A/N: Please don't rush me. This isn't as easy as it looks, especially when writing original content. My chapters will come out when they come out.
Kevin drove his car down the road to the town of Royal Woods Michigan with the others loaded in beside him and Ally drove her motorcycle behind him as he sighed as Gwen sat in the passenger seat and he looked on.
"So, why are we going to some backwoods town like Royal Woods anyway?" Kevin asked them. "It's a three day drive from Bellwood, so it's kind of out of my way."
"Well, for one thing, Ally has possibly the biggest match of her career in this town against Lynn Loud," Ben said as he fiddled with his Omnitrix and Jen smiled.
"And the other thing is that we're visiting some old friends that we haven't seen in years," Jen said. "The Louds."
"Nice family name," Kevin smiled.
"We know," Becky said as she sat back. "But they are one of the best superhero teams in the world. They call themselves the L-Crew. We met them five years ago on our road trip when we stopped in Royal Woods for this music festival Grandpa wanted to go to."
"Shag Carpeting?" Kevin asked.
"Oh yeah," Gwen smiled.
"And there was this rogue weather monster robot that attacked the town. So, we ended up teaming up with the L-Crew to stop it and we ended up saving the day. We've been great friends online ever since," Ben said.
"They also teamed up with them when the Negative 10 attacked us for revenge for putting them in jail," Jen said.
"Trust me, once you get to know them, they are some of the coolest kids you'll ever get to know," Gwen said. "On the battlefield or off."
"I wonder how they've been doing since we last saw them?" Becky asked as the two vehicles drove into the Royal Woods city limits.
Inside the Santiago-Cassagrande bodega, Ronnie Anne Santiago was sitting at the counter with a smile as she was reading a comic book as her phone rang.
She tan skin, freckles on her cheeks, long black hair that reached the small of her back in length and B-cup sized breasts. She wore a white shirt under an unzipped purple hoodie, jean shorts, hot pink socks and brown shoes.
She looked up the caller I.D. and saw that it was her boyfriend of four years, Lincoln Loud, the leader of the L-Crew. She then started texting him with a smile.
"What's up, Lame-o?" she asked before pressing a heart emoji.
"Not too much lately, Lamette," Lincoln responded as Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes.
"Any criminal or supervillain activity lately?"
"Not much. Lisa heard a rumor that the people at The Dungeon may have a mole inside to try to get our villains freed so they can get revenge on us."
"Well, with Tetherbee gone, the seat of our worst villain is still open. Maybe I'll swing by the headquarters later so we can talk recent events."
"Yeah, and Lynn's got that fight at the arena tonight with a miss Allison Levin."
"Of the Omni-Team? They're back?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"I've heard rumors that they were back. And if it's true and they come here, we really need to talk about what happened four years ago when they didn't show up."
"Trust me, I know," Ronnie Anne finished. "See you soon."
"Right. Later, babe," Lincoln finished before sending a last heart emoji.
Ronnie Anne sighed, contentedly as she changed her contact message to text her best friend Sid Cheng and then waited for her response.
"Hey!" Ronnie Anne jolted a bit when she sees a 11 year old Carl, wearing a unzipped red hoodie, over a white shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers. "You can't be on your phone, service is the most important part of running a store."
"First off you're not the boss of me." Ronnie Anne said. "I'm 16 years old, and you're 12, shrimp."
"I've been working the bodega longer than you." Carl retorted.
Then an 7 year old Carlitos with long orange hair that reached the upper part of his neck, wearing a white shirt, red pants, and black shoes. "Guys don't fight, Abuelo won't like this." Carlitos said.
"Stay out of this!" Ronnie Anne and Carl shouted. Right before the two could get in a brawl, the bell rings and the three look at the door and see a customer and it was Kevin.
"Welcome to Casagrande's bodgea how may i help you?" Ronnie Anne asked with a smile at the conter
"Just getting some snacks." Kevin said and walked off to see the collection of snacks there.
"He's a tough one," Carl whispered to his cousin. "...I like him."
"Uh, huh. If you say so," Ronnie Anne said as Kevin took a bag of tortilla chips and a 12-pack of cola and went to the counter to pay for it. "Thanks for shopping at the Cassagrande Bodega."
At that point, Kevin walked back to the car and unlocked the trunk, putting the snacks into it before closing it as he saw Ally on her phone resting by her bike.
"So when's the fight?"
"About 6:30 P.M. on Tuesday."
"That's two days from now. I think you can beat Lynn."
"The thing is she has incredible strength and durability that far surpasses my own," Ally said, putting her hands into her pockets. "Unless I absorb a sample of her energy to copy her powers, I don't stand a chance against her."
"Then do it."
"If she lets me, I'll do it," Ally said as she got onto her bike and then fired it up as Kevin got into his car. "Let's get some lunch."
"Where?"
"I heard that Lynn's Table is pretty good," Jen said, looking at the brochure.
"Then let's go there," Ben said as the two vehicles drove off to the Loud father's restaurant.
At said eating establishment, the team sat around a table with menus in hand as they started talking to each other on this.
"So, this is Lynn's restaurant?" Kevin asked.
"Well... yes and no," Ben said. "Lynn is actually the name of their father."
"Seriously?" Kevin chuckled. "What kind of parents name their son Lynn?"
"I don't know, but I want no part of it," Ally said with a smile as a young woman came up wearing the blue shirt and brown skirt uniform of the restaurants staff as she came up to them.
"Welcome to Lynn's Table," she said. "I'm Carol. Can I get you lot anything to drink?"
"Coca-Cola," Ben and Jen said together.
"I'll have a Coke Zero-Sugar," Ally said.
"Iced tea, lots of ice," Becky said.
"Dr. Pepper for me," Gwen said.
"And you?"
"Water," Kevin said.
"You've got it," Carol said, jotting all of the info down on her notepad as she went to fill the drinks. And just as she finished, she sneakily pressed her temple and her pupils glowed red before an invisible beam scanned the six heroes at their table up and down, sending the information into the supercomputer that powered Carol's brain. "So, the Omni-Team are back in town, eh? Lori's going to want to know about this."
She smiled to herself and then walked forwards, presenting the group their drinks and she took out her notepad.
"Are you guys ready to order?"
"Yeah," Jen said. "I think we are. You guys?"
"Pretty much," Ben said, reading his menu. "I'll have the buffalo chicken wings."
"I guess I'll just have the chicken Caesar salad," Gwen said.
"I'll have the BBQ bacon cheeseburger and fries," Ally said, smiling to herself.
"Pork chops and applesauce," Becky said.
"Fish and chips for me," Jen said.
"And I'll have the anchovy pizza," Kevin said as Carol finished jotting the orders down and then picked herself up.
"Coming right up. It'll be on it's way. Lynn's one of the best cooks you'll ever see."
As Carol left, Gwen looked to Kevin and smiled.
"Anchovies, huh?"
"Don't knock it till you try it."
After putting the orders into the kitchen, she walked over and pounded on the manager's office.
"Lori! It's Carol, we need to talk," she said as the door opened to reveal a 22-year-old Lori Loud, wearing a blue dress and brown slacks to signify her managerial status of the restaurant as she welcomed her best friend in and she started talking to her.
"What is it?"
"Okay, this party that's eating here right now," Carol said as she pressed her temple and projected what she had just now scanned onto the wall to show Lori the evidence. "That's the Omni-Team?"
"Are you sure?"
"It's been five years since you last saw each other, so they're obviously a bit older now and look a little different, but it's definitely them."
"Why are you telling me this, Carol?" Lori asked. "I'm not even the leader of the L-Crew anymore. I'm just a part time member since the invasion."
"Because I know that it was you who made the decision to call off your alliance with them. Why would they come back to Royal Woods if it weren't to recruit the L-Crew for something important?"
"Maybe," Lori said with a thoughtful look as she nodded to herself and then pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Okay, I'll text Lincoln a message telling them where they are. He'll definitely want to see this."
"That'll be a good one," Carol said with a smile as she walked over. "Well, that's my report. I'll just get back to work for now."
"Me too," Lori said as she sat back down at the desk to do the ordering for the restaurant as Carol walked out.
After finishing their lunch, the team walked out of the restaurant and drove over to the park where Royal Woods Arena was resting nearby as they all smiled and looked upwards towards the giant structure.
"There it is guys," Ally smiled. "This is where I'm having my fight against Lynn."
"We're rooting for you," Jen said as she and her brother both jabbed her arms.
"For sure."
Kevin sniffed the air and slightly recoiled to them.
"Hey guys? Do you smell smoke?"
"Actually, I do," Becky said as they looked up to see a streak of fire leaping towards them as they smiled.
"It's Lincoln," Gwen realized as the teenaged pyromancer set himself down on his jets of flame and smiled politely, crossing his arms in front of them.
"Hey guys long time no see," Firecracker smirked to them as he floated in the air and landed on the ground.
"Nice to see you again Linc'," Ben smirked. "It's been awhile."
"So how are you and your family doing?" Gwen asked as Firecracker turns back into a now 16-year-old Lincoln Loud. He had medium length shaggy hair with shaggy hair an orange buttoned shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers.
"Well, I'm Leader of the L-Crew now," said Lincoln. "Cause you know my older sisters are in either in college except for Lynn because she and her boyfriend founded their own wrestling league in town. The team needs a leader. Plus, there was this certain... problem that we had 3 years ago."
"Are they hot?" Kevin asked and Ally gave him a glare.
"Sorry about that, Lincoln," she said. "My brother here is a bit troubled."
"To say the least," Becky said with a chuckle.
"Wait, this is your brother?" he asked.
"Kevin Levin. Nice to meet you, dude."
"Um... you too," he said unsurely as he shook the vigilante's hand.
"So, what brings you to Royal Woods?"
"Well," Ally said as she crossed her arms. "For one thing, I'm scheduled for a kickboxing match with Lynn here in town Tuesday night."
"Oh, you're fighting Lynn? Good luck," Lincoln chuckled. "You're gonna need it."
"I know that."
"And the other thing is that we kind of have a major problem back home and we kind of need your team's help for it. We've already recruited some Plumber's Helpers and the Miraculous Team," Gwen siad.
"You got the Miraculous Team to help us? But why? They don't even live in your country."
"This isn't about our country, Lincoln," Ben said. "This is about the entire world that's at stake right now."
"The entire world?" Lincoln asked.
"I think this would be better explained at your headquarters," Jen said.
"For sure. But first, I need to get my co-leader here."
"You have a co-leader?"
"Not just a co-leader," Lincoln smiled. "She's my girlfriend."
"Really? Where do we meet her?" Ben asked.
"Our favorite hangout of course."
Soon after that, the Omni-Team and Lincoln were sitting at one of the tables at Gus' Games and Grub.
"So when do you think she's going to get here?" Kevin asked.
"My second in command's coming," Lincoln explained. "She and her family own and work at a bodega here in town."
Kevin's eyes immediately widened at that when said Latino girl walked into the building and smiled lovingly at Lincoln as he walked over to her position and smiled back.
"Hey, Lame-o," Ronnie Anne greeted.
"Lamette," Lincoln greeted back and they both gave each other a kiss on the lips with a smile. "Guys, you've met her briefly five years ago. This is my girlfriend Ronnie Anne Santiago. You may know her better as Surge."
"Wait a minute, I know you," Kevin said. "We stopped at your family's bodega this morning for snacks."
"I recognize you. So you must be Kevin Levin?" Ronnie Anne asked. "The girls told me you were a freakish monster."
"That was a long time ago," Allison said. "He's changed. Anyone can change if they really want to. My little brother is actually a great guy when you get to know him."
"Okay. I'll take your word for it."
Ronnie Anne looked to Jen as she sighed.
"We've never been formally introduced, Ronnie Anne," Jen said, shaking her hand. "I'm Jen. This is my brother Ben and my cousins Gwen and Becky."
"So, I've heard it through the grapevine that you and your cousin control energy too?" Ronnie Anne asked, surrounding her hand in purple energy with a smile.
"Yes, but not the same way you do," Jen said. "We're not meta-humans. We're alien hybrids. Gwen and I are half-Anodite. Anodites have the ability to control and manipulate mana. Mana is the energy that makes up the essence of life itself."
"So, you could bring someone who's dead back to life by manipulating their life energy?"
"Well... in theory, yes. But our Grandma Verdona told us that it takes a lot of power and I don't think we're strong enough."
"So much for bringing back my dad." Ronnie Anne sighed.
"Even if we could, I don't think we would," Gwen said. "I don't think he would want to come back anyway."
"I assume that Lincoln and my brother filled you in on what's going on right?" Jen asked.
"About some squid-plant aliens that want to take over the world and turn people into them? Yeah, every single detail," Ronnie Anne said.
"We've been recruiting heroes to our cause left and right. With an enemy this powerful, we need all the help we can get," Jen said as she sighed to the new girl and turned to her. "Does it bother you that I'm not completely human?"
"Not at all," Ronnie Anne said with a smile. "I'm friends with a rubber monster and a living teddy bear. I'm used to it."
"So, can we go to your headquarters now? I kind of want to see how the rest of the team is doing," Becky said.
"We're doing great despite the change in numbers. Plus, we have a new guy here who I think you're really going to like."
"I can't wait," Gwen smiled as the rest of the Omni-Team all chorused.
"Neither can we."
"Welcome to our headquarters," Lincoln said as he and his girlfriend led the team to the headquarters in the train yard. He then pressed his palm to the scanner that beeped green and allowed them access into the headquarters where an 18-year-old Lynn, a 13-year-old Lucy, an 11-year-old Lana and Lola, a 9-year-old Lisa and a 6-year-old Lily were going about their business as usual.
Lynn was about 6'6" in height and her body's frame, while lean, was obviously built with nothing but muscle. Her hair was still in its high ponytail and she sported a six-pack abdominals and every frame of her body was clearly stronger than ever. She wore a red tank top with black lining and a black number one in the center, black training shorts and red and white cleats on her feet.
Lucy had grown to Lynn's height from five years ago and now had her black locks brushed behind her ears with her lovely electric blue eyes fully shown. She wore a black dress with black fingerless gloves, black and white socks and black boots.
Lana had grown to Lincoln's height from five years ago and had messy blonde hair in two braided pigtails. She wore dark blue pants, a blue vest over a grey t-shirt, red sneakers, and she still kept her red hat.
Lola had also grown to Lincoln's height from five years ago and had her blonde hair in a French braid draped over her shoulder. She wore a hot pink tank top, a dark pink skirt, hot pink dress shoes, and she still keeps her pearl necklace and earrings.
Lisa had grown slightly taller than Lucy's height from five years ago and had her brown shaggy hair down over her shoulders. She wore a dark green sweater, dark red brown pants, brown shoes, and is wearing a lab coat and still wears her glasses.
And finally, Lily had grown to the twins' height from five years ago and had blonde hair on her hair with a small tuft of hair on top. She wore a lavender sundress, black shorts, black knee high socks and black shoes.
"Oh no!" Lola said to her twin. "You are not denying me the ultimate pizza experience!"
"Lola, I've BEEN most of those animals!" Lana shouted. "I won't eat any pizza unless it's completely vegetarian. I'm not moving."
"Hello!" Lily said with a smirk as she descended to the floor on a large vine that set her down before it retracted. "I happen to be the greatest botanist on planet Earth. I can grow fruits and vegetables in 2 seconds flat. And here I am sitting on my butt, an unused resource."
"Because I don't want anyone else to reveal our identities!" Lisa said.
"Sigh. Why couldn't I gone solo?" Lucy sighed as she wrote in her poem book. on her beanbag chair.
"I can heal the rainforest!" Lily shouted.
"Look alive girls!" Lincoln said and everyone stopped and looked at their older brother.
"Linky!" said Lola as everyone saw that they had visitors and that was when their delight grew to shock.
"Um, hey. Omni-Team here," Ben said with a smile as Jen came in.
"What's going on here?" Jen asked.
"Ben? Jen? Gwen?" Lynn asked as they approached and Lincoln and Ronnie Anne separated from them and rejoined their own group. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, it's complicated," Gwen said. "We've got a major problem going on back home and we need some help."
"Help?" Lola asked with a scoff. "Why would we help you? You guys disappeared for four years and you weren't there when we needed you the most!"
"Come again?" Ally asked as Lynn looked to her and smiled.
"So, Allison Levin," she said, looking her kickboxing rival up and down to see how much she had ripped herself over the past five years and how healthy and fit her body had become. "Well, looking good."
"Actually, I go by Ally now," she said as they both gripped their hands and smirked to each other. "It's a friend thing that Jen gave me."
"Now, why haven't you called us since we last saw each other at Mt. Rushmore?"
"Well," Lincoln said, twiddling his fingers. "It's complicated."
"You weren't there for us in our time of need!" Lynn shouted.
"Wait, what?" Ben asked.
Ronnie Anne sighed before she walked up. "Okay. About four years ago, there was a massive alien attack on Royal Woods and much of what we loved was completely destroyed."
"Including Sam's father Replicate, one of our old enemies," Lana said.
"We had called on all of our enemies and allies to form an alliance to take us and they all said yes," Lola recalled.
"But you guys were a no-show. You said that we would always help each other and you weren't there when we needed you the most," Lynn said, crossing her arms.
"You said that you took your watches off four years ago. By process of elimination, you still had them on during the time of the invasion," Lisa said.
"Why didn't you come? Surely there was a reason why," Lincoln asked.
""Thank you," Jen said. "We never actually got your message when Royal woods was dealing with that invasion."
"But how? You had the Omnitrixes at the time," Lily said.
"Yeah. But at the time you sent that message, we were kind of busy," Jen said. "We were kind of on another planet called Galvan Prime dealing with this evil alien mutant called Malware."
"We were light years away from Earth. There's no way we could've gotten that message," Gwen said.
Lisa then looked at the Omni-Team, minus Kevin and then examined them. "You're telling the truth?"
"Of course we are. We wouldn't lie to you."
"I'll be the judge of that."
Lisa then put a hand to her temple and then closed her eyes and focused on their thoughts as she read their minds before her eyes snapped open and she nodded.
"Affirmative. They aren't lying to us. They really didn't get our message."
"No wonder they didn't show up!" Lana said.
"So that explains everything." Lynn said. "But who's Malware?"
"Think of him like Upgrade, but more like a computer virus." said Ben. "But don't worry he's dead."
"For a second I feared he would access our defence systems and Honeybee's equipment." Lisa said.
"This information is coming from the girl who got tattoos at ten years old?" Lola asked with a smile.
"First of all, it wasn't by my choice," Gwen said. "Second of all, that's no worse than having your ears pierced at six years old."
"Hey the other pageant girls were doing it!" Lola exclaimed.
"I don't know how your parents were able to handle you?" Becky sighed.
"Trust me, you have no idea what's it like to live with her." Lincoln said.
"You're right. But Ben and I do have a little sister now, so..." Jen smiled.
"Oh yeah. You did mention that your mom was pregnant when we first met," Lisa said as Ben smiled.
"Sure was. We're really happy."
"I know we didn't show up at your time of need guys," Gwen said. "But we're just requesting one thing... can you give us another chance? Please?"
"Guys, look," Lincoln said. "I know they didn't show up to help us with that alien invasion, but that was a long time ago."
"Royal Woods was almost destroyed! Even our enemies helped us and they didn't show up!" Lynn said.
"I agree with Lincoln," Ronnie Anne said. "You guys gave Carol another chance even after she tried to kill you multiple times and now she's Lori's best friend. If anyone deserves a second chance, it's them."
"Well they picked a bad time to take their watches off!" Lola shouted.
"I'm with Lola on this one!" Lana agreed.
"Would you say the same thing to your older sisters? Or Bobby? Or Sam?" Mr. Cuddles asked as they turned to him. "They left to pursue normal lives too. If they came back, would you treat them how you're treating the Omni-Team right now?"
"He's got a point," Lily said.
"They're family," Lynn said. "Of course we would welcome them back with open arms. That's different."
"No. It's not," Lucy said, sitting up. "Maybe it's because I took a turn for the more cheerful lately, but the others wanted a chance to live a normal life for awhile. So did they. Why should we treat them any different just because they're not family?"
"Oh, so you're siding with Lincoln then?" Lynn asked.
"Yeah," Lucy said. "I guess I am."
"I'm starting to miss the old Lucy." Lynn glared. "But keep in mind that's that Kevin guy that they fought."
"I heard he was butt ugly, now's regular ugly." Lola said.
"I'm right here!" a voice shouted out as Kevin looked to her.
Allison then looked over to Lola and cracked her knuckles.
"Look, Princess," she said with a glare. "Don't talk about my friends or my brother like that. I don't care who you are."
"It's not like you don't know this stuff. You used to fight a lot back in the day," Lana told her.
"Hey! I can say that he's a j*** or unreliable or ugly but you guys can't! You just met! And he's served his time already. If I said that about any of your siblings after you were on trial, how would you feel?!"
Lola then tossed one of her small crystals outwards which Allison took in her hand before glaring, absorbing the material onto her hand and then crushing the crystal to pink dust in her hand before dissolving the armor.
"You'd better do what she says. And she's got a point," Lynn whispered.
"Fine. He's not ugly, but he needs to earn our trust. It's not easy." Lola said.
"She's correct on that fact." Lisa pointed out.
"Can you guys make yourselves at home while we go out? You can meet the others here?"
"Is that a tiger?" Kevin asked, intimidated as he looked to across the room where a tiger was lounging, resting as Jen walked up to him.
"Don't worry," Ronnie Anne said. "He's tame."
Jen ran her fingers through his fur and smiled as the tiger purred from her as he woke up and she smiled.
"He likes you," Lincoln smiled. "His name is Tongri."
"Where'd you get him?"
"He was summoned by a dark wizard who our resident magician Soothsayer restored to his original form."
"Ooh, you have a wizard here?"
"Yes. But he's currently not present as he's on vacation in Miami," Lola said before grumbling under her breath. "Lucky break."
"It's true. You guys are stuck with me," said a voice as the team looked back to see a beat up teddy bear walking towards them with a smile as he looked to see the teams standing there.
"EEEEE!" Jen squealed, causing her family and best friend to roll her eyes while Kevin facepalmed as she grabbed the teddy bear and snuggled him up to her cheek lovingly. "SO ADORABLE!
"Is she always like this?" Lincoln asked Ben.
"No. Just around those kinds of things. Trust me. She acts tough as nails most of the time, and she is, but deep down, she's a huge softy," Ben smiled.
Jen smiled as the living teddy bear sighed deeply and just decided to go with it and hugged her back as she set him down.
"I'm not even going to question the living teddy bear at this point," Becky sighed with a smile. "We've seen much stranger."
"Yep," Gwen said.
"So where'd you come from, little guy?"
"My name is Mr. Cuddles," he explained, sitting down. "I was the favorite teddy bear of the Loud's great grandmother Harriet."
"That explains why you look so..."
"Beat up?" he asked.
"Yeah. Hang on a second," Jen said as she waved her hand up in the air and Mr. Cuddles was encased in a glowing magenta sphere and Jen smiled as she closed her fist and the magenta sphere burst, with Mr. Cuddles dropping to the ground good as new.
"Wow," he said, looking himself over. "Thanks. Was that magic?"
"Not exactly," Jen said, leaning down to his level. "It's mana. Mana is the very essence of life and magic itself."
"So you're a meta human?" Lucy asked her.
"No," Gwen said. "We're half-human. You see, our grandmother is an energy-based life form called an Anodite."
"So you're half alien?" Lana asked. "Awesome! Even more awesome than when we first met."
"Anyways, back to me," Mr. Cuddles said. "Their great grandmother was adept at magic even as a child and she brought me to life so she could have fun with me forever."
"But what she didn't know was that I was ambitious back then. I was going to use her spellbook to bring an army of toys to life and take over Royal Woods and she would be my queen. I thought she would love that, but she was understandably horrified. So she trapped me in a box and buried me in the yard for many years, even after she died. But I was freed when their dog Charles dug me up the way dogs do. And I hoped to resume my plans with Lily as my queen, but Soothstayer stopped me and I eventually reformed. I've been a recon member of the L-Crew ever since."
"He hangs out with Soothsayer and the pets a lot," Lily said.
"Quite the story."
"You want to know the crazy thing?" Lisa asked. "He's not even the most weird member of the L-Crew we have."
That was when they heard a massive thumping going through the halls and saw a large pink hulking giant with a black tank top and pants walk through with a video game pod.
"What the heck is that?"
"This is Petty," Lincoln said. "He's Luna's son... kind of."
"She gave birth to a giant rubber monster?" Ally asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise.
"No. He was created from a piece of her arch enemy Rubbor and she used her electric energy to bring him to life a la Frankenstein's monster and yeah," Lynn said.
"And he's named Petty because?"
"After Tom Petty," Lincoln explained. "God rest his soul."
"Hey, big guy," Ronnie Anne said as she flew up to his level and then smiled. "This is the Omni-Team. They're friends of ours from out of town. Do you understand?"
"Petty understand. Omni-Team friends," he said.
"Broken English," Kevin said. "He really is a hulk."
"I'm not going to shake his hand out of fear of breaking mine," Jen whispered to her brother, rejoining him.
"Ditto."
"So why did you really come to Royal Woods this week?" Lana asked. "It couldn't have just been about recruiting us for your cause."
"You're right," Gwen said as she nudged Allison.
"Okay, it's no big deal. I'm just scheduled for a kickboxing match here on Tuesday... against your sister," Allison admitted.
"Lynn?" Lola asked. "Ooh, that's your funeral, darling. That girl absolutely hates to lose and will do whatever it takes outside of cheating to win."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean she's gonna beat me," Allison said.
"Technically true," Lisa admitted. "But Lynn's one of the best fighters we know."
"She was able to take Tremor at a Detroit Lions game when we were younger," Lana said. "And she was able to crack his shoulder."
"Not to mention, she can be such a sore loser at times,' Lincoln said. "We all teamed up against her to beat her at a board game. Not to mention the bad luck incident."
"The bad luck incident?" Allison asked as she did her work in the kitchen, getting her favorite knife ready.
"Trust me, it's best if you don't know about that," Lincoln whispered.
"We'll keep that in mind," Ben said as Ally smiled as Lynn came in with a smile as Ally looked to her and they sized each other up and down.
"I'm going to the gym to train," Ally said.
"You should try ours," Lynn said as she walked beside her and shook her shoulder. "We've got a salmon ladder in here."
"A salmon ladder? I've always wanted to try one of those."
As the pair left, Gwen looked to Lincoln.
"Is there anybody else who we can try to recruit in this town?"
"I don't know. I'll call our siblings and see if they can come over to help you guys when the time comes, but most of the other metas in this town are villains."
"Except for two, as of recently," Lisa pointed out as she called out. "Martha. Pull up the files on Vesuvius and Honeybee."
"At once, Miss Lisa," Martha, the base's A.I. sounded as she pulled up two files on a 18-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl separated and showed them in their costumes.
The elder of the two had fair skin, long blonde hair that reaches her shoulders and blue eyes. She wore wearing a crimson red bodysuit with orange lines on it, has bulky dark red gloves with orange lines to represent magma and dark red boots and a red mask around her face.
The younger of the two had fair skin, black hair and green eyes. She wore a black flight suit with yellow stripes, a pack on her back with four yellowish-clear wings, a black mask with dark blue compound eyes and black antennae sticking out and yellow bracelets on her wrists
"These are two of our old enemies," Lincoln explained. "This is Beverly a.k.a. Vesuvius. Her superpower is that she can control and manipulate the earth at its base level: magma."
"That is an awesome power," Ben smiled to Jen. "I wish I had it."
"And this is Nicole Hewitt, a.k.a. Honeybee," Ronnie Anne finished. "A master of robotics who created a suit that can fly, shoot lasers, fire a sticky substance like honey and so on."
"Whoa," Becky said, impressed..
"Tell us about them," Kevin asked.
"When Vesuvius was a child, her family were researchers who went to the destroyed city of Pompeii," Lisa said. "She found a glowing meteorite and showed it to her parents, who understandably took it to their employers for research."
"So what went wrong?"
"The scientists understandably wanted to confiscate the meteorite due to its dangerous properties and when they were about to leave, the meteorite became unstable. It exploded and killed everyone in the room with the exception of that little girl."
"Oh my God," Gwen said. "That poor girl. No one should have to go through something that horrendous."
"But instead of killing her, the explosion activated her meta gene, gifting her the power to control magma," Lincoln said. "She spent the next five years stealing what she needed to survive and learned to control her abilities. Andrew Tetherby, our old archnemesis, gave her everything she needed to survive and she attacked Lincoln to get him angry enough to release Irate. And it worked, but she was seriously injured in the process. And she escaped."
"And Honeybee?"
"Honeybee came to be, no pun intended, a few years ago when Lincoln's evil side who you may have heard about on the news, Irate, attacked Royal Woods and destroyed nearly everything," Lola explained. "During the attack, her father was put into a coma, much to her horror. She blamed not just Firecracker, but the L-Crew for failing the city and she wanted revenge on us for what happened to her father. She's a master of robotics and created the suit and her weapons to take justice into her own hands."
"Wow. I kind of know how they feel," Ally said. "Me and Kevin were homeless too. We know what it's like to feel like the whole world is against you."
"That doesn't give you an excuse to fight back though."
"I know that now," Kevin said.
"Soon after, they joined an evil group called the Revenants who wanted revenge against us, but we defeated them and they surrendered. They spent some time in the Dungeon, which is a jail for supervillains here, but they got released early for really good behavior," Lana said.
"And they've been off the grid ever since," Ronnie Anne said. "They've gone legit from what I've heard."
"Why do you want them?"
"Because I know they're good people, especially Nicole," Jen said. "If we can find them, they can be an asset to us."
"Well, I heard they live in Nicole's old apartment after her dad retired when he got out of his coma," Lisa said as everyone looked at her. "What? I have my connections too you know."
"Just get us the address and we'll go over to them ourselves," Jen said, popping her Omnitrix up.
"Not without me you're not," Lincoln said. "This concerns the L-Crew too."
"The more the merrier," Ben said as the two grasped hands and shook.
"4286 Longleaf Drive," Lisa said, typing into the computer as Lincoln pressed his watch and transformed into Firecracker.
"Race you to there," he said, typing it into his GPS.
"Oh, it's on," Ben said as he and Jen transformed into Jetray and AeroForce and flew out the open garage door to the destination as Lincoln ran after them with his jet propulsion.
"I'm so beating you Tuesday," Lynn told Ally with a smirk.
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch."
Bev sighed as she took out the keys to her shared apartment and then sighed. "Come on out. I know you're there."
That was when Firecracker and the Omni-Twins appeared with a smile and a nod as they took off their helmets.
"I got good ears, Firecracker. Your hearing gets really sharp in the Dungeon," she said. "Things go bump in the night."
"Hi, Vesuvius," Firecracker smiled as Ben and Jen nodded. "Long time no see. These are the Omni-Twins."
"I know. And just call me Bev, please."
"Fine... Bev," Jen said.
Nicole then looked out of the apartment window and saw her girlfriend talking with an old enemy and two foreign heroes.
"Um, hi," she said. "I'm Nicole."
"We're the Omni-Twins," Ben said. "I'm Ben and this is my sister Jen. Our team's in Royal Woods to do some recruiting for our mission."
"Come in," Nicole said with a sigh as Bev walked through the door and the others came in as they changed out of their hero outfits and then Nicole served tea to them.
"Pretty clever, hiding in plain sight like that," Lincoln said as Bev sighed and flipped her red hair back.
"Yeah, pretty unsuspecting, I'll give you that," Bev said. "It's what's worked for you guys."
"But why did you come for us now?" Nicole asked. "We haven't done anything wrong, guys. We didn't since we've been in the dungeon."
"We need your help," Ben said. "There's this group of aliens who-"
"Save it, honey," Bev said. "We don't hang out with the costumed crowd anymore. We've turned over a new leaf."
"Just listen to us for once in your life," Lincoln said. "According to our friends, the Omni-Team, there's this group of villains called the Highbreed who want to exterminate the planet and everyone on it."
"We've been recruiting heroes from all around the world and other planets to help us stop them," Jen said. "They're extremely dangerous, guys. Billions of people are going to get hurt or killed. Your dad could get hurt or killed."
"No way," Nicole said. "We're done with capes and tights and masks. We're just trying our best to lead a normal life."
"No one knows who we were when we were villains," Bev said. "And we plan to keep it that way. Why should we help you?"
"Because if you don't, then it's possible that the entire world will cease to exist and you had the ability to help save it and didn't," Jen said. "Do you guys really want that on your consciences?"
Nicole and Bev looked at each other sheepishly as Bev shook her head and sighed.
"Let's have something in it for us too. Have the city give us a full pardon for helping to save the entire planet when we're done."
"Deal," Lincoln confirmed.
"I'll go get the outfits," Nicole said, running to her room with a smile.
"You know that I haven't worn that thing in three years!" Bev said.
"I made some adjustments to it when you were out!" Nicole's voice sounded out as Bev sighed and rolled her eyes, facepalming.
"Try five years of not being Omni-Pink and Green." Jen said.
"It's easy for Firecracker here." Bev said.
"It's Lincoln." Lincoln said. "Lincoln Loud, and don't just do this for the planet. But for your parents as well."
"Deal."
"All set," Nicole said as she carried a backpack with her suit in it and tossed another one to her girlfriend as Bev caught it and smiled.
"So, when do we go to your headquarters?"
"Now," Lincoln said as Ben and Jen nodded and went behind them. "But I can't let you two know where it is until we can fully trust you. So..."
The twins nodded and walked behind them.
"What are you going to do to us?" Bev asked.
"We're just going to knock you out and then take you to their headquarters like good heroes would do to reformed villains like you," Jen said.
"Good call," Nicole admitted as the two squeezed their pressure points and the couple gasped before they fell unconscious.
"Let's get them out of here," Ben as the two suited up and carried the pair over their shoulders and Lincoln turned back before they all went back to the headquarters.
Bev and Nicole came to in a room in the headquarters before they took the suits out of their backpacks and looked at them.
"I hope this still fits," Bev said as she knocked on the door and Lola appeared.
"Yes?"
"Can I see the bathroom so I can change? I kind of don't want Nicki over there to see."
"I get it," Lola said.
"You're Crystal Princess, right?"
"In the flesh," she said as she gestured her to the bathroom and she went inside.
Two minutes later, Vesuvius stepped out of the bathroom in Bev's place as she smiled and looked at her suit, clenching her fists.
"Man, that feeling's back."
"I get it. And so will our other family when they get here."
"They're coming?" Nicole, now in her Honeybee suit, said as she stepped out and looked back, testing out her artificial wings as they buzzed on her back just from her thought.
"Yeah. Can't have a world-ending crisis without the whole gang after all," Surge said as she stepped into the room as everyone moved to the meeting hall.
"I heard that," a male voice with a strong Texas accent said as they all looked to see a 25-year-old man with brown hair, sky blue eyes and light stubble. He wore a black shirt with a brown cowboy vest over it, black pants with a brown cowboy belt with a gold Lonestar buckle and two pistols in the holsters, brown cowboy boots with spurs on the heels and a brown cowboy hat with a black band with a gold Lonestar on the front.
"Ryker?" Lincoln asked the cowboy as he smiled and rubbed the boy's head playfully. "Good to see you."
"Great seeing y'all too," he said with a smile as he looked to see Vesuvius and Honeybee standing there as they walked up and shook his hand. "Hey, Bev and Nicole."
"Ryker," Nicole said, shaking his hand. "It's good to work with you."
"I'm no stranger to working with criminals... much to my shame," he said, taking his hat off and holding it over his heart before putting it back on and he saw Mr. Cuddles. "You're looking lively, Cuddles."
"Yeah, you can thank our friend there," he said, gesturing to the Omni-Team as Ben walked up to him and smiled, shaking his hand.
"Nice to meet you, sir," he said, shaking his hand.
"Call me Ryker," he said, eyeing the Omnitrixes on the twins wrists. "Nice watches."
"We get that a lot," Ben said.
"Wow," Jen said, eyeing Ryker up and down, impressed. "I've never met a real cowboy like you."
"Yeah, we don't get many of his kind in Michigan," Lincoln said.
"You can thank a time portal for that," Ryker said. "I was born and raised in Texas in the 1880's. A portal of some kind opened up and I was pulled through into this time period somehow. I worked as a bouncer at a bar for a little bit while the little genius here tried to create a time machine to send me back to my own time period... but I got used to this one and I decided to stay here. The L-Crew needs all the help they can get after all."
"You know you're one of the only members who has no powers, dude," Ally said.
"He may not have any powers, but he's one of the toughest guys in town. Trust us," Lynn said, giving her friend a fist-bump.
"So what brings you here?"
"Well, I was doing my rounds of the town and I heard it through the grapevine that a mole in the Dungeon hacked the system for our old friend and released all of our enemies."
"Say what now?!" Lincoln asked as they all widened their eyes.
"Oh, this is not good," Kevin said.
"Martha," Lisa said. "Can you look up the whereabouts of our enemies, please?"
"At once, Ms. Lisa," Martha said as the computers showed a large hairy man, a rubber monster and an orange streak among other figures running rampant through the streets as everyone balked at that.
"Honeybee, Vesuvius," Ben said as he turned to the two reformed villains. "You've worked as villains before. You know how villains think."
"He's right," Ronnie Anne said. "You guys are great assets to us right now. Nicole, you wanted to be a hero five years ago. Now's your chance to be a real one."
"We won't let you down," Vesuvius said.
"Definitely won't," Nicole said as the two hugged each other.
"Ooh!" Lisa said as she ran to the lab. "This is the perfect time to break out my new upgrades for the suits. Gwen, Becky, Ally, can you hand me yours?"
The three then took their hero watches off and then handed them to Lisa as she ran to the lab.
"I'll make one for you too, Kevin."
"Don't keep us waiting!" Jen shouted as Lisa left. "Time's of the essence."