It was about Wednesday at 6 A.M when Ronnie Anne woke up; she didn't get much sleep last night, having spent hours talking to Lincoln about the letter he got from Lori. Bobby also was part of the conversation for a moment, having learned of Lori's depressed and disheveled state along with the letter. Bobby felt that Lori at least accepted responsibility for her actions and was genuinely sorry for her actions. However, Ronnie Anne cautioned her brother not to forgive her so fast, which he agreed to.

"Another day in the life of a superhero."

Getting out of bed, Ronnie Anne used the Speed of Mercury to clean her room to spare a scolding from her Abuela for letting her room get messy. Once done, she noticed a weird feeling from using her powers, she couldn't describe it, but it made her feel off. It wasn't just fatigue from using only the superspeed power; it was... something else Ronnie Anne just couldn't put her finger on. As she ate with her family, her mother, Maria, noticed that she wasn't really eating but just picking at her food.

"Ronnie Anne, sweetie, what's wrong?"

"oh, it's nothing, mom."

"is it about Lincoln?"

"Well, partly."

"did his crazy sisters blame him for something else?" asked Carl

"Carl!" berated Frida

"What? We all think they're crazy. Except for the baby, but especially that Lola Loud."

"Still feeling the sting of that butt whooping she gave you at thanksgiving?" Teased C.J.

"she got lucky." Grumbled Carl.

"I have to agree with Carl; hearing how they acted paints them in a really negative light." Said Carlota.

"well, Lori wrote Lincoln apologizing, so maybe she at least knows what she did was wrong and is sorry." Bobby rationed.

"that may be true, bobby, but actions speak louder than words." Replied Hector.

"your Abuelo is right, Roberto; anyone can say the words 'I'm sorry,' but only the truly remorseful do something about it. In fact, it was watching Ernesto Estrella, and he predicted a long road to redemption for Lincoln's sisters."

Ronnie Anne knew better than to believe 100% of Ernesto Estrella's predictions, remembering when he predicted her parents would get back together. Or that Lincoln would fall in love with her. However, the latter might be coming true. Wanting to change the subject, Carlos chimed in.

"uh, Ronnie Anne, I was wondering if you could meet me on the roof after school. I want to run some tests on your powers."

"Carlos, didn't you already run your test?"

"I did, mom, but I just need a little more data."

"It's okay, Abuela; I'll be home Tio Carlos."

"Thanks, Ronnie Anne,"

"uh, dad, could you guys keep a low profile when you do these experiments. Remember, Alisa is coming for an overnight visit.

After breakfast, Ronnie Anne headed off to school, meeting up with Sid along the way. The school day was relatively normal and went by slowly until the day was finally done. All of her friends decided to hang out at Laird's house today, but Ronnie Anne remembered the promise she made to her Tio Carlos.

"Ronnie Anne, are you sure?" Sid asked.

"yeah, I promised Tio Carlos; whatever he finds might help me."

"what do you mean?"

"My powers have been feeling off lately." Ronnie Anne explained.

""gasp" are you losing your powers?" panicked Sid.

"Sid, keep it down!"

"sorry."

"no, I'm not losing my powers; they just feel off. Mainly when I use them separately."

"Well, have you told Lincoln?"

"I don't want to worry him; besides, he's already got too much on his plate."

"That's true; we're going to watch the latest Yoon Kwan podcast; I'll tell you about it later."

"later, Sid."

Ronnie Anne took off on her board and decided to skate home instead of taking the subways. Wanting to speed things up, she called on the Speed of Mercury, giving her a speed boost; however, that weird feeling returned once again.

"man, what is wrong with me? What if Sid is right? What if I am losing my powers?" she thought.

Up ahead, she saw some police cars and a fire truck speeding down a road ahead, making her curious. Ronnie Anne followed and quickly reached the apparent destination, the base of a skyscraper with a crowd gathered looking up, another police car parked, and a cop on a megaphone. She couldn't see it, but she had a good idea what this was all about.

"Looks like a job for Lady Shazam." Ronnie Anne muttered softly, skating out of sight. She got behind a building and ensured there were no people or cameras around. Ronnie Anne was smart enough to avoid using super speed this time. Virtually everyone present was recording this on their phones, and she wasn't going to take the chance of being caught on video by accident.

"Shazam!"

Lightning came down with a boom that got everyone's attention for a moment, and quickly the superheroine of Great Lake City showed up by the police.

"Mind if I give this a try?" Ronnie Anne asked, looking up and now able to see a man standing on a ledge several stories up. He looked a few years older than Bobby, probably had been in college for a few years, and either close to graduating or already had.

"By all means, please." The cop said while the fire department got ready to step in, in case she failed.

Ronnie Anne flew up to the man on the ledge, which made him try to bat her away. "Stay back! This doesn't concern you!" He yelled, sounding more scared than angry.

Ronnie Anne hovered in front of him, arms crossed. "I can't just let you die. Why would you want to kill yourself in the first place?"

"I don't want to talk about it." He replied.

Ronnie Anne stared at him in silence for a moment before speaking. "There are only two ways this can go right now. Either you jump, and I catch you, or you go inside. Both still lead to you either doing this again when I'm not around to stop you, or you admit this was a bad idea and go on living. You don't have to talk to me, but if any part of you wants to live, please tell me what's hurting you."

The man looked at her as if he was a young child being spoken to by his mother, then relaxed like he wasn't completely awake or asleep and leaned against the building wall. "I thought I met the perfect woman two years ago. Heidi, that was her name, she was so wonderful when we first met. We couldn't get enough of each other. Best of all, she never once asked me for money."

"I take it that's an issue with you?" Ronnie Anne asked.

The man nodded. "My name is Jeff Queen, so many assume I'm part of Queen Consolidated. You've heard of them?"

Ronnie Anne nodded. "Yeah, one of those big companies like Wayne Enterprises. So people think you're rich, but you're not?"

Jeff shook his head. "No, my family has the same last name, but it's like Smith. We've got no stake in the company or claim to any money. I've had several girlfriends who saw me as more of a wallet than a man until I met Heidi. She seemed to get it, and we got along so well. My family loved her, and I wondered if we would get married."

"So what changed?" Ronnie Anne asked.

"Heidi told everyone that my brother Drew had molested her, even tried to rape her. I was horrified and nearly beat up my brother, but my parents stopped me. However, they weren't protecting him; they denounced him then and there and kicked him out. Literally kicked him out, with him protesting the entire time."

Ronnie Anne got a bad vibe from this, but she let him continue his story.

"Drew told us he didn't do it; he never laid a hand on Heidi. He even brought in his friends to vouch for him, but we refused to listen. Drew had always been the kind of guy who thought consequences were optional, and he could get away with anything. And it wouldn't be the first time he had his friends cover his ass after doing something stupid. We had every reason to believe he was lying again."

Ronnie Anne's bad vibe only worsened from what he was saying and how he was saying it. He almost sounded... disconnected. Like he was describing his own memory as if it were a movie he had seen. Was he emotionally dead inside? Hopefully, he was not talking, but this was all new to her.

"Heidi told everyone on social media about it, so Drew was hated by everyone who knew his name. After a bit, even his friends had to leave him. None of our other family would take him in; then, one day, we got visited by a cop who said they found his body. He had gotten into his car and drove it off a bridge, crashing into Lake Michigan and sinking. We were shocked and heartbroken because he was still family as angry as we were. We didn't want him dead."

'I'm so glad we'll never know how Lincoln's so-called sisters would have reacted to hearing he died.' Ronnie Anne thought.

Jeff looked like he wanted someone to punch him in the stomach right now. "We cried and grieved, of course, then we started to talk about a funeral. More specifically, how to afford it. Heidi got confused and asked why we would worry about the cost of a funeral. Long story short, I reminded her we weren't related to Oliver Queen and were tight on cash. She was horrified and asked if that meant I had no inheritance."

Jeff then got angry. "I freaking told her when we met I wasn't rich! Did she think I was just being modest? Or that I wasn't rich yet but would be someday?"

"Calm down." Ronnie Anne advised, ready to act if he did something rash.

Surprisingly, Jeff smiled. "Yeah, I feel calm now."

'Really? Just like that? Wait, am I... influencing him somehow?' Ronnie Anne asked herself. "What happened next?"

"You probably already have guessed the rest. Heidi got mad and dumped me, then told us all that she had lied about what Drew had done to her. He had never touched her; she just wanted to get him cut off so my 'inheritance' would be bigger without him in the way. I... I was... there is no way to describe it other than 'betrayed,' and it still doesn't feel appropriate. My parents were enraged and looked ready to beat her within an inch of her life. Heidi, however, said we had no right to judge her. After all, as she put it, we all were quick to believe her with no proof whatsoever, and we had several chances to let him come home, but we didn't. My parents are pressing charges on her, defamation of character or something, but Heidi's not afraid. If we can't afford a funeral, how can we afford a lawyer?"

Jeff covered his face. "The worst part, she's right. We did believe her over my brother without any evidence. I did believe Drew could do something like that to her. I believed her, and my brother was driven to suicide over her lies. And we can't do anything about it. I can't live with that. This guilt is tearing me apart; I feel like I've got a chainsaw in my stomach. I don't know what else to do."

"You can't just kill yourself." Ronnie Anne told him.

Jeff was obviously unconvinced. "Why not? My parents can barely look at me; I can't even look at myself anymore. And the next girl who tries anything will also be another gold digger. Nothing will change for the better, so why not end it here?"

"That's not true. Life may not be perfect or easy, but you can do something about it as long as you're alive. You can make things better. If you're dead, nothing will get better or worse. So as long as there's life, there's hope." Ronnie Anne argued.

Jeff looked at her as if unsure what to say.

"I can't bring your brother back, I can't take away your pain, and I can't guarantee that the next girl that catches your eye will be the right one. But killing yourself will only make your brother's death in vain and give that woman the power to do it all over again to someone else. Are you going to let her do that?"

Jeff frowned, looking like that really did not appeal to him.

"Don't give up on life." Ronnie Anne told him.

Jeff nodded. "Alright. I won't."

'Wow, that went better than I was afraid of. But how did I do that?' Ronnie Anne thought before helping the man down safely to the ground. A few people were about to ask her some questions, but she flew off before they could.

Finding a safe spot, Ronnie Anne landed and started thinking about the man on the ledge, not just about how easy it was to convince him not to kill himself. But how similar his situation was to Lincoln and his sisters. Ronnie Anne couldn't help but feel relieved that Lincoln never went that far. Considering he once confided that he was considering it. Ronnie Anne managed to talk some sense into him, giving him the motivation to see that his life was still worth living. And killing himself only hurt the people still in his corner, including her.

Ronnie Anne started imagining how Lincoln's sisters would have reacted if Lincoln had actually killed himself. She knew most of them, if not all of them, would be consumed by grief and guilt. Especially Luna knowing she played the most significant part in it. As Ronnie Anne continued to think about Luna, her body started to glow, unknown to her. Suddenly Ronnie Anne's eyes opened. Remembering her promise to her uncle, she rushes to change back to normal she passes a discarded piece of glass. Ronnie Anne noticed it wasn't entirely her reflection looking at her; to her surprise, it was Luna's head on her adult body.

"what the hell is this?!" she silently panicked.

Ronnie Anne was at a loss; she had no idea why she looked like Luna, and the longer Ronnie Anne stared and looked at her transformed face, the more she began to panic. This alone was all the proof she needed that something was wrong with her powers.

Shazam!

Back to her usual self, Ronnie Anne was relieved to see her face was back to normal. This prompted her to leave to tell her uncle everything that had just happened. Later speaking with Carlos, she began explaining everything that happened on her way home.

"so let me get this straight you managed to talk down someone who was about to commit suicide with ease, and he just agreed and came down peacefully without a fight?"

"That's what happened, Tio Carlos. It was almost like I put him in a trance. I asked him to talk, and he just told me everything."

"and then your face transformed into one of Lincoln's sisters?"

"yeah, but as soon as I turned back to normal, I was okay."

"Well, Ronnie Anne, it seems to me you were using abilities that you haven't used before,"

"but I read the list when Lincoln and I got our powers, and hypnotizing people or shapeshifting was not on the list."

"Ronnie Anne, I know you're a little reluctant to transform after that scare, but I may need to see for myself to figure out what is going on." Explain Carlos.

"Okay, Tio Carlos."

Shazam

Powered up, Ronnie Anne was reluctant to open her eyes but squinted a little. Through the reflection in her uncle's glasses, she could see that her face was normal again. More specifically, normal for Lady Shazam. Ronnie Anne was entirely relieved; she took a deep breath before letting out a long sigh. However, upon exhaling, she unleashed a powerful gust of wind that Carlos was caught up in as he was sent flying, carried off on the breath of wind she created.

"Tio Carlos!"

Ronnie Anne flew after her uncle, managing to catch up to him after he reached the lake between Great Lake City and Royal Woods. Saving him, the two flew back to the roof before Ronnie Anne sat him down to collect himself and turn back to normal.

"oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Tio Carlos; I didn't mean to."

"It's okay, Ronnie Anne. Honestly, I would've killed to get that kind of air in my Carlos X days." He tried to lighten the mood. "okay, onto the real issue; since when do you have super-breath?"

"I shouldn't have that power; Lincoln doesn't have it, so why do I?"

"maybe your powerset differs from Lincoln's."

"well said, Mr. Casagrande." Said Mary.

"Mary? Where are you?" asked Ronnie Anne

"I'm in your uncle's glasses."

Ronnie Anne turned to see that Mary was on the reflective surface of Carlos's glasses, something he found disturbing.

"Sorry for appearing like this, but this was the only reflective surface close to you, and I know why your powers feel so strange."

"Really?"

"I've had my suspicions from the night I met you and Lincoln, but after seeing your face change shape. It only confirmed the ones who empowered you are not the same as the ones who empowered Lincoln."

"then where do my powers come from?"

"while Lincoln was empowered by six 'gods,' you were empowered by six 'goddesses.'"

Ronnie Anne was shocked she had just learned the true origins of her power, leaving her with even more questions.

"the ones who empowered you are Selena, Hippolyta, Artemis, Zephyrus, Aphrodite, and Minerva."

"I know those figures; Selena is a moon goddess, Hippolyta is the queen of the amazons, Artemis is the goddess of the hunt. Zephyrus is the god of wind, Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty, and Minerva is the goddess of wisdom." Informed Carlos.

"Almost, Zephyrus was actually a goddess; the mortal records got that wrong." Mary corrected.

"Huh, learn something new every day," Carlos commented.

"it appears when Lincoln originally called down the power, the goddesses chose you as their champion. And channeled their blessings through lightning, which is why you were struck too." Mary continued.

"So, how are my powers different?" Ronnie Anne asked.

"Well, they're not that different from the powers of the gods, but there are a few extra features. Here they are one by one." Mary explained.

Selena's Grace: Selena's gift allows the recipient to judge a situation without bias.

Probability manipulation: Innate luck and divine guidance that allows finesse in actions and dealings with others.

Indomitable Will: Because of Selena's blessing, the recipient is very strong-willed in her actions.

Immortality: As long as the recipient remains in their empowered form, she doesn't age

Hippolyta's Strength: Hippolyta's gift grants the recipient a significant increase in strength to superhuman levels.

Superhuman Strength: The recipient is capable of feats equal to that of Hercules.

Superhuman Durability: Hippolyta's gift enables the recipient to resist long-term damage.

Invulnerability: Hippolyta's gift allows the recipient to remain undamaged by mortal weapons or forces.

Artemis's Skills: Artemis's gift grants the recipient incredible hunting and tracking skills and endurance of physical exertion.

Master Hunter: Artemis's skills help the recipient determine if an opponent is armed in any way and how best to combat them. This also includes the ability to determine if a target is truly alive or not.

Master Tracker: Artemis's skills allow the recipient to locate a hidden target as long as they have a starting point.

Healing: In the event the recipient is physically harmed, Artemis's blessing ensures the recipient will recover from the wound.

Self-Sustenance: The recipient can go much longer without food, water, or rest than any other mortal.

Superhuman Stamina: Artemis's gift allows the recipient to endure great physical exertion without tiring.

Life Sense: Artemis's gift allows the recipient to sense another person's life force.

Zephyrus's Fleetness: Zephyrus's gift grants the recipient superhuman speed and agility.

Superhuman Speed: Zephyrus's gift allows one to reach speeds that cannot be seen by mortal eyes.

Superhuman Agility: Zephyrus's gift allows one to avoid incoming forces.

Superhuman Reflexes: Zephyrus's gift allows the recipient nearly instant reaction times in response to danger.

Super-Breath: Zephyrus's gift allows the recipient to unleash powerful gusts of wind and/or freezing wind by strongly exhaling.

Flight: The recipient can hover or achieve flight with Zephyrus's power.

Aphrodite's Beauty: Aphrodite's gift grants the recipient to physically transform into the most excellent version of themselves

Transformation: The recipient can become Shazam at will.

Shapeshifting: Aphrodite's gift allows one to transform into any person when empowered.

Charm Speech: The recipient can influence others into obeying their wishes or commands. However, people can resist this power if they are genuinely opposed to the command, or obeying it would make them act out of character.

Minerva's Wisdom: Minerva's gift grants the recipient instant access to a vast level of scholarly knowledge.

Clairvoyance: The wisdom of Minerva gives the recipient clairvoyance and provides her with counsel and advice in times of need.

Eidetic Memory: Through Minerva's wisdom, the recipient can memorize anything she sees.

Mathematics: Through Minerva's blessings, the recipient is an accomplished mathematician.

Multilingualism: Minerva's wisdom allows the recipient to speak any language when transformed.

Electrokinesis: The recipient can generate and manipulate the "living lightning" that transforms the wielders into Shazam. The recipient can project the energy from their fingertips and even use the lightning bolt as a weapon by dodging it and allowing it to strike an opponent or other target.

Electro-Blast: Shazam can discharge powerful blasts and arcs of electricity from hands or entire body and attack foes with it.

Magic: As the wielder of Shazam's power, the recipient can cast magic spells for various purposes and resist spells.

"Any questions?" Mary asked.

Ronnie Anne was speechless for a bit. "So... is that why it felt weird each time I used superspeed? It wasn't actually Speed of Mercury? That might explain why I felt weird when using my powers."

"Correct, you were using Fleetness of Zephyrus. Same results, but not the same source." Mary explained.

"She's got luck powers thanks to that Selena goddess? Say, Ronnie Anne, maybe you should turn into an adult and buy us a lottery ticket." Carlos suggested.

"Greed is a sin, and the sins are the enemy of the champions of magic," Mary stated firmly.

"It's not greedy to help out your family financially." Carlos defended. "But in all seriousness, what does it sound like you have that Lincoln doesn't, Ronnie Anne?"

"Hmm... I could be wrong, but it sounds like the luck powers, hypnotism, shapeshifting, and life-sensing ones right away. The hypnotism makes me uncomfortable; I don't feel like I helped that guy now, more like I just forced him to stop." Ronnie Anne admitted.

"Oh no, Ronnie Anne, you forced nothing on him. Charmspeak is not mind control; everything is a matter of choice. If you made a man not kill himself, it was because he didn't want to die on some part of his mind, and you just encouraged him to choose that instead of the alternative. Your power would not have influenced him if he truly wanted to die." Mary explained.

"So I can't enslave others against their will?" Ronnie Anne asked, sounding relieved.

"No, but that doesn't mean there aren't creatures out there that can't," Mary warned.

Ronnie Anne understood but was still relieved; she began mastering her abilities again after some time. Through practice, she learned she could shapeshift fully into another person and even imitate their voice and clothes if she knew it. Or size shift to the size of a bug. Her life sense ability allowed her to sense within one person and a second life within another besides theirs, meaning she could tell if a woman was pregnant.

Deciding to take a break, Ronnie Anne returned to normal before going to her apartment. After telling her mother, grandmother, aunt, and cousin about the source of her powers, it brought on a collective sense of girl power to the annoyance of all the guys. However, the gloating didn't last long as Alisa had arrived, and everyone had to keep quiet. Alisa felt at home as she spent time with the Casagrandes doing various activities. Eventually, Carlota and Alisa moved to her room for a private girl talk; curious Ronnie Anne decided to listen in.

"Aphrodite's beauty."

Calling out her newly discovered power, Ronnie Anne shrank down to the size of a bug. Slipping under Carlota's door, she arrives in time to see both Alisa and Carlota in their underwear.

"oops," blushed Ronnie Anne.

"Thanks for letting me borrow some of your sleepwear Carlota."

"no problem, but girl, you got to tell me how to get a body like yours; I need to slim down, especially here," Carlota said, slapping herself on the butt.

"girl, you are blessed back there. I wish I had a booty like yours."

'ugh, are they just gonna talk about their bodies?' Thought Ronne Anne.

"it's not all it cracked up to be," Carlota said.

"How so?"

"I mean, sure, the Casagrande genes bless the women with excellent features like beauty, large round boobs or butts. If you're fortunate, you'll get both; when you get it, you'll want to flaunt it. Yeah, I admit I've done that myself more than once. But like I said, there are some downsides that my Abuela warned me about it when she gave me the talk at 13."

"Really?"

"she told me how that's when the genes start to kick in; as she put it, the women in my family are late bloomers, but our bodies more than makeup for it later. We start at 13, but we barely have any curves that others would notice. Then we turn 15, and it's like we turn into bombshells overnight. Then we hit 18, the growth stops, and we're a full-blown Casagrande woman. Sure it's nice being sexy, but not all the attention is good. If I had a nickel for every time my ex Diego had to beat up a perv for trying to grab my butt or my boobs, I could send all my brothers and prima Ronnie Anne to college, plus buy a lifetime supply of thongs."

"speaking of your prima, does that mean she'll go through this too?"

Ronnie Anne's ears perked up, hearing that she was their subject of conversation now.

Carlota chuckled. "Oh, let's just say I've got a good idea of the Casagrande woman she'll grow into."

"Really?"

"I gave her some info, but Abuela will give her the full talk when she's 13."

"Are you nervous for her?"

"Nah, Ronnie Anne is one tough girl; she can handle it, plus she already has a boyfriend. His name is Lincoln Loud."

Ronnie Anne instantly blushed, hearing Carlota refer to Lincoln as her boyfriend.

"aww, that's cute. Wait, did you say Loud? Doesn't Bobby date a girl with that same last name?"

"that's Lincoln's older sister Lori, and they broke up,"

"oh wow."

"long story, but speaking of boos, how are things going with yours?"

"Alisa has a boyfriend?" Ronnie Anne asked herself, then she covered her mouth in panic. Fortunately, the two didn't hear her.

"oh, you know how it is with celebrities dating,"

"he's a celeb?" Ronnie Anne whispered this time.

"I'm touring with my music, and Yoon is touring with his; though we don't see each other most in person, we video chat a lot."

"Yoon? Wait she's dating Yoon Kwan?!"

"We both agree to keep our relationship secret so we don't upset the fans."

"eee, I still can't believe you two started dating after you met at our house. It's like my family helped create the music world's newest secret power couple." Carlota remarked happily.

Ronnie Anne was left shocked to hear that her favorite singer and celebrity crush was dating Alisa. While she was a little heartbroken since she often fantasized about growing up and marrying him one day, she knew they were only fantasies. Ronnie Anne knew Sid would be devastated since she knew Sid's crush was way stronger.

"To be honest, girl, Yoon has seemed off lately; he's missed a few of our chats, he said that there has been some problem with writing a new song, so I just figured it's been stress. But at least he's coming to great lake City this Friday for a concert with 12 is Midnight."

Ronnie Anne remembered a concert this Friday, and she and Sid tried to get tickets for it, but they were sold out. Suddenly Ronnie Anne started to glow and began feeling herself starting to grow. Not wanting to be caught, Ronnie Anne managed to slip under the door before she became too big. Rapidly returning to her normal size Ronnie Anne was back to normal as she ran out the door to enter her own apartment, bumping into Sid in the process.

"ow, sorry, Sid, wait, are you okay?"

The expression on Sid's face showed that she wasn't; in fact, she looked devastated. This made Ronnie Anne wonder if Sid found out about Yoon and Alisa.

"Ronnie Anne, I've got horrible news!"

"what is it, Sid!?"

"Yoon Kwan is quitting 12 is midnight!" Cried Sid.

End Of Ch 12