AN: Did another one of these. As before, this is an unofficial chapter for Ace Savvy: A New Hope, by UnderratedHero. This one shouldn't require much knowledge of the original fic, or even of the previous interlude I wrote. But it'd probably help all the same. I'm probably gonna end up doing at least one more of these, though it remains to be seen how long it'll take me to get the third one done. After that, who knows?
These are supposed to be relatively self-contained one-shots, but I'll respond to a comment from the previous one anyway.
LoudCestBest - The point here isn't to do my own, full-blown AU, its just to explore things that I personally like about Hero's fic. So my version of events will differ a bit from Hero's, but the broad strokes of the story are going to be pretty identical. The next one-shot will take place after Lincoln's started superhero-ing.
Lincoln McBride's was...confused. This was not an unusual feeling for the white haired boy as of late, it's just that this particular instance was especially unusual, even by the standards of his new normal.
In the span of...had it already been a week? Lincoln had unintentionally been pulled into an altercation that resulted in the death of Ace Savvy, hero to many, himself included. Dealing with the emotional aftermath of that incident had been rough, to say the least. But when things had seemed most bleak, he'd found some much needed guidance.
That his savior had been an honest to God superhero was, at once both unusual and remarkable just the same. Saving people was literally her job, after all, but heroes typically dealt with more tangible threats. Criminals, super villains, natural disasters. Comforting a depressed child just didn't have the same sense of urgency attached to it. Despite this, Eclipse had gone out of her way to do so anyway, and for that Lincoln would always be eternally grateful. She'd even been kind enough to ferry both him and his bike home in the process, which seemed to be spiking the ball, so to speak, Good Samaritan wise, but it was incredibly gratifying and comforting to know that such a kind and caring person had taken the city under her aegis.
BZZT BZZT
Lincoln fumbled for his phone, checking his new message.
Hey Linky! Got my hands full right now. Just knock when you get here!
What was surprising, was that his meeting with Eclipse kind of just seemed to...keep on going.
Following their sunrise watching session, which had done wonders for his mood, Lincoln had presumed that would be the end of things. He had needed saving, of a sorts, Eclipse had saved him, the superhero social contract had been fulfilled. Eclipse had a life, and responsibilities, it would have been unconscionable to demand any more of her time than he had already taken. And Lincoln had been fully prepared to allow things to end there, leaving his meeting with the heroine as an amusing anecdote that he would almost certainly be mocked for sharing ("Sure Lincoln, you totally some some alone time with a pretty, blonde superhero. We believe you.") Once he'd arrived back home and farewell to the emerald-clad girl, Lincoln had snuck back inside, changed back into his pajamas, and tried to salvage what time remained before school started so he could get some much needed sleep. The rest of the day had proceeded in a fairly normal fashion. Until that night.
Homework done, teeth brushed, and dinner digesting in his stomach, a very exhausted Lincoln had been prepared to turn in early and start catching up on his sleep deficit. And then...
BZZT BZZT
Lincoln had absentmindedly reached for his phone and checked his messages, not expecting to receive anything especially interesting so late on a school night.
Hey Lincoln. Just wanted to make sure you were doing okay.
The tone of the message was familiar, but the sending number was not. Lincoln had stared at his phone, puzzled, trying to work out just who might be sending him such a thing. Then he noticed that this was but one message in a short, but preexisting chain, and comprehension dawned. It was Eclipse, checking up on him. Touched, Lincoln had sent back a short reply, assuring her that he was feeling much better, and once again thanking her for her time. His mood a little lighter, and his heart a little warmer, Lincoln had gone to bed, incredibly thankful that he had chosen to go to that funeral. However...
Lincoln, have you ever been flying in the rain? Big mistake, my hair is totes soaked.
Lincoln! I got thrown through a wall! But I ended up in a froyo shop I didn't know existed! So tasty!
Lincoln! I'm on fire! So how's your day going?
The messages never stopped coming. Not literally, of course, but at least once a day, oftentimes more, Lincoln would receive entry in this strange little saga of his. It was flattering, and also a little intimidating to think that he warranted such attention, but Lincoln always did his best to reply as expediently as possible, each time expecting that this latest message was to be his last. It wasn't until several days of this new routine, that Lincoln finally came to a stunning revelation.
There was a chance, however minute, that these communications were not simply a concerned superhero keeping tabs on her latest charity case, but rather that he had somehow, managed to become friends with Eclipse.
Hey Linky! Me and Nova are gonna be having a night in tomorrow. Thinking of doing a movie night. Wanna come?
This...was going to be really hard to explain to his dads.
Lincoln hadn't been certain what to expect when he'd been invited to a superhero movie night, but an address that readily showed up on Google Maps still managed to be perplexing. The address in question was deemed too far for him to travel by bike, so his dads had insisted on driving him, resulting in an anxiety-inducing car ride to the location. Superheroes didn't conduct their business just anywhere, they had fortresses, caves, mystical sanctums, space stations! The address he'd been given could have been for literally anything! And it would fall upon him to explain to his well meaning, but worry-prone parents, what the heck he was doing there!
...So it came was both a relief, and a slight disappointment when their destination turned out to be a perfectly ordinary apartment building. Mercifully, Lincoln had managed to convince his parents to at least let him walk in on his own, just in case the building was a hologram, or merely the front for something far more fantastical. But it seemed his caution was for naught. By all indications, this really was just a perfectly ordinary apartment building, full of perfectly ordinary people.
And so it came to be that Lincoln found himself standing before a perfectly ordinary door to one such perfectly ordinary apartment. Which lead him to his current conundrum. Namely, how was he to proceed from here?
No matter how many times he cross referenced the numbered apartment before him with the address he'd been given, the facts refused to change. By all indications, this was where he was supposed to be. So, with no other options left to him, Lincoln hesitantly reached out and sharply rapped on the door.
Several, heart-pounding moments passed, artificially lengthened by his extreme anxiety he was now suffering. But finally, mercifully, the doorknob began to turn, and the door opened.
"What do you want?" Grumbled grumbled a clearly irritated older girl , now standing in the doorway. Lincoln wasn't certain how to respond. While blonde and certainly attractive in her own right, her choice of a tank top and shorts doing little to hide her generous curves, the girl before him was absolutely not Eclipse. This girl terrified him, something Eclipse had proven incapable of doing, in spite of Lincoln knowing full well that she could crumble him up like a wad of tissue paper using nothing but her mind. And that left Lincoln in a very awkward position. He couldn't just say "Hi, I'm here to see Eclipse", that risked exposing his friend's identity, especially if he really had gotten the location wrong, which was beginning to seem increasingly likely now.
"Um...well..." He said, haltingly.
"Come on, kid, speak up." The girl snapped, "I don't have all night!"
"S-sorry!" Lincoln shouted, partially out of habit. His mind was currently occupied trying to figure out a way to gracefully disengage from this conversation, so his body had just reacted to the angry tone. However, Lincoln was finding it hard to think, what with being yelled at by this tall, blonde, blue-clad girl with a very...distinctive...hair...style...
"Oh my gosh." He said, softly, the last piece clicking in place. "You're NovAAAAH!"
Lincoln wasn't entirely certain what had just happened. One second he'd been trying to pacify a distressingly angry girl, and now he found himself pinned against a wall by that same girl. Also, he'd apparently misjudged the situation. Previously, the girl in question had just been irritated.
"What...did...you...say?" She hissed, her face only inches away from his. Now she was angry.
"No...va?" Lincoln barely managed to choke out. The deceptively delicate hand that was keeping him aloft felt like steel against his chest, and breathing was starting to become an issue.
"How did you find me!" The girl growled, the pressure against his chest gradually increasing. "Are you a stalker? A fan?" Her eyes began to shine with a pale blue luminescence. "Are you a stan?"
"No!" Lincoln croaked. He realized, on some level, that a more comprehensive response would be required, but his oxygen levels were getting dangerously low and his thoughts were becoming more abstract as the seconds went blue. Fortunately, his salvation was at hand.
"Lori?" Called out a much more familiar voice. "Was that the door?"
Nova(?) started in surprised, causing her grip to falter, and allowing blessed air to flood Lincoln's lungs once more.
Another girl stepped into view, her pretty face marred by concern. Long blonde hair, a frilly seafoam-green dress hugging her slender, shapely frame, and oddly enough, a pair of sunglasses resting unused atop her head. While the outfit was unfamiliar, Lincoln had little doubt as to the identity of the new arrival.
"Eclipse!" He shouted, exhaling with relief.
"Oh! Hi, Linky." She replied, waving to him.
The remaining member of their trio looked from the still waving blonde, to the young boy she still had pinned to the wall.
"Hello, Linky." She deadpanned.
"Leni, what did I say about inviting strangers over?"
"You've never said anything about inviting strangers over, Lori."
"Because it's obvious! Don't invite strangers over!"
Lincoln was between a rock and a soft place. Except the rock had very jagged edges, and was probably thinking about decking him. Realistically, this was never going to survive as an idiom, but it was rather apt for his current situation. The sisters lived in a fairly unremarkable apartment. Save for the television hung up on the wall, which was quite nice, their living space was arranged pragmatically, so as to make the most of the space available to them. Lincoln was currently situated in what was clearly supposed to serve as the "living room", with a modest sized couch, a coffee table, and a couple of comfortable chairs arranged around the aforementioned television. Despite the fact that there was plenty of room for three people to sit comfortably, even in this relatively small area, problems quickly arose once the trio began working out a seating arrangement.
In the hopes of diffusing the tension, Lincoln had offered to sit by himself, far off to the side. Leni's hurt expression and her trembling, pouting lips quickly convinced him to seek a different solution. Leni's offer that he sit on the couch with her was also quickly vetoed, this time by Lori, whose protests were only made that much more convincing by the sparking, crackling vestiges of her barely repressed energy aura. As for Leni's suggestion that he and Lori sit together...well, if looks could kill, movie night quickly would have been replaced with "clean up the still sizzling bits of the kid who couldn't keep his mouth shut" night. It was a situation eerily reminiscent of one of those variants of the Wolf, Goat, Cabbage puzzle. In the end, the closest they could come to an amicable solution was for all three of them to take the couch, Lincoln sandwiched tightly between the two older girls.
"Linky's not a stranger! He's Linky!"
As far as solutions went, well...the jury was still out on that one.
"Well I don't know him!" Lori seethed. "And not only did you invite some random kid over, you also outed our secret identifies to him! What the heck were you thinking?"
Leni winced at that. "Well, alright, I actually hadn't thought about that when I invited him over." She conceded. "But he's my friend! He won't tell anyone!"
"I won't." Lincoln added, flinching as Lori's baleful gaze turned upon him once more. "H-honest." Lori seemed unconvinced. Given that he'd made her out in the hallway, he didn't really blame her.
"And besides." Leni continued. "He's not a stranger. You've met him before." At this, Lori's consternation turned to confusion. She looked to Lincoln once more, her brow crinkling in concentration, and then her eyes widened as realization dawned.
"Oh, shoot." She said, her facial features beginning to soften, "You're that kid from the funeral."
"Y-yeah." Lincoln admitted, no point in lying about it. Lori sighed in exasperation.
"Fine, so he's not just some rando off the street." Lori admitted. "But—"
"I can just leave." Lincoln interjected, looking up at the girls. "Really, it's fine, no harm done. Just give me a minute to call myself a ride home, and I'll be out of your hair."
"We can't just let you leave, kid." Lori scoffed. "You literally know too much. We have to make sure you don't go spilling the beans to anyone else." That sounded...ominous.
"O-okay." Lincoln gulped nervously. "So you're going to...what, erase my memory or something?" To his surprise, Lori was suddenly looking a lot less confident.
"Well...nnnnno." Lori admitted with a wince. "We..uh, we don't really have any way of doing that, I don't think." She looked to her sister. "Can you do that, Leni? You've got...mind powers, right?"
"Nuh uh." The other blonde shook her head. "I mean, I bought some coconuts from the store. I guess we could try hitting him in the head with those—"
"Please don't." Lincoln and Lori responded in unison, prompting a brief exchange of confused glances between the pair.
"But, I think I have a better way of helping you learn to trust Linky." Leni concluded. She held out her hand, and the television remote smoothly floated up and off the coffee table, and into her grasp.
"This movie is the worst." Lori groaned, throwing her head back as she groaned in frustration. Lincoln did his best to ignore the way Lori's movements caused her breasts to merrily bounce up and down. After all, he needed to give Lori less reasons to want to blast him.
"I dunno." Lincoln offered, trying to keep his voice level. "I think its a big improvement over the first couple of David Steel movies." The look of disappointment Lori leveled at him was palpable. It had both texture and scent.
"I like it too." Leni added. "The fights are really cool. Even though the number of bad guys he's fighting keeps changing for some reason."
"The man has pudding shoes." Lori exclaimed, flinging her hands out to the side, Lincoln only barely managing to duck out of the way of the flailing appendage sent his way. "It's ridiculous! It's—"
"Over." Leni interjected, pointing at the screen. Sure enough, the credits had begun to roll.
"Finally!" Lori shouted. "Now gimme the remote!" Not waiting for her sister to comply, Lori leaned over and snatched the appliance out of Leni's hands, inadvertently squishing Lincoln between the two girls, causing the boy to briefly experience a moment of bliss of the highest caliber...immediately followed by mortification. The brief glance he shot Leni's way didn't help matters, as the older girl was smiling at him, clearly amused. Then Lincoln remembered that Eclipse's abilities included the reading of surface level emotions...
"Need something to detox from all the stupid." Lori grumbled, changing the channel. "Ah, here we go."
"Oh!" Lincoln exclaimed, recognizing the show that came on and desperate for anything to distract him from what was going on with Leni. "The Dream Boat! My family loves this show!"
"Seriously?" Lori didn't sound convinced.
"Well...yeah." Lincoln affirmed, nodding slowly, not prepared for the skepticism. The elder girl seemingly remained unmoved.
"Do you have anyone you're rooting for, Linky?" Leni asked, gently nudging his side.
"Yeah." He turned his attention back to the cheerful blonde. "I was on team Tucker for most of this season, but last week I kinda...uh, jumped ship, I guess." He let out a nervous laugh. "Dale just really impressed me with how he handled that golf challenge."
"And why's that?" Leni prompted.
"Well..." Lincoln paused to clear his throat. "He got to that part at the end where he had the straight shot at the hole, albeit, a risky one because of the distance. Everyone was acting like that was his only option, going big for the risky shot. But instead, he intentionally shot wide so the ball would swerve around the perimeter and still end up on the green. He sacrificed a potential, but risky one-stroke, which easily could have turned into three or more if he messed up, and instead minimized his potential losses by setting up a two-stroke shot, which ended up winning the game for him."
Lincoln was so caught up explaining himself, that it was only now that he noticed the look of bemusement upon Leni's face. Which wouldn't have seemed out of the ordinary, he was used to people reacting that way when he started rambling like that, except for the fact that Leni wasn't looking at him. He followed the older girl's gaze, leading him to Lori, who's previous look of seemingly permanent disdain for him had now been replaced by...something else. He wasn't really certain what he was looking at, exactly, but it was the first time all night that she hadn't been looking at him with outright hostility, so that was probably a good sign?
"You...uh..." Lori began. Her cool and calm tone and body language decidedly at odds with the way she was tripping over her words. "You like...golf?" That was unexpected.
"Kind of?" Lincoln offered with a nervous shrug. "I've never had a chance to try it. But I love games, and I was really impressed by how much strategic depth there seems to be." He let out a small chuckle. "Also, the actual shot he made was really cool."
"You don't say..." Lori mused, stroking her chin thoughtfully. Seemingly coming to a conclusion about something, Lori shut off the television and hopped to her feet, making her way over to a closet on the other side of the room. "Get out the putting green, Leni!" She called out over her shoulder.
"Uh, L-lori?" Something about the girl's tone prompted Lincoln to look back her way. Much to his surprise, Leni, who had been varying degrees of unwavering chipper all evening, suddenly looked very nervous. "I don't think it's a good idea to—"
"Green, Leni." Came Lori's response, her tone brooking no room for argument. She walked back towards the pair, now with a bag of golf clubs slung over her shoulder.
"Wow." Said Lincoln, genuinely intrigued. "You golf, Lori?"
"Not...really. Not anymore, at least." The older girl's mood seemed to dampen for an instant. "Life kind of got in the way, you know? But it's helps to occasionally break out the set and unwind a bit."
"That's not the only thing that gets broken." Leni muttered under her breath, barely audible even with her close proximity to Lincoln. Nevertheless, she reached out with her hand. A small, rolled up bundle floated out from a corner of the room and began to unfurl itself. At the same time, Leni reached out with her other hand, causing the coffee table to gently float a short distance away, leaving the center of the living room clear. Within short order, the girl's living space had been turned into an extremely tiny, but perfectly serviceable one-hole golf course.
That's pretty cool." Lincoln opined, climbing to his feet so he could examine the newly laid out accoutrement. A gentle touch on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.
"Here." Lori said, gently putting a small cup in his hands. "Do me a favor and put this on the green, make sure the cup is facing me."
"Got it." Lincoln complied, setting up the cup while Lori retrieved a putter and a golf ball and her bag. Once he'd placed it to her satisfaction, she motioned for him to step aside.
"Just give me a second to warm up." Said Lori. She placed the ball on the end of the green, put herself in position, and after a few moments of concentration, swung the putter in a nice, gentle arc. The ball rolled right up the middle of the green and into the cup with a soft clink.
"Nice job, Lori!" Lincoln congratulated her. "That's a hole in one, right?"
"Calm down, kid." The older girl replied, though it was clear from the way her back straightened up, that she was enjoying the praise. "I told you, that was just a warm up. Now..." She grinned. "Put the cup so it's standing straight up."
"Lori noooo!" Leni wailed from her place on the couch. Still, Lincoln complied, then took a few steps back.
"Alright..." Lori murmured to herself, as she got set up again. "Now, keep your eye on the ball, Lincoln..."
This time, rather than the fairly conservative swing she had used before, Lori added a considerable amount of windup to her swing. Lincoln was on the verge of asking why that might be, when the blonde suddenly swung downward, her putter slicing through the air until it collided with the ball, producing a sharp pop. The tiny sphere launched upward with terrifying velocity, bouncing off the too-low ceiling before veering wildly into another corner of the room entirely. It was all Lincoln could do to follow the ball as it bounced all over the room, coming perilously close to hitting him a few times. Then, mercifully, the ball rebounded off the ceiling one last time...
PLONK
...and landed right in the center of the cup.
"Holy moley." Lincoln breathed, his jaw hanging open. He turned back to the now preening teenager. "How the heck did you do that?"
"Well..." Lori winced slightly. "Super strength does help. A little. But mostly it's just practice. Lots and lots of practice."
"So much practice..." Leni quietly sobbed from the couch.
"Get over it, Leni." Lori snapped. "I replaced all your stuff. Eventually." Then she turned back to Lincoln. "So..." She said, suddenly sounding very giddy. "You want to see another?"
"I—" Lincoln began, only to be interrupted by the jangling of his phone. "Would love to. But I need to take this." He thumbed the screen and held the phone up to his ear. "Hey dad—" And immediately winced at the torrent of loving concern that began pouring out of the tiny speaker. "The time? No, I haven't looked at the...oh."
Lincoln checked his phone and winced, embarrassed. It was actually really late, and he hadn't called home once. No wonder his folks were upset. Giving Lori an apologetic look, he put the phone back to his ear.
"Sorry dad, I lost track of time. Alright, I'll be waiting at—" To his surprise, Lori leaned over and lightly snatched the phone from his grasp.
"Hello, mister..." She looked at Lincoln meaningfully. It suddenly occurred to him that he'd never properly introduced himself to the girls.
"McBride." He quietly supplied, and Lori nodded gratefully.
"Hello Mr. McBride." She smoothly corrected herself. "I'm Lori Lavigne, and I'm in charge of this little get together. So sorry we didn't call you, I'm absolutely mortified. But you know how it is, time flies when you're having fun."
She paused for a moment, nodding. "Yes, that's right, everything's perfectly fine over here." Another pause. "Oh, there's no need for that, we'll be wrapping up shortly."
She leaned over and gave Lincoln a conspiratorial wink. "Yes, that's right. I'd be happy to give him a lift home, just as soon as we're done here. Alright then, we'll be seeing you soon." Lori terminated the call and handed Lincoln back his phone.
"Hey, twerp." She said conversationally. "You don't have a problem with heights right?"
Lincoln didn't even try to hide the grin that erupted across his face. "Nothing I can't handle." He said, confidently.
"Attaboy." Lori chuckled, giving Lincoln a gentle clap on his shoulder. "But first, I've got one more shot to show you. We're gonna need two cups this time, and we're gonna have to rig up a small, temporary scaffolding to hold up the green. Leni's got a couple of purses that should work just fine."
"Lori!"