Chapter IX: Daybreak

Outer space...

The calm, deep dark was suddenly broken up by the arrival of a large corvette exiting hyperspace, leaving a thunderous clap behind as its warp engines cooled down after entering the Solar system. It had been a very long journey through the cosmic void from the Large Magellanic Cloud to this solar system. The ship continued its course as it soared across empty space, moving with great haste towards its latest target.

Inside the ship, the two occupants gazed out to the star-filled view through the observation windows, the glare of the sun pouring into the dark steel room. Laying before them at the very edge of their vision lay the small blue planet, just barely visible to the naked eye in the vast emptiness. For a moment they enjoyed the silence that the ship held, keeping their eyes and optics on to the faint form of Earth.

"So what's our plan? We go in and strike hard, or do we do this like the stealth job on Ghorian?" The female voice asked as she gazed into the view alongside her friend.

"We'll visit the seed's impact zone and scour the area around there first. We can use the nearby lakes to conceal the ship once we have entered the planet," He raised his left arm, revealing a holographic keyboard with a projection of Earth tinted yellow, "From there we can decide on how we will find whoever has been infected by the seed. It won't be easy here. Earth's civilization has grown to a population of over seven and a half billion people, and well over half a billion on this continent alone."

"Huh. Sounds like we have our work cut out for us." She responded, with slight surprise.

"Indeed. But the hunt shall be far more rewarding with such difficulty. Our estimated time of arrival is at least twenty hours before we reach Earth's outer atmosphere. And then we shall begin our search."

...

Royal Woods Hiking Area...

"Ugh, that was so disgusting," Luna Loud wiped the gunk from the corner of her lip and flicked it off her hand, finally finished with upchucking her breakfast and lunch thanks to being forced into one of Luan's warp jumps, as she was calling them. Said sister was standing nearby, keeping herself occupied by browsing her phone to look at the latest memes her friends were sharing with her. There were some that made her chuckle as she waited for her sister to clean herself up.

Luna shook her head. It was difficult to describe what it was like being inside of the rip in space-time when she was riding with Luan. At first it was only a blinding tunnel of yellow-white light that nearly made her eyes bleed, but she swore she could make out shapes of something in there. Or perhaps it was just her eyes playing tricks on her, hard to tell. Her trip with Luan though was over as soon as it started in a matter of seconds once she was back on universal ground, and found herself losing her stomach the moment she touched earth.

Note to self, never let Luan teleport me anywhere ever again. Luna thought to herself, standing up straight and getting blood back to her head after bending over and emptying her stomach for so long. The taste of stomach juices and digested food still lingered on her tongue.

"Man, how much did you eat today sis? Talk about tossing your cookies! Ha ha ha! Get it?" Luan said, patting Luna on the back. The amount of sick her rockstar sister made was, to her, both comedic and a little alarming.

"Uh huh, sure thing Luan," Luna spat out a glob of spit on the ground, "Well at least that's over and done with. How about we start practicing now?"

"Finally!" Luan shouted, throwing her hands up, "And here I'd thought that we'd never get stuff done today! Normally I'm the one getting all distracted and whatnot."

"Yeah, well maybe you shouldn't warp me places. C'mon, let's find someplace where we can touch down and get some work on." Luna started walking, eager to train herself and see just what her powers could be capable of doing. Her imagination gave plenty of ideas, all of which she'd hopefully find out once she explored her power, her supercharge as Lisa described it. She only made a couple of steps before she noticed she was the only one moving. Wondering why her sister was lagging behind, Luna turned back to see Luan squinting out into the forest, as if she was looking for something.

"Luan? What're you doing?"

"Ssh! I thought I heard something." Luan replied, her voice hushed down to a whisper to try and listen to whatever she had heard from the forest. It had been very faint, but she had definitely heard something. Luna, now confused as to what her sister was doing, looked around at the forest surrounding them without spotting anything else other than countless trees. Nothing strange other than she and her sister standing in silence.

"It was probably just a squirrel or something, dude." Luna said.

"No, I swore it was someone yelling." The comedian said back, keeping one hand on her ear to try and find that sound again.

"Yelling?" Luna asked, and turned her gaze to the expanse, seeing if she could hear what Luan had heard.

For a brief moment the only sound they could both hear was the birds chirping and the gentle breeze that blew across the canopy. No sounds of anyone yelling as far as Luna could hear. Either her sister had misheard something else like the squirrel she had said earlier, or it had stopped. It could have been one of their siblings testing out one of their powers somewhere else in the forest, which could have been the real reason. But as she was about to call it quits, Luna did in fact hear something else. It was faint, just barely audible from where they were, but it was there.

"Help!"

"Help us!"

"Somebody out there!"

It was yelling, just Luan had told her. She had been hearing things and by the sounds of it the people yelling were recognizable. Both of the sister's eyes widened once they could hear people calling from the forest's depths. And from what they could hear, they were genuine cries for help.

"That's Lynn and Lincoln, dude!" Luna gasped as they turned to each other.

"And it sounds like they're in trouble!" Luan said, and took off into the forest following the voices of her younger siblings, short-hop warping as she did over any obstacle in her way. Luna was right behind her, electric currents coursing through her legs as she ran. "Hang on, guys! We're coming!"

...

"Do you think somebody heard us?" Lincoln asked over the roaring waterfall.

"God, I hope so!" Lynn replied.

The two siblings hoped they were right. It certainly didn't look good for them in their current distress. With one hand holding on and another keeping her brother from plummeting towards doom Lynn was, for the time being, the only thing keeping them both alive.

"I can't hold on to you forever Lynn!" Lincoln cried out, still clinging to his sister's hand as the two of them continued to hang over the misty gorge. Lynn hung on to the still remaining support rope as tight as she could, the sporty Loud never once letting her strength ebb. The rope itself remained wound to their posts, but the two kids weren't going to test how long it would last against their weight. That and the mist coming from the waterfall behind them was getting the rope wet, a very ominous sign that things were going to go bad to worse.

Lynn looked down to make sure her brother wasn't going to slip. He was doing fine, but at the same time the sheer height that fell behind him made her shudder and instantly regret her decision. Just how far they were up, she didn't want to know. But she knew that he couldn't be stuck in her grasp if they wanted to escape, so Lynn came up with a plan.

"I'm gonna lift you up to the rope, okay?" Lynn said and hoisted her brother up to grab the support rope. She grit her teeth and grunted as she exerted herself, thanking whoever was listening for Lincoln being a lightweight as she hoisted him up with her remaining hand, and once he was able to reach high enough he clung to the support rope right next to his sister. While Lincoln was relieved, Lynn was beginning to feel the pull of exhaustion. She could feel herself beginning to strain against the forces of gravity while she remained hanging, her muscles slowly weakening as she readjusted her hands and making sure her palms weren't getting damp from the mist.

"Thank you Lynn. You good?" Lincoln asked, noticing that Lynn was trying to catch her breath and keep herself steady.

"I'm fine, Lincoln. I should be asking you that." She said back, sounding exhausted, which only made Lincoln even more nervous as she continued talking, "Look, we gotta get off this thing soon. My hands are starting to hurt."

"How can we get off? We might be stuck here, Lynn!"

Lynn thought about it for a moment. Her brother might be speaking the truth, but she looked over to see that the other side of the bridge to her right, the place where she wanted to practice, seemed to be slightly closer than where they came from. It was then she got an idea.

"We can make our way over to that side," Lynn gestured with her head, "If we're smart we can shuffle towards it without falling. I'll go first. Once I'm over on the other side you'll follow me, okay?"

"Follow you? Shouldn't we go together?"

"No dice, Lincoln. We'd make this old rope snap with our weight. Once I'm at the other side I can help you get over, sound good?" She said, explaining her idea. Lincoln wondered if she was being serious, but he didn't say anything. Taking her brother's silence as a good enough answer, Lynn began to shuffle along the rope's length, swaying her body to give momentum as she put one hand over another, as if she was back in the middle school's gymnasium. Her hands gripped the damp rope as tight as she could, gritting her teeth as she inadvertently used her power of heat to give herself a small but welcoming energetic boost.

And she didn't dare to look down.

As she got closer, the incline of the rope was making her take shorter lengths. And she was more wary too, since this was the only thing keeping them both aloft. Lynn stuck her foot out, trying to reach solid ground, but wasn't close enough. The sound of the rope straining made her stop her movements and freeze in fear, an icy chill crawling down her spine as she looked to see if the rope was coming loose, but it remained steady. Lynn let out a sigh of relief, and inched herself just a little closer until her foot was planted on the gravel path to the half-fallen bridge.

Using her upper body strength she pulled herself up onto the pathway, planting both feet on the ground as she vaulted to safety and finally got herself out of danger. Lynn was clear, but she was far from done, however. While she was tired from clambering across the rope and keeping Lincoln from falling, she wasn't about to back down from getting her brother to safety. She owed him that much, and there were things she had to say as well.

Like an apology, for one. Lynn chastised herself as she turned back around, wanting to kick herself in the ass for acting like one and getting them both into this mess of an evening. Once he's over here, I swear I'll do all of his chores for the rest of the year. And a big fat sorry to go with it.

"How are you doing over there, Linc?" She called out, making sure that her brother was still alive and well.

"I'm just dandy, Lynn! Not like I'm dangling a hundred feet in the air!" He shouted back.

"Good, because it's your turn now! Just follow my lead and you'll make it! I'll spot you!"

"Alright," Lincoln mumbled to himself, trying to will himself to start moving. The young lad's fear was starting to get to him, but the words of his older sister were clear in his head. He had to start moving soon, otherwise he'd be stuck here or worse. He didn't want to think about worse, so after some time getting his body to start going he began to climb over to Lynn who was watching him intensely.

For him it was a good sign of support to see Lynn so focused on making sure he was alright. But it didn't last before his mind went back to the words she said earlier, and found himself wondering if Lynn was doing this in genuine concern for her brother, or trying to clear her conscience from thinking how this was all her fault anyways. Once he started to feel his blood boil as his thoughts started rolling, he knew he had to stop.

Don't think like that. He mentally shook those thoughts out of his brain. Being spiteful isn't going to help. She's probably feeling super guilty right now. All I have to do is get over there and make sure she knows what she did was wrong. But not too harshly.

"You're doing great, Lincoln!" Lynn cheered as he steadily got closer to safety, "You're almost there! Just a little more!"

"Just a little more," Lincoln murmured to himself, repeating what his sister said to bolster his bravery. The rising incline of the rope meant that he was now taking smaller grasps as he neared the exit and Lynn, who was leaning forward while using one of the anchorages as a support beam and sticking her hand out for him to grab on to. Finally he got close enough to try and reach for Lynn's outstretched hand.

"Almost!" Lincoln strained as he assumed he finally got close enough to try and grab his sister's hand. But his efforts for focusing on reaching Lynn had made him relax his grip on the rope with his remaining hand, the one he was using to support himself, and that combined with the increasing wetness from the waterfall, he suddenly felt his fingers begin to slip. In a rush of panic-induced fear he retracted his outreached hand and clung to safety, only for the water that had gotten between his grip and the rope to cause him to slide down the incline. Lincoln let out a scream of both fear and pain as he felt his palms scrape against the aged fiber while hanging on for dear life, stopping almost right where he started.

"Lincoln!" Lynn shrieked, horrified at what happened to her little brother as she cried out for him. "Lincoln, are you alright?!"

"Rope burn..." He weakly replied, just barely audible to Lynn's ears, feeling like he'd stuck his hands onto an oven grill. His situation had now turned completely for the worse. Lincoln was sweating bullets from fear and exhaustion, scared out of his mind and now he'd given himself one nasty case of ropeburn. And he had to make the journey to the other side all over again, only getting more dangerous for Lincoln the more time he was on the rope.

"H-Hang on! I'll come over and carry you here!" Lynn said, prepared to go over and get her brother to safety.

"No, don't Lynn!" Lincoln shouted with what strength he could muster, stopping his sister from doing something potentially fatal, and he wouldn't have his sister risk herself like that. "I can do this Lynn! Just stay there, please!"

It took much of her willpower to ignore her big sister instincts, which were screaming at her to jump back on that rope, haul her brother over and get him safely across. But Lynn's heart was telling her a different path. The sensation of guilt returned, and she knew what he was implying: she'd done enough damage. If she did anything, who knew what else might happen. So right now the best thing was for her to remain at the entrance and keep and eye on her brother. Lynn took a step back, putting trust in her brother and even herself that he'd make it. She did, however, keep a hand on the rope just in case.

"Alright Lincoln," she said, "But I'm still gonna be watching you, little bro!"

"Thank you," He said, seeing that Lynn had heeded him, and sucked in a breath to prepare himself to try once more. The moment his sore palms touched the rope again he felt hot pain shoot across his hands, hissing as he put one hand in front of another like in a jungle gym. He wasn't going as fast thanks to his new injury, but against the odds he fought his way through the pain. He just had to take it slow and steady.

"Just keeping going Lincoln," he said to himself, "You're gonna make it."

Until the rope on Lynn's end snapped, and Lynn dove to catch it just in time before it was too late. She hadn't noticed the weakening knot on the anchorage, too focused on her brother's safety. Even with her waning strength she put her foot down and used both hands to keep it hanging, straining against the surprising weight of the rope as it almost dragged her off the cliff. Lincoln had closed his eyes in fear once he heard the rope snap and pretty much accepted his fate, but opened them to see Lynn holding on to it, grunting and groaning with all her might to make sure it stayed up in her hands.

"I gotcha, Lincoln!" She hoarsely said, sweat dripping down her forehead as she struggled. He let out a sigh of relief, thanking himself for stopping his sister from going back. If she hadn't... he didn't want to think about that, not while he was still hanging.

That is before he felt the rope begin to droop downwards, not from Lynn's grip but from the other side of the bridge, where the two of them saw to their growing horror that the anchorage knot was slowly becoming undone. And there was nothing to stop it from happening.

"Move, Lincoln! MOVE!" Lynn practically screamed at him, eyes wide with terror. Now racing against the clock Lincoln picked up the pace, but his hands were starting to cramp up, the pain starting to become too unbearable to continue any longer. He was letting out gasps as he moved, trying to alleviate the increasing sensation of pain in his palms. But he had to keep moving while the rope was still hanging because he was now on borrowed time, and he didn't have much left.

Yet the pain became too much, and he stopped about a meter or so away from his sister, who was still holding on to the rope. His hands were refusing to move as it became impossible to continue on without stopping, his face smothered in sweat, arms shaking like leaves in the wind and tears stinging the corners of his eyes. He so desperately wanted to let go and give himself some relief that would only risk him falling.

Lynn knew he was in serious trouble and had to act. She edged herself as far as she could while still holding on to the rope, using one hand to support it and using the other to reach towards her brother.

"Grab my hand!" She cried out.

Lincoln weakly pried one hand off the rope and tried so desperately to grab on to his sister. The two of them reached for each other, but they just weren't close enough. But that didn't stop them as they tried to pull themselves closer.

"Almost," Lincoln gasped, straining his already weak arm to work just one more time. But there was no time left as the knot on the other anchorage, the one that kept him up, finally gave way. It unwound in a sudden snap, just as Lincoln was about to grasp Lynn's hand. She saw it, and Lynn gave one final shout right before Lincoln could fall, praying that it would be enough.

"JUMP!"

And Lincoln, with the last remaining bits of strength he had left, leaped towards the open hand of his sister...

... and missed, his fingers slipping between her own to Lynn's utter horror.

"NO!" Lynn could only watch as her brother fell, plummeting into the mist-smothered chasm below. Lincoln let out a scream as gravity took him down into the mist where his voice was then lost, drowned out by the roaring waterfall and silencing his death knell. He had been helpless as he was powerless, and soon he was gone from Lynn's vision as he was finally swallowed by the raging torrents and thick mist.

At first, Lynn did nothing. Her mind had completely shut out the last several seconds that happened, like she was trying to deny what had happened before her eyes, but the reality couldn't be undone. She found her voice again.

"LINCOLN!" She hopelessly screamed, straining her vocal cords as she cried out again, "LINCOOOOOLN!"

But there was no answer. Her brother was gone.

Dead.

Dead.

Dead because of her.

"No..." The tears came out like the waterfall around her as she collapsed onto her knees, weeping as she grasped her hair in her horror, "No no no no no. Lincoln..."

She felt sick. She wanted to be sick. All the memories she had of Lincoln, from his first tricycle ride to him teaching her how to play Mario Kart, even to one very fond memory of Lincoln showing off the first comic book he ever drew to her, showing off a superheroine that looked just like her all those years ago. It had filled her heart with joy, but now it just made her feel even worse knowing that all he wanted was to make his sisters like the heroes he was inspired by, and now that would never come to be because she had failed to keep her brother safe.

The words she said echoed again in her mind, and Lynn wished that she could take it all back.

"O-Oh god Lincoln. I-I'm s-so sorry," she sniffled, heaving out words against her sobs as she wept for her brother's passing, "I'm sorry."

She didn't even hear Luan and Luna finally arrive, running full speed towards her from around the trail's corner.

"We heard screaming! Is there something-!" Luna stopped herself, seeing how Lynn was on the ground crying her eyes out while there appeared to be a busted bridge before her next to a waterfall. And Lincoln, the only one that went with her, was nowhere to be seen, which only made her uneasiness grow. In the back of her mind, Luna had felt like she'd just wandered into a horror scene. She wasn't the only one that felt that growing trepidation however as Luan slowly approached Lynn and put her hand on her younger sister's shoulder.

"Lynn," she softly said, "what happened? Where's Lincoln?"

Lynn finally seemed to realize that her sisters were here, gasping as she felt another person's touch on her body. She slowly turned to face them, revealing her tear-covered face but still remained silent.

Something was wrong. Both Luan and Luna began to sense it. Something was very, very wrong.

The broken bridge.

Lincoln missing.

Lynn sobbing.

The pieces were slowly coming together, and the scenario they were putting together was heart-wrenching. The two of them shared a look, one that meant that they hoped what they were both thinking wasn't true. The only one who might tell them otherwise was Lynn, who was sucking in her breath as she tried to regain her emotions.

"Lynn. Where is Lincoln?" Luan asked again, her voice laced with worry and internally praying that whatever Lynn would say didn't turn out to be the truth.

"He fell..." she mumbled, barely audible to both Luan and Luna. Her voice was hoarse and guttural from all the crying she had done. It was the best answer she could give to them. Her answer, however, didn't seem to dissuade Luna's growing temper as in a fit of righteous anger the rockstar shoved Luan aside, grabbed Lynn by the front of her shirt and pulled her up to her face. Luna wasn't about to let Lynn cry her way out of this one, and she wanted the truth about what happened to her brother now.

"Dammit Lynn, where is he?!"

"HE FELL!" Lynn screamed back, ushering in a new wave of tears as the realization came back to hurt her again. Her intense emotions died down as soon as they were lit up, Lynn grabbing her sisters arms as she continued. "HE FELL, OKAY! He... he fell, he fell and it was all MY FAULT!"

Luna and Luan felt their mouths drop open and eyes go wide, a cold chill gnawing up their spines. It was what they were so desperately hoping to be wrong, that Lincoln had just merely gone over the other side and wound up running off somewhere, but the truth was so much worse. Their brother was gone, taken from them thanks to an accident from Lynn. Luna dropped Lynn to the ground, who was now back on her hands and knees.

"I didn't mean to!" Lynn continued, now completely hysterical as the tears kept flowing. "All I wanted was to show him my powers before we left! That's all I wanted! But I messed up! And he's... a-and he's..."

She collapsed to her knees. Lynn couldn't finish her sentence once she fully realized that she'd never see her brother again, cursing herself for her stupidity and her selfishness. If only she'd just listened to him beforehand, this could have all been prevented. Her brother would still be alive. Had she noticed, however, her sister's attention had gone from watching their anguishing sister to something occurring behind her, their eyes wide in shock at what they were seeing.

"Hey Lynn."

Lynn, in unmatched speed, instantly stopped crying once she heard that voice, that wondrous familiar voice. There was no way. Utterly impossible. She'd seen him fall with her own eyes, and her memory didn't lie to her. Yet once she turned around to see, she felt like she was seeing something out of a dream.

There, floating in the air, was none other than Lincoln, alive and well. He had a smile on his face, a gentle one, aimed right at his weeping sister. His hair was aglow in a faint white light, similar to its unusual color, and a faint wind surrounded him as he hung in the air with his arms spread out. Both Luan and Luna were speechless, while Lynn wiped the tears from her eyes, clearing her vision to get a better look to make sure wasn't just seeing things and that her brother, who she had seen fall to his doom, was flying.

"You're flying," Lynn said, stupefied by what she was witnessing, "You're alive and you're flying."

"I am, aren't I?" Lincoln replied, and the moment those words crossed his lips the boy suddenly began to laugh. Like he'd just realized what he was doing right now, the sensation of weightlessness around him. All of his comic book fantasies had suddenly come to life in the form of his very own superpower, and the airborne boy couldn't be more ecstatic. "I'm flying! Holy crap I'm flying! This! Is! AWESO-ah!"

He suddenly took off skyward in his excitement after he'd put his fists in the air, like he'd been on a roller coaster, rising almost two hundred feet in the air before he stopped. Lincoln let out a gasp once he saw the ground beneath him looked very far away, which didn't help his fear of heights. The air surrounding him was very windy, but he could still hear his sisters yelling to him from back on the hiking trail.

"Dude, you're too high!" Luna shouted.

"Lincoln! What are you doing?! Get down from there, someone might catch wind and see you!" Luan loudly said to her brother high above, and then added, "Get it?"

The sole brother panicked once he realized that he was out in the open, above the forest, where anyone who decided to look up at the sky could see him. Not wanting to attract attention he swooped back down to his three sisters at ground level. His landing was a little sloppy, skidding across the gravel path, but he managed to get his feet on solid earth while the three sisters watched on. While he wished to celebrate his new powers like was his birthday, he knew there were things that had to be said. He turned around to approach and speak to his sporty sister.

"Lynn, I-oomph!"

He didn't get far before Lynn embraced him in a crushing hug, pressing his face against his neck as she wrapped her arms around him. After a couple moments of having her on him, Lincoln returned the favor after he'd seen her so disheveled when he rose back. He could feel the dampness where her eyes meet his skin.

"I'm sorry, Lincoln," She whispered to him, pouring her emotions into her words. The relief she felt over seeing her brother back was enough for her to almost start crying again. "I didn't mean a single damn thing from earlier. You're not useless. I was just being stupid, and selfish, and-"

"It's okay, Lynn. I know." He softly interrupted her, patting her spine to comfort Lynn once he heard her apology. The way she was saying things, she must have felt awful after what happened. He couldn't hold a grudge against her, not after she tried to desperately to save him beforehand. She'd earned his forgiveness.

"I swear, the two of you are going to give me an actual sheer heart attack one of these days." Luna gasped, the sheer relief she felt mixing in with annoyance of having to, once again, encounter another dramatic end result of one of her little sibling's misadventures. Luan was enjoying the sight of her younger siblings making up, and Lynn and Lincoln separated from their hug after some time. Lincoln, however, was still ecstatic that his comic book fantasies had come to life in the form of his very own superpower.

"So Linc, when did you find out you could fly?" Luan asked, wondering what her brother's power was. Based on what she could see, he seemed to be able to control the air around him like some sort of vortex. And his hair glowed, too.

"Well, when I was falling..."

All Lincoln could see was the mist as he fell. He didn't have long before he hit the ground, and at his speed the impact was either going to hurt like nothing else, or he wouldn't feel it at all when it killed him. Right now only one last hope came to his mind; finding out in the next few seconds if he had a superpower or not.

"Okay powers, if you're there, you better do something now!" He shouted, putting his arms up once the river could be seen. He braced himself before he hit the water, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes wondering what had happened to see that the running waters were barely an inch away from his face. Lincoln looked around, and noticed that, to his disbelief, he was hanging in the air, the wind keeping him suspended and safe.

"I'm fine! I'm okay!" He said to himself, feeling up his body to make sure he wasn't dreaming and re-positioned himself upright and away from the water's surface. He spun around in the air, getting a better feel of what his power was. "And I've got my superpowers! I can fly just like Superman! Wait until my sisters see-!"

The mention of his sisters made him remember why he was down here, his vision turning back up to the sky where Lynn was. He remembered Lynn's distraught face when he fell. She must have thought he actually died, and that it was her fault. He had to get back up there and make sure she knew he was still alive!

"... and that's the whole thing. Turns out I've got a power of my own too." Lincoln finished his short tale of how he discovered his powers to his sisters. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head and said, "And if we're being honest, if Lynn hadn't gone over the bridge and caused it to fall, I might've never found out. So I guess, in a way, you helped both of us today Lynn. Thanks for that."

That seemed to put his sister in a better mood than before. A small smile stretched her lips, feeling a sense of pride push aside her guilt for now.

"No problem, little bro." She said back.

"Your powers saved your skin, dude!" Luna cheered, giving a friendly fist-bump to her brother's shoulder. "Talk about a close call!"

"I'll say! You gave us quite a flight there, Lincoln! Ha ha ha! Get it?" Luan laughed. She was just glad that everything had pretty much turned out okay, and the same went for Luna and Lynn. "And hey, now that you've got your powers, you wanna see what you can do with them?"

"Of course I do, Luan! I've been waiting to do this since you guys first got yours!" Lincoln excitedly shouted, his mouth forming into a wide open smile as he talked. Even after nearly plummeting to his near-death, he still remained as ecstatic as ever when it came to today. He wouldn't miss out on testing his powers for the world. His happy attitude really was a wondrous sight to see for his sisters. "How much time do we have until we have to go?"

Luan flipped out her phone and saw the time on-screen.

"About half an hour until seven, Lincoln."

"Then we've got plenty of time before we gotta go! C'mon guys, I wanna know just what I can do with my powers!" Lincoln said, and ran over to the rocky clearing that him and Lynn had attempted to reach. His three sisters followed right behind him, also eager to test themselves out. Once they had shortly arrived at the clearing over the trail they began to test what they could learn from their powers, and it was Lincoln that lead the charge.

"Yahoo! Look at me go!" Lincoln gleefully shouted as he launched himself forward, using his powers to keep himself over the ground by at least a foot. The wind whispered in his ears with the speed he went as he bobbed and weaved around the boulders like he was a fighter jet, getting a feel on how well he could maneuver in tight corners. He stopped once he hit the other side of the clearing, exhilarated by what he was able to do. "This is just like Ace Combat!"

"Just remember to keep yourself low, Lincoln!" Luan advised, not wanting to catch any unwanted attention. She quickly warped away to catch up to him and make sure that Lincoln followed her advise. Luna and Lynn stood by, watching their brother preform tricks with his hands thrust out in front of him. They joined in on the action soon enough as well with Luna trailing Lincoln to try and match his speed with her's. Meanwhile Lynn thrust her hands out, aiming at a pair of boulders and fired her heat, charring them and a good size of the area around them black and crispy. The intense fiery brightness that followed Lynn's own power made her stop, surprising herself with what happened. She knew her heat could be powerful, but not that powerful.

Lynn turned to see that her siblings had seen the whole thing, each with shocked and stunned looks on their faces.

"Eh hehe..." Lynn nervously laughed, "Whoops?"

...

Once the clock had struck eight, the Louds readily returned to the van and headed back home before the sun set. The ride back to their house was filled with endlessly excited talk about what they managed to accomplish with their powers and what they had done. Lola bragged about how she had frozen a whole lake with Lana's help while Lucy showed off the tree branch that Leni had found her. Some were confused but it soon became clear with what Lucy's end goal was for the piece of wood she held along with the book.

"I'm going to turn it into a staff," the little goth explained in her monotone, "That way I can cast more spells and officially become a necromancer. I can't wait."

Lori had also shared a surprising bit of news as well. Not only had she used her powers of gigantification to stand nearly twenty-five feet tall, it was that Lily also had powers too. The little baby was telepathic, much to everyone's surprise. This little bit of news rewarded Lily with nose tickles and head scratches from Leni and Lola, who were sitting next to her in the van's middle seating.

Aw, shucks! Thanks you guys! Lily shared her telepathic voice, very young and high pitched, typical for that of an infant. It certainly surprised everyone when they heard her.

The biggest surprise, however, came when Lynn and Lincoln told their tale of terrifying danger when they had crossed the old hiking bridge next to the waterfall. They didn't spare any details about what happened, and by the time the story had ended everyone was on the proverbial edge of their seat. Luan and Luna backed them up, and revealed how Lincoln had become the final member of their family to discover his superpower of flight. After that, Lincoln had ended their tale with how he and Luan, Luna and Lynn had gone and tested out their powers in the field.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Lana gushed, gripping the headrest behind Lynn. "It sounds like you guys were in an action movie!"

"You wouldn't believe it, Lana. It was crazy." Lincoln said.

"Yeah, Marvel needs to hit me up with some plotlines for their movies." Lynn added, and her sisters and brother laughed at her little quip. Lincoln began to feel calm after talking to his sisters, like it was nothing more than an ordinary day with them. And to an extent, it really was. He turned his gaze to the dwindling light, the first stars of the night peeking through the clouds next to the waning crescent moon.

"Well I hope you guys had fun, because it's back to school tomorrow." Lori said, causing everyone to let out groans of immediate displeasure.

"Can't we just say we all caught something, and not say it's superpowers?" Lola whined.

"No, Lola. We all have to go back. Mom and dad would literally never let us stay at home on a Monday."

"Ugh, school's so boring." Luan peevishly crossed her arms in annoyance with having to go back to more forced learning, and she wasn't alone with her sisters also soured by the fact that it was a Sunday night. Yet the mention of school made Lincoln start to think. As if he'd forgotten to do something very important...

"Oh crap, oh no!" Lincoln suddenly cried out, remembering something he had totally forgotten to do before.

"What's wrong, Linc?" Lori asked as he peered in the review mirror to her panicking brother.

"I forgot to do my homework!"