Chapter 5 of Spider-Linc. Here we will see Lincoln learn the very wise words that inspired Peter to become a superhero from his grandfather that will set him on the path of a hero. Now, I will say this, I deeply apologize about taking so long to update, I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, I've been preoccupied with so many stuff in such a long time, that it affected me updating my stories, especially ones like this one.

If that can't be accepted as an excuse, I understand.

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Going to Gus' Games N Grub.

That was the excuse he told his parents for going out for the morning. He needed some time to himself so that he knew the full extent of his new powers after discovering them just yesterday, so he figured a little tour around the city would provide with some good exercise, he didn't want to be recognized, so he donned a dark red hoodie with the hood up, dark shades and a beanie. Going into the city area of Royal Woods, the white haired boy used his wall crawling ability to climb up to the top a tall building and prepared himself for the moment of truth, either he would do something cool or become a pavement on the ground. Lincoln Loud looked down and gulped a little over thoughts of just how bad this could go if one single mistake was made but tried to set those fears aside as he took a deep breath and made a run for the next building. Once he sprinted, he found that his speed had also been greatly enhanced and did a spectacular jump over to the next building, which couldn't be reached unless he had a zip line.

But he didn't need one.

"WOOOOAAAAH!" he screamed as he landed safely. A smile started to form, as he made another jump with an excited cheer. "Yeah! he continued this process as he displayed unmatched agility with every time he went from building to building. However, with one jump he didn't see that the next building was rather taller than the rest, but thanks to is good reflexes, landed right on the wall. Thank goodness for sticking to any surface, Lincoln started to move up to the top and was greeted by a bird.

"Hi there." he casually waved as he stood up and looked at the impressive sight of the vast city before him. "Wow, look at this." he smiled as he took in the sights. Lincoln looked to his left and saw a metal vent nearby, getting a thought, he walked over and pulled at the vent and was able to easily remove it, showing his super strength. "Nice." he nodded in approval. With this kind of strength, he might as well beat Lynn at arm wrestling, well maybe go that far, but still. He laid his hand on the machine the vent was on and it shorted out with electricity, just like that boy from yesterday, one touch and it's down for the count.

Now for one last little experiment.

Climbing down the building, Lincoln made sure that there was a an alleyway nearby. An abandoned mirror was seen and he stood in front of it, he backed up into the wall and concentrated, the colors of his being which included his clothes matched the gray color of the wall and it looked like he was completely invisible to the naked eye, he moved up as his colors went back to normal. "Oh man, this is incredible!" he exclaimed with excitement. "I actually have superpowers." he had dreams of gaining real superpowers, albeit they weren't his ideal ones, it was still pretty cool nonetheless.

After his excitement went away, he soon found himself asking a question.

"So, what do I do now?" it was an intense dilemma to be sure. Here he was, a young 11-year-old boy with spider-like abilities, what should be the next course of action? Should the rest of his family know of his powers? Maybe few of his friends or should he go to one of those superheroes as seen on the TV screen and the newspapers, maybe they can offer some sort of assistance. No wait, that might cause more problems. Sighing, Lincoln walked into the city with his head down.

"What should I do?"

Unknown to him, there was a special meeting nearby.

The attendants of said meeting were people he'd rather stay away from.


Down at a broken down warehouse, multiple men and women were gathered together, from their appearance it was evident that they weren't exactly nice guys. Tattoos, scars, scarfs, and they were all carrying weapons such as metal pipes, guns, and knives to show others that they meant business; the reason why they were all together was because earlier today they received invitations to meet here, for what reason however was not supplied on the letters so they were in the dark. Flint Marko was among these low lives, he had his arms folded and stood with a stoic expression, some dirty looks were sent his way which he happily returned, Marko recognized a few of them, had some bad run ins before that never ended well. But there was someone whom he was in good company with.

"Yo Flint, my man!" he turned and smiled as he saw his oldest and closest friend Alexander O'Hirn. The two of them met as teens back in juvie and have been close ever since, guy was the closest thing he had to a brother.

"O'Hirn, good to see ya man." Marko said as the two thieves exchanged a high five. "Say, ya got any idea what this meet is all about? 'Cause that letter got in the mail only said to meet here, and frankly, I'm startin' to get a little impatient."

His partner shook his head. "Sorry bro, but I'm as clueless as most of these grunts." the black haired man. "I can only recognize just about maybe 10 or 20 of them, the others I think are out of town, whoever put this little shindig together must have some pretty deep pockets to want to hire so many crooks in one place."

"Let's hope so." Flint replied. "Because if this turned out to be a big waste of my time, I may just have to knock some few heads."

For what seemed like forever, the many thugs who were at this gathering just made small talk with each other as they waited to see just who it was that brought them all here in one single place, then the main gate opened and a black armored vehicle drove in, it stopped just as he gate closed to keep this meeting a secret. The driver exited, he was a heavily built man with an intimidating height and resembled a circus strongman, accompanying him were two slimmer guys, one having blonde hair and a cap, the other being a brunette, the one thing these three had in common was that they were wearing outfits made for thievery. Everyone present recognized them as Ox, Montana, and Fancy Dan, otherwise known as the Enforcers, a trio of career hired hitmen that only worked for those who had deep enough pockets. But they were nothing compared to who was walking with them, he was a middle-aged man with short black hair, business suit and most notably was that his head was shaped flat.

Alexander's eyes widened as he looked to his partner. "Woah, is that who I think it is?" he whispered.

"Hammerhead." Flint whispered, every crook in Royal Woods knew of the infamous crime lord that was Hammerhead, this guy had a lot of the toughest crooks under his thumb and those that dared to ever cross him would regret it.

"Alright ya knuckleheads, cut whatever chatter you're doing and listen up!" his gruff and authoritative voice tone was enough to pipe down their yammering. "Now, some of you with no brains are wondering why you're here, well let me clear it all up. I'm here on behalf on the person responsible for this gathering; the Big Man." hearing that name made everyone begin to murmur once again, the Big Man, the very same crime boss that guys like even Hammerhead would answer too. Very few know little of this man, only that he runs almost every criminal element of this city, to work for him would also mean selling your body and soul to a taskmaster.

"The Big Man?" Flint breathed in hushed amazement.

"Holy crap." his partner was equally shocked.

It wasn't just those two, practically everyone invited to this meeting were murmuring amongst each other over this new piece of information, every crook in Royal Woods knew of the Big Man of crime, and the fact that someone of his stature called on all of them must be pretty serious, and whether it was good or bad, remained to be seen. "The boss sent me to tell you knuckleheads that things have changed since the old days, where it was easy to buy off an officer ot a judge. But back then, there weren't guys in armor, super soldiers, or some whacko who says he's the god of thunder. It's a whole different ball game now and we have to get with the program. Which is why a this moment, you will answer to the Big Man, I won't get into too much detail, but whatever caper you pull, make sure you give a cut to the Big Man."

This prompted an outcry of outrage from the crooks, not too in love with the idea of giving part of there hard stolen cash to anyone else, even if it was the Big Man, but then Ox punched the wall, creating a few cracks. "Enough." the strongman glared with a deep tone, silencing all of them.

"Make no mistake." Hammerhead continued. "I'm not asking you to fall in with the boss, I'm telling you."

"Yeah? And what if we say no?"

Hammerhead smirked. "Then you can join Blackie Gaxton."

Who?"

"Exactly."

And so, nothing else was said among the group of crooks as they all unanimously made their choice.


Now that he has a general idea about how his new abilities work, Lincoln was left wondering what he should do about it, he first considered maybe telling someone in the family about it, but there's enough craziness going on at the Loud House, he's not sure if one of the kids having spider powers would make things better, that and Leni would most definitely freak out. That, and he doesn't want to face the prospect of going through painful experiments by Lisa's hand. It was all just so weird, as much as he thinks its awesome to have superpowers, he always figured it'd be nothing more but some fantasy he's had since childhood. But now it's become a reality and he had no idea how he should go about this, it's not like the Avengers are on speed dial or something, so he can't go to them and the X-Men are also out the window since he wasn't born a mutant, this was more of a mutate situation like the FF for example.. Man, was this so confusing.

He needed help.

He needed some guidance in this time of crisis.

And he could only think of one man to help him in his time of need.

If only he could find a taxi or maybe call his mother...or better yet, an alternative to both. Making sure no was looking, Lincoln leapt high and latched on to a building and crawled up to the top. Honestly, with this level of getting by, he might not have to ask Lori for a ride ever again, though he might have to think of a more exciting means of travelling.

For car travel, it would take about an hour to arrive at Sunny Canyon Retirement Home, but leaping from building to building proved to be much less time for Lincoln as he jumped onto the sign for the place and looked to see that his maternal grandfather, Albert, or as he and his sisters like to affectionately call him, "Pop-pop, who was siting on a bench with Myrtle, his girlfriend and the kids' honorary Gran-Gran. It was a good thing that blowhard, Sue, wasn't around, because unscheduled visits would never sit well with a controlling person like her. "Hey, Pop-Pop!"

"Lincoln?" Albert gained a look of surprise over seeing his one and only grandson, which then washed away into one of pleasant surprise. "Kiddo!" he accepted the hug that the boy gave him.

"Oh, it's so nice to see you, sweetheart." the elderly woman pinched his cheeks, much to his embarrassment.

"Yeah, you too, Gran-Gran." he had to rub his cheeks to ease the slight irritation.

"Not that I'm not happy to see my favorite grandson, but what're you doing here, buddy?" Albert curiously asked. "We weren't due for another day of fun until the next month or so, unless I got the dates wrong again, I gotta get some new reading glasses."

"Actually, I guess you could call this a personal visit." Lincoln told him, scratching his nape. "Sorry for just dropping in, but Pop-Pop, I was wondering if I could talk to you, in private. It's just something that I think you can help me with."

In all his long years, Albert could recognize the signs of someone going through a crisis. His grandkid was obviously nervous and seemed a little overwhelmed by something, he could relate, during his time in the army, the old man's been a tad anxious himself, it was fortunate that he had his brothers-in-arms to help him through his problems, as the kid's family, it was only right that he did the same. "Well, I make it a habit to help my family through trouble and if Sue has any problems with it, well she can go jump off a cliff." he turned to his girlfriend. "You don't mind, do you baby?"

"Oh, of course not." Myrtle reassured him, pecking him on the cheek. "You boys go on ahead, I'll cover for you with Sue." she walked off, leaving the two by themselves.

"Well, little man, come on." Albert took his hand and guided him away from the retirement home.

"Are we going somewhere?"

"To the city, I like to think a nice walk will clear the mind and body."


As it turns out, a walk throughout the city did help a little, it was times like these, spending time with a member of your family and ignoring the problems of the world around him was just what the doctor ordered. Though the thought of his new powers still weighed in his mind, Lincoln nevertheless focused more on having a good time with his Pop-Pop. Both have always had a close bond, Albert saw a lot of himself in Lincoln, and that wasn't just because of the shared physical traits between them but their statuses in life. In his youth, Albert had his own troubles and people in his life always helped him get through them and that was what Lincoln needed. Stopping right downtown, the two approached a hot dog vendor where a man about Albert's age was about to order and then, he broadly smiled as he recognized his fellow senior citizen. As for Lincoln, he was left agape.

"Hey, Al, old buddy!" he greeted with a wave.

"Bill, you old so and so, good to see ya still have your hair!" both elderly men shared a handshake. "Lincoln, this is an old pal of mine-"

"Bill Buck?!" Lincoln screamed "You know the creator of Ace Savvy, Pop-Pop?! How did I not know that?! Why haven't you told me?!"

"Your gramps and I go back a ways even before my time in the comics, a lot more productive than being a bag of lazy bones at a retirement home like some people." he playfully jabbed at Albert who responded with a playful punch to the shoulder. "And don't think for a second that I've forgotten about you and your sisters, kiddo. That contest is still fresh in my mind."

"You still think about that?" Lincoln curiously asked.

"Of course. You know, back in college, me and its creator, I was roommates with a fella who went on to make his own comics and was good at it as I was, we still keep in touch from time to time. Heck, he even inspired me to dabble in some comic making myself, even owned my own stand in New York before having to close it down and set up shop here in Royal Woods." Bill Buck informed him, who listened intently. "And I gotta tell ya, kiddo, a whole family of superheroes, now that is some next level greatness right there! Not only is it original, but it's also the kind that can grab the attention of true believers like yourself and I proudly say, Excelsior to you, my young friend. Those were stuff he used to say. Ever thought about going into the comic industry?"

"Not professionally, if that's what you mean." Lincoln answered, a bit bashful at the praise. "I mean, I only drew that comic because I'm a huge fan of Ace Savvy and it also seemed like fun."

"Still, some pretty impressive work, 'nuff said. Heck, the next hot dogs are on me."

"Wow, thanks." Lincoln smiled, as he and his grandfather accepted the treats.

"Have a good one, Buck." Albert bade farewell.

"Be sure to give that girl, Myrtle of yours a kiss for me."

With that done, Albert and Lincoln found a nearby bench and both sat down on it, the old man looked to the kid and decided to finally ask what all the trouble was about. "So, pal, what exactly did you want to talk to me about? Has to be pretty important if you came my way without giving me a heads up, but it's always fun to see Sue lose it."

Lincoln shifted his gaze to the ground as he contemplated how to answer, he could tell Albert how a genetically altered spider bit him on a field trip, thus granting him the powers of said spider, or he could be called insane and get locked in an asylum or get sold to science. The snow haired elementary schooler knew fully well that those outcomes were not only outlandish but highly unlikely, but he just couldn't help it, having superpowers isn't anything like having to deal with normal everyday problems. What he needed to do was to word it correctly without giving away too much, which is the only way to stop things from unnecessarily escalating. 'Pop-Pop, have you ever found yourself...changing, where you go through something...strange that basically changes everything you thought you knew abut yourself and the world. And you think you can do something in that position, but what would that be?"

"Hmm..." Albert hummed in thought, he hoped he didn't have to give Lincoln the 'talk', because that was something that son-in-law of his was better suited in telling him, but the question seemed more insightful and required an honest answer from a man who could understand. "Well, Lincoln, I guess it was when I first enlisted in the military." he shook his head with a nostalgic expression. "Those were some tough years for me, I can tell you that much. At the time, I considered jumping ship and go back to my wife and daughter back home the first chance I got."

"Why didn't you?"

Albert looked up at the sky as he recalled what he learned. "Well, it took a while, but I eventually figured out why all the others stayed to fight, it's why many people in this crazy world do what they do. You see, Lincoln, when you find yourself in the process of becoming a man, you also find that you're in the possession of great power, and at that point, you need to realize that you have an obligation to use your gifts to make life better for others, no matter how big or small, if you can make a difference in other's lives, then you do it. To put it simply, with great power, there must also come a great sense of responsibility."

Lincoln stayed silent as he listened to his grandfather's words, words that would soon leave an impact on his life...

Great Power. Great Responsibility.

He wondered what his responsibility should be.


That was the question that lingered on Lincoln's mind as he clung to the wall of his room. After parting way with his grandfather, Lincoln headed right back home and retreated himself into his converted bedroom. His talk with Albert helped a little, but he was still wondering how he should use his newly discovered powers, he had this great power but what is his responsibility to use it for? Sometimes, he wonders why gaining superpowers didn't come with an instruction manual, or beginner's guide, or something. For Pete's sake, he can crawl up walls, shock people frozen, and blend in with his surroundings, not a lot of job options for a skillset like his, and besides, what's to stop him from just having fun with these powers, besides not exactly being the responsible way of doing it.

"But, mom. Why not?"

"I'm sorry, honey but my answer is final."

His inner musings were cut short when he heard the sound of his second older sister and his mother having a conversation, curiosity getting the better of him, he opened his door and climbed onto the wall while also going full camo-mode. He crawled until he made it to the room shared by Lori and Leni where the conversation between mother and daughter was taking place. "Mom, Becky and Dana's moms let them buy the new fall style dresses, why can't I buy it too?"

"Look, Leni, like your father and I keep telling you kids, this family's budget just isn't enough." Rita gently told her, hoping to make her point across. "Otherwise, we wouldn't have to encourage you all to hand down some of your old possessions to your younger siblings, the clothes you're talking about cost as much for a new coating for Vanzilla, and I'm afraid we can't just afford them, sweetie." the mother of 11 said in an apologetic tone.

Seeing sweet Leni lament in disappointed gave Lincoln some thought. Money troubles has always been a recurring problem for the Loud family, besides complaints from the neighbors. Due to the fact that they're a big family of 13, it's always been a hassle to get by in life with an almost pitifully small budget, the fights over spare change in the couch cushions are proof enough, that and that whole money hunt mess they got into. Having some extra cash would be beneficial for the Louds, but the jobs some of them get such as being a dentist's assistant, working at the arcade, and babysitting can only get so far, they need much more than that. But with these powers, maybe their money problems could be a thing of the past, heck, it wouldn't be a problem for the Louds ever again.

'Responsibility...to my family. Is that what Pop-Pop meant?' Lincoln thought to himself. It was a noble thought, for sure, just use powers not just for himself, but for his family to. "Hmm, but how I can use my powers to make money?'

Before he could delve more into this, he heard a frustrated voice.

"Curses! Another failure."

He recognized the voice belonging to the prodigy of the family, Lisa and from the sound of things, it looked like she was met with some problems of her own and decided to see what was that all about. Peeking inside her and Lily's room, he saw the infant peacefully sleeping in her crib with her favorite blanky wrapped around her small form while the young scientist was at the drawing board and had thrown a marker to the floor in frustration. "I don't know why I can't get this formula right. I initially assumed developing a unique adhesive derived from various chemicals and inspired from webs sprung from your common arachnid. I suppose I should think of a new presentation for the upcoming expo, hopefully it would be worthy of Dr. Richard's eyes. I guess this goes to the incomplete files."

She then left her room, not knowing that her sole elder brother was on the walls, completely invisible to the human eye. Reappearing and jumping from the wall, Lincoln walked in and observed the drawing board. Now, he wasn't an expert but a few classes in the chemistry lab at school taught him what a formula looks like and it looks like his brainy little sister was onto something here. "Webbing, huh?" he tapped his chin in thought. "Well, spiders do spin webs, why not add that?"

Making sure not to disturb Lily or get caught, Lincoln collected Lisa's chemicals and copied the formula into a single sheet of paper and went downstairs and out in the backyard which was where Lisa's emergency bunker was, otherwise known as the perfect spot for Lincoln to go about his secret business without any interruptions. "Man, Lisa sure keeps a lot of junk in here." Lincoln chuckled, looking at all the old gadgets and inventions that Lisa's made over the years, guess this place has other uses besides hiding out during April Fools. Placing the chemistry tools on the floor, Lincoln also took out a chemistry textbook as well. "Guess mom was right about buying this."

And so, Lincoln began working on the uncomplete formula of Lisa's, it may seem a little sneaky, taking something that belonged to one of his sister's but from he could tell, Lisa was through with this experiment, so picking up where she left off isn't too bad. Besides, Lisa's always working form one experiment to another, she could hardly care about one tiny absence. There was some trial and error, in some cases, a whole mass of webs foaming in a tube, but it was very sticky and he had to memorize the exact ingredients for this concoction, but he was not deterred in the slightest, in fact, the webbing turned out quite alright. Now, he had to figure out a means of shooting them to other surfaces, he looked to the assortment of gadgets and scraps and saw that he has enough tools.

Venturing back into the city portion of Royal Woods, Lincoln decided that one final test run was needed to see if his new gadgets were ready to use in action, and if not, well let's hope that spider bite can heal his wounds from faceplanting on a building. Scaling one of the many tall buildings, Lincoln stood ready, mounted on his wrists, were devices he made himself. He looked down and gulped a little, but hey, if he could jump from each building then he could most assuredly swing across them...right? Okay, now was the time for the moment of truth, he raised his hand and pressed the button on his palm which shot out a single white strand of webbing that latched onto the next building. "Alright, here goes everything!" The sole son of the Louds swung off the building and let out a yell as he felt the wind rush against his face.

Then came the oncoming building, one that he was dangerously getting close to hitting and with a scream, Lincoln instinctively shot another line of web and swung to the right to avoid hitting. He continued swinging around, as if he was some human spider and he just loved it. This feeling, it was unlike anything else in the world, his enhanced agility also made doing tricks all the more exciting, his excited screams filled the air as he did one somersault onto another rooftop. "Whoo!" he exclaimed, jumping off again and web-slinging once more. Goodbye doing favors for Lori to get a ride in return, because this is way better than that.

'It's official. Best. Day. EVER!' he mentally cheered.

Nothing in the world could possibly top this way of traveling, it's too bad Lisa never got around to finishing the formula, because she is seriously missing out on SO much right now.

Swinging one final time, Lincoln landed on the side of a building and slid down the pipe to the alleyway on the ground, and he landed with a light grunt, and luckily didn't draw any attention to himself. "Okay, I am so doing that again." he grinned, already getting used to this. "Alright, I got the web part, now I should go back figuring out how to make some extra cash for the family, but what to do?" as he walked, he passed by a wall that had multiple copies of the same poster plastered all over it, gaining Lincoln's attention.

Ripping it off, he sees that it was a promotion for an underground wrestling match that was being hosted tonight.

It read.

TONIGHT AT 7:00 PM

ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY

GET A CHANCE TO TAKE ON THE CHAMP HIMSELF, BONE SAW

GRAND PRIZE OF $5,000

Now there's an idea.

Lincoln took out his phone dialed a number. "Hey Leni, it's me. You got some leftover clothing I could use, I feel like making something." he had to cover his ears to block out her squealing on the other end from excitement.


Night had fallen to Royal Woods and it was a good thing that this event was being hosted before his curfew, otherwise, his parents would forbade him from going out into the city at such a late hour. Hopefully, he won't have to make this a regular thing, because having to sneak out every night to play dress-up is as hard as it sounds. Additionally, at the risk of any familiar face recognizing him at the fight, he decided to go with the whole wrestling gimmick, he should dress for the occasion, borrowing some supplies from his fashionable older sister, the white haired boy made himself a homemade costume to entertain the crowd and hide his identity.

It wasn't anything fancy, but he thinks it was good enough for now, might think about making some updates in the future. He wore a red hoodie with a spray-painted spider symbol over a blue long-sleeved shirt, blue pants, and white tennis shoes. Over Lincoln's face was a whole mask colored red with two eyeholes but also wore yellow goggles. The disguised Loud child crawled down to where the address of the fight was, just as the poster told him and there seemed to be a few fighters signing up for this.

Realistically speaking, one would question the inclusion of what's obviously a child but these kinds of wrestling matches aren't like the ones on television, they were mostly for show and unless he wants a lawsuit on his hands, then the promoter needs them to be fixed. Lincoln was guided to the start of the line of challengers and saw the champ himself. Bone Saw was of imposing height and stature, and he clearly lives up to his reputation as his current opponent was lying down on the ground, the wind completely knocked out of him. "And winning by knockout, we once again find Bone Saw as our reigning champion!" the announcer stated, enacting cheers from the audience.

"Here we go." Lincoln mentally prepares himself, since he's up next, the guy may look tough, but he doesn't have the proportional strength of a spider in his arsenal.

"And now, making his first ever debut and taking on our reigning champion is a rookie that thinks he can step up to the plate! He may be small in size, but who knows what tricks he has up his sleeve, ladies and gentleman, let us welcome the Human Spider!" knowing that was his cue, Lincoln jumped into action, opposing Bone Saw in the opposite corner. "And to spice things up, for the first time, we'll make this a cage match!"

The announcer pressed a button, that activated a mechanism that caused a metal cage to rise up around the ring, and trapping the two combatants inside, this caused more cheers from the onlookers. "So, little man." Bone Saw began, cracking his knuckles. "How you wanna play this? Let you get a few hits in, until I take you down at the last minute, I got a busy schedule."

Oh boy, this meathead didn't know what he was in for. Ready to show that he was stronger than he looked, the Human Spider jumped up and grabbed his opponent's arm and flung him backwards, surprising both Bone Saw and the audience. "Amazing! In a surprise move, our eager challenger completely blindsides Bone Saw, he's usually the one to start things off strong, folks!"

Bone Saw snapped out of his daze and got back up. "Okay, you just wasted your last chance to back out while you still could, runt! Now, you'll see why no one's been able to beat me!"

"What, no one told you that these kind of fights were fixed?" Lincoln jabbed with a chuckle, ducking out of the way before a fist could make contact with his body. "Because, now that I get a better look at you, you don't really strike me as someone who could possibly see the reality of things. I can understand, it's hard to admit that your whole life was one big scam." his remarks were really starting to tick Bone Saw off, and he tried to smash the little wisecracker, but the boy was just too slick.

"Hold still, you little-AH!" he grunted when the kid got one solid punch at his stomach, which hurt a lot more than it should have, he then tried body slamming him, but Lincoln jumped onto the bars high up. "Hey, get back down here and take it like a man!" he bellowed up to the boy who was having a blast at showing the so-called champ up.

"Nah, I think I'm better up here." Lincoln chuckled. "I get a better look at that cheap outfit of yours, no offense to your mother, I'm sure she tried her hardest to fit that gut of yours in!" he made another remark, making those that were listening laugh.

Roaring out in anger, Bone Saw started banging on the bars, trying to make him lose his grip, but Lincoln was quick enough to land on the other side then swept his foot under the champ's feet, making him fall and then Linc pinned him down and the countdown commenced.

"1. 2. 3!"

"We have a winner!" the announcer raised the Human Spider's hand up as the crowd cheered over the display.

'Hmm...Human Spider...might need to change that.' but that didn't matter right now, what did matter was that he won, and a sweet mess of $5,000 was his reward.

Nothing could possibly ruin this.


"Three hundred bucks?!"

After the match was over, Lincoln went to the fight promoter to collect his winnings as promised, but became outraged when all the promoter would give him was a measly $300, which was a far cry from what was promised. "That's the deal, sport." the promoter said without a care, counting the money he's made as a result from the matchups so far.

"Your ad said 5,000 was a reward." Lincoln pointed out, anger rising.

"5,000 if you lasted 5 minutes against Bone Saw." the promoter corrected. "Should've read the fine print or something, you lasted way shorter than what was necessary, now beat it."

Okay, this was unacceptable, Lincoln spent a lot of time on the suit and preparing himself for this fight, all so he could win the prize money and give it to his family, but this cheapskate was making it all seem like for nothing. "Look, pal, I only signed up for this so I could use that money for my family, and I think I'm due for it. That fight could've gone a whole lot differently and you know it!"

"Sorry, but I missed the part where it was my problem." the promoter sneered. "Now either take what you got and settle or do I have to call your parents or something?"

Giving the sleazy promoter one last glare, Lincoln knew he didn't have any other option but take all the money that was left and be done with this, it still left a sour taste, though. As he walked out, Lincoln walked past a suspicious looking character dressed in black with long blonde hair and brown eyes, that entered into the promoter's office, but he paid him little heed, he was too furious to care. Lincoln now had to figure out another means of scratching up money, but this whole wrestling gig was the only option available, and who knows how long until he finds another profession, his musings were cut off as he heard a shout. "Hey, stop that guy, he took my money!"

Looking back, he saw that the guy from before was running out, carrying a bag full of the money that belonged to the promoter, said cheapskate was making chase. Now, Lincoln could have stopped him right then and there, but then again, the guy who got robbed cheated him out of a potential thousands that would've helped his family's money troubles, so...he stepped aside and allowed the robber to get to the elevator.

"Thanks, kid." he said to the masked boy as the door closed.

"Dammit!" the promoter slammed his fist on the elevator and turned to the kid with a scowl. "Why didn't you do anything?! You have any idea how long it took me to make that much green?!"

"How's that my problem?" Lincoln shot back, satisfied that the guy knew what it felt like and with nothing else to say, he was the next one on the elevator to get out of this place. Now, he needs to blow off some steam, and he's still got time before his curfew, maybe some time around the city was all that he needed.

Time went by almost at blinding speed, and now it was only a few more minutes until his family would sent out hunting dogs, or perhaps only Lana to go find him. He would've gone home sooner, but he was still sore about what happened with the promoter, so a little more time by himself felt needed, but he had to go home sometime. "Well, maybe performing circus acts is the next best thing." Lincoln sighed as he walked the sidewalk of Franklin Avenue, kicking a nearby can.

Or better yet, perform at birthday parties, that works out well for Luan.

At the very least, he should still keep his powers a se-wait, what?

The sole brother and son of the Louds froze at the sight of his house and it wasn't ravaged by a sibling fight or one of Lisa's experiments, but there were police squad cars surrounding the Loud House which instantly got him concerned and made a run for the front door. "Mom, dad, girls, why are there-"

"Linky!" he was instantly enveloped in a crushing hug by Leno, who had tears in her eyes. He was then approached by two of his other older sisters, Lori and Luna.

"Bro, where were you?!" Luna frantically asked, concern plastered all over her face. "We've been calling your cell for hours!"

Huh, that explains the vibrating in his pocket.

"Lincoln, are you okay?" Lori checked him over. "Did you run into anyone?"

"Guys, just hold on a sec." Lincoln moved away, confused about their current state, as both Lori and Luna had their eyeliner running. "What's with the police outside, I wasn't gone that long, r-" at that moment, he took notice of the atmosphere in the house, it was one filled with heartbreak, despair, and devastation. He looked to see the rest of his family, Luan was sitting near the wall, her head raised up with a thousand yard stare as tears streamed down her face, the twins hugged each other as Lola cried in Lana's shoulder. Lucy hugged her knees as she stayed silent, even more so than usual and Lynn was next to her, her hands to his shoulders with a numb look, and even Lisa seemed like she just got word of one of her projects being rejected. But what sold it was his mother, Rita, she sat on the couch, sobbing loudly into her hands, with her husband comforting her. Slowly, Lincoln walked over to her, almost afraid about what got everyone so...broken, especially her. "Mom, what's wrong?"

Sniffling, Rita looked to her baby boy, her mascara running as well, lips quivering like an earthquake and wrapped him in a hug. "Honey...it's about your Pop-Pop."

And just like that, his whole world came crashing down.