency plan if this problem arose. It was just the two of them against an unknown amount of well-armed and intelligent humans on their home turf, so taking a head-on chance against them would be disastrous at best.
"So, what do we do?"
"Hmm. The agency currently spying on this family also seems to share the same goals as we have," A quick type onto the holographic keyboard on his right arm displayed an assortment of projected imagery all gained from recent hacks into this nation's government mainframe, all without their knowledge, "This Starwatch may be of use to us later down the line, but at the moment, we'll wait and attain more information before we strike. With time, we will be able to secure the children before they do."
"Partnering up with a human agency again? Sounds like fun."
"It is only a potential scenario. For now, we continue with our current objective. If these humans decide to interfere, we will deal with them."
"Gotcha."
While as his friend bounded away to another area of the ship, something came to his questioning as he turned his attention back to the images before him. Why were these humans hunting their targets as well? Surely this could not be a coincidence. Was their goal for the sole purpose of exterminating this family for the safety of the country, or did there lie another reason? A quick scan of Starwatch and its legacy indicated that the agency's history was laced in dealing with the metahuman anomaly for some time, decades even. How they managed to avoid being found the last time the two of them had been on Earth was odd, but respectable in a strange way. Starwatch had experience in this field, same as they did, and it appeared that they were willing to go to the lengths needed to fulfill their goals. It felt like looking into a mirror.
Perhaps, if the time ever arrived, their two shared missions may just become one.