DATE: MARCH 14, 2015, NEW YORK, 11H40M

"Nobody move, this is a robbery!"

Three armed men invade a pawnshop, yielding the 4 employees and the few customers that were inside. They know they do not have much time, because no matter which neighborhood in New York a crime is committed, there's always some hero on patrol.

They put what they could in the bags and then left the store. However, their accomplice who was supposed to keep the car on was lying on the ground, and a dark-skinned girl in black was on top of the car.

"Sorry, but I think you've lost the ride." Miss Marvel said, mocking them. "If you give yourself up, and you will not take a beating. Much."

They immediately prepared to shoot, but a energy blast came from behind them and knocked them down.

"Hey, didn't you know it's rude to point guns at people?" Marvel Boy said with a confident smile. "Do not make it harder for you, and surrender."

The three of them sat on the ground, watched by the young heroes. It did not take long and the police arrived, attending the silent alarm call, and arrested the thieves.

With the job done, Marvel Boy reached for his partner, and they flew off.


LATER, IN THE LOUD TOWER


Lincoln was relaxing in his tub, covered in bubbles. Just a month ago, keeping his secret was a burden he was about to give up, but ever since he and Ronnie Anne began training with the Ant-Man, he was finally proud of his powers. Especially now that he was finally able to fly.

Of course, his parents would not approve, and his sisters would surely be angry, but he had already chosen that path, and was willing to go to the end. His hero, Captain America, also had to listen to people saying what he could not do, and yet he proved what he was capable of. Why could not Lincoln do the same?

"How's the bath?"

Lincoln almost had a heart attack. On the side of the tub, Luan was giggling while her brother hid in the bubbles.

"Luan! Could not you wait for me to get out of the bathroom?"

"Gee, Linc. I saw nothing, although it would be nothing that had not already seen. Anyway, Mom said to let you know we're having dinner in 10 minutes, so hurry up."

Lincoln looked, with a little anger, his sister casually out of the bathroom, crossing the wall. She then placed her head back.

"Oh, and do not forget to wash every little place. Haha."

Now that Luan had finally left, Lincoln decided to finish his bath soon and go to dinner. But as soon as he stepped out of the bathroom, he found Lynn lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. Just like him, she was already wearing her pajamas.

"Lynn? What's up?"

She looked at him as if trying to find the courage to speak. After a little silence, she finally managed to speak.

"Lincoln, do you know that kid from school, Chandler?"

Lincoln could not help feeling an increasing irritation at that name.

Chandler was the school's most popular boy, and whenever he could, he did something to embarrass Lincoln or to get Ronnie Anne's attention. If it had not been for his self-control, Lincoln would have already sent the boy to the moon with a uppercut.

"What about him?" He asked, with a little disdain in his voice.

"Next Saturday, he's going to throw one of his parties, and he called my soccer team. I wanted to ask if this does not bother you before giving an answer."

Lincoln stopped to think.

He did not like Chandler, but that did not mean that the others did not like him. He also knew that getting an invitation to a Chandler party was important to many of the school's students, and If Lynn does not go to the party, probably her team friends would not go either. In the beginning, he and Chandler only ignored each other, but after he declined the invitation to the boy's last birthday, it began to make his life miserable. He certainly did not want to put Lynn and her friends in trouble.

"Do not worry about it, Lynn." He was smiling now. "I may not get along with him, but that does not mean you and your team can not enjoy the party."

That was enough for Lynn to smile too. She did not like the boy either, but her team wanted to go to the party. Knowing that her brother would not feel betrayed made her more confident to go to the party.

"Hey, how about a race to the dining room?" She looked defiant. "I'll give you a minute of advantage."

"Okay, but this time, wait."

Lincoln left the room, but did not bother to run. He knew he could not go faster than Lynn even though he flew around the house, which was out of question. As soon as he came down the stairs, he felt a strong wind blow through the corridor.

He moved toward the far corner of the living room, and through the door. As he entered the dining room, he realized that everyone, even their father, was already there, eating the dinner their mother had prepared and was set on the huge table.

He sat in his place, between Luan and Lana, and put food on his plate. He barely had time to start eating and his parents gave them an announcement.

"Kids, as you know, lately I and Director Santiago have been a little busy." Lynn Sr. stood with his arms behind his back. "An urgent situation has arisen, and we'll both go to the White House tomorrow."

Everyone was speechless. It was not the first time their father was going to have a meeting with the president, but whenever he went to another state, his mother went along, which meant...

"As usual, Lori will be in charge until we get back, probably Tuesday morning, if everything goes as planned." The father completed.

Two whole days under Lori's command. She was not a bad person, but her biggest flaw was being bossy. As if they had a collective mind, all of them, with the exception of Lori, began to think that there was no way to get worse..

"Kids, although we have not had any problems since last month's incident, your father and I agreed that extra help might be needed." Rita decided to reveal the most important part. "So Lisa and Lily will go with us, and Director Santiago will send 15 SHIELD agents to monitor the tower while we're out."

"Wait, you're going to leave Lori in charge, but will we all have babysitters?" Lincoln was astonished at his parents.

No one said anything, for the answer was obvious. Although they had had a month's freedom since last month's incident, it seemed their parents were starting to act again as before. It should only be a matter of time before confinement and experiences come back as well.

"Kids, I know it's hard to accept this, but we're really worried about you. You know I did not mind rebuilding this tower in the 6 times it was attacked by supervillains, but you are what is most precious to us." Lynn Sr. tried to ease the situation, and saw that it was almost 7pm. "Well, the quinjet that's coming to get us will come in about two hours, so let's eat."

The silence followed dinner, all of them bowed. When they were all finished, Luan, Lynn, and Lincoln went to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

"Lynn, could you do me a favor?" Lincoln said as he set the dishes in the washer. "Can you tell everyone to meet me in my room as soon as Mom and Dad leave? I think we need a sibling meeting."

"Of course, no problem."

.

.

.

At 9 pm, a quinjet landed on the tower terrace, and the parents, with their youngest daughters, embarked, leaving the others in the care of their daughter Lori and the agents who would arrive in the morning.

Lincoln sabia that his sisters would be upset with the possibility that their parents could keep them in the tower most of the time again, so he decided to tell part of what he discovered with the Ant-Man, without revealing his secret. If everything went as planned, it was possible that peace would continue in the house.

One by one, his sisters entered the room, except for one.

"Hey, where's Lori?"

They were all surprised by their brother's reaction.

"You want her here?" Lynn seemed to be the most confused.

"Yes, I said I wanted to talk to all of you."

"We thought you were going to try to be the "King of Yes!" again." Lana said, embarrassed.

"What?" Lincoln could not believe his ears. "After the last time? No, I learned my lesson. You may love me, but you can not take me seriously." He stopped and looked at the embarrassed looks of his sisters. Apparently, they all thought the same thing. "Anyway, can anyone call Lori? I have something important to tell."

Lynn immediately left the room and called Lori. She knew that if Lincoln wanted to talk to them when their parents were not there, the matter must be serious.

Some time later, she returned with a bored Lori along with her.

"All right twerp, what do you want?"

"After thinking hard, I decided to tell you what I discovered with the Avengers."

At that moment the girls gasped. Their parents said to leave Lincoln and Ronnie Anne alone, and not ask about it . Now they would finally know what happened when their brother was kidnapped.

They all sat on the floor, paying attention to what their brother said.

"Okay, now that I have your attention, I think I can tell. Last month, when I went to the museum with Ronnie Anne, we stayed in a hall, not realizing we were alone, and then started to get a gray gas from the ventilation."

"Did they try to poison you?" Lola asked, looking like she was going to cry.

"No, it was a gas to make us sleep." Lincoln tried to make sure he was safe. "You know I'm very sturdy, but Ronnie Anne fainted fast, and I carried her through the emergency exit."

They sighed to hear that their brother was so heroic, proud of his courage.

"Hey, wait." Leni was intrigued by her brother's story. "If you, like, got out of there, how did they kidnap you?"

"It's because we can not get out. As soon as I got to the door, someone hit me hard in the head and I fainted. When I woke up, I was tied up in a chair with a bump on my head."

Lana threw herself over Lincoln and hugged him.

"It must have been awful." She said, almost crying. "How did you get out?"

"Well, it was as I said, the Avengers saved us."

"Yeah, you already said that." Lynn was impatient now. "But who are these Avengers?"

They all started talking at once, forcing Lincoln to calm them down.

"I'll get there. When I woke up, I saw that Ronnie Anne was gagged and her face was bruised. Some of the bandits were distracted, preparing their weapons, when they were attacked by Marvel Boy."

"That kid that was in the news?" Lori was intrigued. "What kind of group accepts a brat as a member?"

"Well, he's a little charming." Lola said with a romantic air. "And he can fight bad guys without messing up his hair."

Lincoln was a little uncomfortable with the comment. Knowing that one of his sisters finds his alter ego attractive was disgusting.

"Okay, okay, let's get back to the reason we're here." Quickly, Lincoln went back to telling his story. "Yeah, Marvel Boy knocked the bad guys down, but 3 were still standing, and one of them pointed his gun at Ronnie Anne."

They were panting. They knew that Ronnie Anne was now all right, but to know that she went through something so terrible was shocking.

"None of us moved a muscle, but then we heard a voice, and out of nowhere the guy with the gun fell to the ground."

"Wait, the Invisible Guy is also an Avenger?" Luna was surprised. "The more you talk, the more it seems they are not a group."

"Well, actually I found out that he's not called Invisible Guy. He calls himself Ant-Man, and he can shrink. As he gets very small, you can barely see where he is. Without being seen, he defeated the last bad guys,"

The girls were a little disappointed. Many people on the internet talked about the Invisible Guy, and now they have discovered that he is actually a man the size of an insect.

"Well, I think that's a little disappointment. Haha! Get it?" Luan could not resist one of her jokes. "But seriously, if they let you go, why did you just get here at night?"

"Well, they took us to their headquarters, a totally customized helicarrier."

The girls were surprised by that. They already saw what a helicarrier looks like, and they knew it was expensive. How did these Avengers have one?

"Before you ask, the Ant-Man told us he made the original helicarrier design for SHIELD, and they asked Dad to do it the way we know it."

"Wait, so they live in a type of outdated helicarrier?" Lana was curious as to what the mechanical part of an older version of a helicarrier was.

"That's where it is: their helicarrier is much better. It's a bit smaller, has virtually silent propellers, is totally undetectable, and is decorated as if it were a joint of home, gym, laboratory and club. They have video games, foosball, air hockey, armchairs with massage and much more."

"So while we were worried about you, did they give you a day at the amusement park?" Lori was furious, and the other sisters began to get irritated. "How do these irresponsible people do such a thing?"

"That's not it, Lori. They told me what really happened that day. Our kidnapping was just a distraction for something bigger."

The girls were curious again. They suffered a lot with the disappearance of their brother, and now he says that he was not even the target of the bad guys.

"I can not imagine what kind of dark plot this might be." Despite the situation, Lucy was more and more interested in the story.

"It turns out that a very dangerous criminal named the Black Knight, all alone, invaded a secret SHIELD prison and freed the son of Baron Zemo, who now leads Hydra. Unlike what we are taught at school, the Hydra still exists, but remains secret."

They were now speechless. In every history class, they learned that Captain America and Baron Zemo died more than half a century ago, and the Hydra had disappeared. Finding out that something like this was occurring, and that their brother had discovered it astounded them.

"Anyway, I guess our father and director Santiago did not want us to know that, so we can not tell anyone."

"That's so exciting!" Suddenly Lana was euphoric. "We always keep secrets, but this is a secret that SHIELD is keeping! It's almost like we're spies or something!"

"An evil organization led by a man in black. It even looks like a macabre tale from my collection." Lucy was smiling, wondering what the Black Knight would look like.

"So these Avengers are going to fight Hydra?" Luna tried not to show it, but she was terrified.

That caught Lincoln by surprise. He was progressing a lot, and Ronnie Anne was also managing to master her powers better. However, at no time had Dr. Pym said that they would fight supervillains. At least he still had not said it.

"Honestly, I do not know Luna. They are only the Ant-Man, Marvel Boy, Miss Marvel and a robot who acts as a type of butler. I do not think they are in a position to fight an organization capable of taking someone out of a SHIELD prison with one man."

The sisters were now pensive. They began to understand why their parents were so worried. If these people had the audacity to use Lincoln and Ronnie Anne to trick SHIELD, it was not surprising that their parents would care about their children being left alone.

"But you do not have to worry." Lincoln picked up his special pen on the dresser. "They gave me that. Has a hidden transmitter to call them in case of emergency."

The girls were speechless. After everything Lincoln had told them, he now said he had an emergency signal for heroes.

"Well, I think it's late, and we need to digest what Lincoln told us." Lori stood up and took a firm stand. "Let's go to sleep, people. And Lincoln, thanks for sharing this with us. Night, bro."

One by one the girls left the room and went to bed. Lincoln then noticed that the twins were still there, looking as if they wanted to ask for something, but embarrassed to say what.

"What's up? You know you can count on me, can not you?" He said gently.

They whispered to each other, and then Lana took a step forward.

"Lincoln, can we sleep with you today?"

Lincoln was already used to his younger sisters asking for his company to feel safe. After what he said, it was understandable that they were worried.

"Fine, but no animals or tea parties. Let's go straight to bed."

The twins smiled and hugged him.

Shortly after, the three of them were on the floor, in their sleeping bags, ready to finish the day.

"Hey, Lincoln." Lola looked frightened. "You do not think this Black Knight would try to get one of us again, do you?"

You could tell how worried she was. She could be one of the most powerful Louds, but she was only seven.

"Hey, you two, listen carefully." Lincoln's voice was firm but gentle. "I assure you we'll be fine. We're a family, and as long as we're together, no one can mess with the Loud siblings. Besides, I doubt that this Black Knight or any of his allies will mess with any of us again."

Now the twins were finally at peace, and the three of them were able to sleep.


CASTLE ZEMO, LEIPZIG, GERMANY


The Black Knight approaches a man in a lab coat who is analyzing data on a huge screen.

"And then, Octavius? Everything is ready?"

"Certainly, Mr. Garrett." The scientist replied without even looking at his leader. "Our mercenary is ready for your test. If he succeeds, not only will we have one more member for the Masters of Evil, but we will also have access to one of the best data processing systems in the world."

"And you're sure this is the best option?"

"Certainly. I may not like him, but when it comes to this kind of technology, no one is better than Lynn Loud. And we will certainly have what we want. After all, what can those kids do?"


TO BE CONTINUED...


The title is a reference to the 90's.

In the next issue, two important characters will debut.