DATE: MARCH 21 2015, LOUD TOWER, 19H55M
Lincoln was pacing back and forth in the living room. The whole family was anxious for the arrival of the Avengers, but he seemed to be the most anxious of them all.
To his sisters, he was only worried that they would meet the heroes, but in fact, he was panicking. Although he had agreed with Leni that they would pretend that Lincoln was not Marvel Boy, no matter what happened, he had not heard from Dr. Pym since he agreed to let Leni join the team.
Although the scientist had assured him that Lincoln should not worry, within a few minutes they should arrive for dinner, and the boy could not imagine what the plan was.
"Lincoln, sweetie, can you calm down?" Rita was beginning to be afflicted by her son's behavior. "I know we're all excited about the arrival of our guests, but you do not have to be so worried. After all, of all of us, you are the one who knows them better."
"Sorry Mom." Lincoln tried to relax and forced a smile. "It's just that I really hope everything is perfect, but so far they have not arrived."
"Honestly, that doesn't surprise me." Lynn Sr. said, looking at his watch. "I can say from personal experience that sometimes it is easy to lose track of time when you are experimenting."
Lincoln paused a moment to think, and saw that his father was right. It was not uncommon for them to have dinner without the family patriarch because of something that held him in the laboratory.
Meanwhile, Kirby sent a warning.
"Mr. Loud, your guests have just arrived. I already sent them to the elevator."
"Oh, right. Thank you very much, Kirby." Their father looked a little surprised.
They heard the elevator approaching, and as soon as the door opened, it was exactly 8pm.
"Greetings, Loud family. It is a pleasure to be here." The visitor said excitedly.
Lincoln was taken aback by what he saw.
Dr. Pym was wearing a black tuxedo with a red handkerchief in his pocket, his blond hair was very well combed as if he were going to a gala.
To his left, wearing a gold dress and her mask was Miss Marvel, and, most surprisingly, to the right of the scientist was Marvel Boy, wearing a tuxedo just like the leader of the group, but wearing an orange handkerchief and wearing his mask.
"Okay, this can only be a dream." The boy thought, on the verge of fainting."At any moment, I'm going to wake up and I'll have to go through something worse when real dinner starts."
"Dr. Pym, it's a pleasure to meet you at our house." Rita began to receive her guests as if it were normal to receive masked children at home. "I know you remember my husband, but you still remember me?"
"Mrs. Loud, how could I forget you?" He said with a friendly handshake. "The last time we met, I think you was pregnant with twins, if I'm not mistaken."
He then addressed Mr. Loud.
"Dr. Loud, you look very well. After all these years, you just seem to have lost some hair."
"Thank you, Dr. Pym. You're… fine too."
Lynn Sr. was still perplexed by the man in front of him. Leni and Lincoln had said that the scientist looked young to be an acquaintance of their father, but he did not imagine that he was exactly as he was 8 years ago.
"Well, I suppose we should introduce ourselves to your children.." He said, turning to the young Louds. "I think we ended up forgetting that, with what happened the last time we've met. I'm Dr. Henry Pym, but you can call me Hank, Mark or if you prefer, Ant-Man, even though I'm not in the suit right now." He pointed at the kids. "And these are my partners and pupils, Miss Marvel and Marvel Boy."
They waved shyly at the family.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Rita Loud, this is my husband, Lynn, and these are our children..."
"Lori."
"Leni. Nice to meet you."
"Luna."
"Luan."
"Lynn Loud Jr."
"Sigh... Lucy."
"Lana."
"Lola."
"Lisa."
"Lily!"
They all looked at Lincoln. He still looked shocked.
Then Marvel Boy came over and held out his hand to him.
"Lincoln! It's good to see you again. How are you?"
"Everything's good." Nervously, he shook hands with his lookalike. "It's good to see you again."
"Well, now that we all know each other, how about we go into the dining room?" Rita looked excited.
Though the mother and the girls were excited, Lynn Sr. and Lincoln were somewhat uncomfortable with the situation.
Everyone holds onto the dining room. Even if the table was large, it was necessary to place the kiddie table in the corner of the dining room. The 4 younger girls would sit there while the older and the guests sit at the grownup table.
Rita had prepared a delicious roasted salmon, accompanied by boiled vegetables, bread, and potato salad. Lynn Sr. sat down on one end of the table, and Dr. Pym sat down in the other. The girls put Lincoln in front of Marvel Boy, each in the midst of the girls.
Lincoln looked at Leni. She seemed a bit confused, but she was accepting the presence of two Lincolns on the table.
They all served and began to eat.
During dinner the family's questions were directed to the Ant-Man. The girls were still confused about how he'd saved them in just a few days.
"... and then I said, "Are you looking for me?" and punched him as I grew. I must admit it was one of my best moments." The scientist has finished his tale.
"Just a moment." Lisa drew everyone's attention to the kiddie table. "How exactly do you change size? I can understand the working of the helmet and your fighting skills, but I do not see how you can change your size and maintain your physical strength."
"Well, that's a clever question, young lady." He was impressed by the 5-year-old's reasoning. "Considering your advanced intellect, I believe you are well acquainted with the Square-Cube Law."
"Please, this is child's play!" The girl adjusted her glasses with a little arrogance.
"Great. And what would you say if I said that I have the secret to circumvent this law of physics?"
"I'd say you've gone mad." Lisa folded her arms and stared at him. "You can not just break the laws of physics. It's impossible."
"I did not say I've BREAKED the laws of physics, I said I figured out how to CIRCUMVENT one of them. Of course, it's tricky to use if I try to increase in size, but to shrink, it's extremely simple. As long as, of course, I do not shrink too much."
Everyone was thoughtful by the comment, but it was Lana who decided to change the subject.
"Lincoln told us about your helicarrier. How does it work if it is smaller?"
"Great question, Lola."
"Lana. She's Lola". She corrected him, pointing to her twin.
"Oh, sure, sorry. Twins are a bit complicated for me. Answering your question, it have repulsor engines, powered by the central reactor."
"What would that "repulsion engine" be?" Once again Lisa was interested in the conversation.
"That, I would be delighted to explain." Lynn Sr. tried to take the chance of being the center of attention. "If you do not mind, of course."
"Nope. Feel free." He was smiling, wanting to hear Lynn Sr.'s opinion of the engines he had.
"Well, eight years ago, when SHIELD called in the scientists who worked for the government to discuss mobile bases, Dr. Pym presented a blueprint he had presented to the president years earlier but had been turned down. SHIELD, on the other hand, became interested in the project, but I convinced Nick Fury that the project would be relatively expensive and that I saw how to make it bigger. However, I admit that repulsion engines were a great idea. They do not have propellers or release heat or gasses, they only use energy to keep the vehicle in the air."
The girls were impressed. So, their father really had altered Ant-Man's project, but he admitted that the project was good.
"And how did you make your helicarrier?" Lori was interested now. "I literally do not see how you'd build one in secret."
"Well, I guess I can tell you a secret." He said, a little embarrassed. "The helicarrier is not my invention, but from a friend from another universe. So I just brought it here, and I thought it would be a good idea to use it for world defense, just like in the other universe."
All but the Avengers were shocked.
"When was the last time you took a psychological test?" Lisa asked, starting to worry.
"I know it sounds like science fiction, but I mean it. In fact, I am not of this world myself. A quick DNA test can prove that my biometric parameters are different from those of any human being on this Earth."
"Wait, are you from another universe?" Lincoln could not understand why the scientist had not told him that.
"Is this so strange?" Marvel Boy asked.
Lincoln just stared at him with a face of disbelief as he smiled nonchalantly.
"Well, though hard to believe, I suppose it's plausible." Lynn Sr. ended up attracting everyone's attention. "I mean, he's clearly human, but he seems not to have aged a single day since I met him more than 10 years ago."
Everyone stopped to process what their father had said. If he, a renowned scientist, said there was a possibility, then he should be right.
"I want to ask you something." Lola said, a little embarrassed.
"And what would it be?" The scientist asked.
"Why do not you wear a mask, but they are wearing theirs?" She asked, pointing to the young Avengers.
In fact, everyone wanted to ask this, but they were ashamed to ask.
"Well, Lola, I have a camouflaged helicarrier to stay hidden, besides having no relatives in this world. But some heroes keep their identities secret, to protect those they love."
"I know it may seem a little suspicious not to show our faces, but I think you can agree that what happened on Sunday is proof that this is necessary." Marvel Boy exclaimed, surprising the girls.
Although difficult to admit, they too would like to have secret identities and a home that was not targeted by villains. Maybe being an Avenger was something better than the way they lived.
Considering all that happened, Rita also began to feel that if she and her husband had had secret identities instead of working for the Ultimates, perhaps now their children were not in that condition.
After dinner, Rita served the dessert, a delicious 4-layer ice cream cake. Everyone was delighted with the cake, especially little Lily. After dessert, everyone was chatting in the living room.
"Dr. Pym, I'd like to understand how your team works." Lisa again adjusted her glasses, apparently bored. "Unlike the Ultimates, which are a division of SHIELD, you Avengers seem to be some sort of autonomous group."
"Well, Lisa, we're not exactly an autonomous group."
"What you mean?" Lincoln was intrigued, as he thought his group was not tied to anyone.
"Technically speaking, I can not tell this even to the other Avengers, but we're a secret group that answers directly to the Secretary of Defense and the President. Not even Roberto Santiago, director of SHIELD, knows what I'm involved in at the moment."
All but Marvel Boy were surprised.
"Wait a minute, then do we respond to the President?" Miss Marvel was incredulous.
"What kind of project can be so secret that even Roberto does not know?" Lynn Sr. was about to have a nervous breakdown.
"As I said, it's a national secret." He said, unconcernedly sitting in an armchair. "Understand that SHIELD has several divisions around the world, while my group only responds to the US government, so I am allowed to park my helicarrier anywhere in the country. I can not really tell, but I can say that this would blow your minds."
"So you're not going to tell this to your teammates?" Lincoln asked, still trying to accept that his mentor was not as transparent as he thought.
"It's not so difficult to understand when you take time to think more deeply." Said Marvel Boy, playing with Lily and the twins.
Before Lincoln had time to prosecute what his lookalike said, Miss Marvel snapped.
"Wait a second! Did you know that? And neither thought of telling me?"
"Well, technically, I just heard about it today, so it's not that different." Marvel Boy remained calm as he played with the girls. "I just had more time to process the information."
Miss Marvel frowned, but seemed to accept the answer. Lincoln, on the other hand, seemed to be about to explode. Every time Marvel Boy said something, it seemed to make him go crazy. He had to find out as soon who was that lookalike, and it had to be now.
"Hey, Marvel Boy. Can I show you my new comics in my room?"
"Of course." He replied smiling.
The two boys went upstairs and into the room.
"Okay, I've had enough of that." Lincoln said harshly, after locking the door. "Who are you?"
"What? It's me, Marvel Boy. The guy who saved your family and was invited to dinner."
"You know what I'm talking about. Who are you, after all? And Miss Marvel, she's fake too?"
"No, I can assure you it's Ronnie Anne. I was surprised, too, but she managed to come without arousing suspicion. And as for your other question, I'll answer you with a little story."
He then approached Lincoln and whispered something in his ear, and the boy's eyes widened, filled with astonishment.
"H-how you..."
"Come on, think a little, and you'll understand."
Lincoln paused to think, but could not understand. This was his biggest and most embarrassing secret. None of her sisters, and not even Ronnie Anne knew that. The only person who knew this was...
"How is this possible?"
"Do not worry, you'll understand, sooner than you can imagine. Now, let's go to the living room, we're close to time to go."
Lincoln, still unsure, followed Marvel Boy down the stairs, and arrived in time to see Lisa get speechless with something Dr. Pym said.
"Well, look who's back." Lori said teasingly. "I'd like to understand what the boys see in these silly comics."
"Hey, I like comics, too." Miss Marvel said, offended. "It's just a matter of taste for reading."
"Well, I wish I could stay a longer, but I have to take my teammates for their homes."
The Loud girls were annoyed, but they also understood that their guests should go home, and it was getting late.
"Well, it was a pleasure to have you at our house, Dr. Pym." Lynn Sr. shook the hand of his "colleague," more by appearance than by will. "I hope we can see each other soon."
"Well, I think we might see each other in a few weeks. Are you going to the school soccer game on April 11th?"
"Want to know if we're going?" Lynn asked excitedly. "I'm the captain of the team. Of course we will."
"Really? Cool." He said, feigning surprise. "Well, I do not want to ruin the surprise, but I guarantee it will not be the only time we'll meet in the next few weeks."
Everyone seemed to be confused by this comment, especially Lynn Sr. and Lincoln.
Still, they decided to leave that for later, since they would have to meet him again.
"Well, if so, I think we'll see each other soon, will not we?" Rita said, saying goodbye to the Avengers.
As soon as the heroes left, the family set about their night duties while Lincoln went to his room.
He thought he had been through a lot on that day, and went to bed.
.
Lincoln woke with a beep. He searched the source of the sound and saw that it was his ID card.
"Hello?" He said sleepily.
"Lincoln, I'm glad you're awake. Everything is ready, so give the command and come to the Watcher, we do not have much time."
The boy was confused, it was late at night, but he did as he asked. He put on his Symbi-watch and got his card.
"Instant Teleportation to the Watcher. User authorization A-02."
Immediately, he was teleported to the Watcher's transportation room, and headed for the recreation room.
There, he found Dr. Pym, tying in his bow tie.
"You have not changed yet?" The boy asked, beginning to really wake up.
"What do you mean?" Scientist was intrigued. "I'm getting dressed. We'll have dinner with your family in a few minutes, and I want it to go well."
"What? We already had dinner tonight."
"What are you talking about, Linc?"
Lincoln looked back and saw Ronnie Anne, wearing her pajamas, which was a Captain America one too.
"He's a little confused, but it will all make sense soon." The leader replied, approaching. "Your suits just need a special configuration and then we can go."
"What kind of special configuration?" Ronnie Anne looked puzzled.
"Just push the activation button on the Symbi-watches and say "Gala Assemble", that they took on a special configuration that I programmed."
At first they were confused, but did as they were instructed. Surprisingly, when their suits blended into their pajamas, they took on the appearance of gala costumes, with the masks being the only part of the standard suit.
"I did not imagine those costumes did that." Ronnie marveled at her clothes. "What other configurations have you set?"
"Well, I did not expect to tell so early, but also have stealthy, underwater, spatial, cold resistant and beach configurations."
"Beach?" They both asked, amazed.
"Yes. In Lincoln's case, he continues with the mask and gets a black swimming trunks, while Ronnie Anne wears a black bikini and her mask. You never know when you may need a day at the beach with your secret identities."
They stopped to think, and saw that it made sense. They were eager to get home and test the other special suits.
"Now that we're properly dressed, we're going to room 5 on the lower level."
"Wait, I thought we were going to visit Lincoln's family, not go to a room in the Watcher."
"Ronnie Anne, do you know what's inside that room?" He asked, folding his arms and taking a defiant position.
The girl was silent, not knowing how to answer.
Except by the recreation room and the danger room, she did not have a good memory of the interior of the helicarrier.
"That's what I thought. If you can follow me, I will show you something that will make you more surprised than you have ever been in your lives."
Curious, they followed him into the mysterious room 5.
When they got there, they were surprised to see a kind of platform in front of a computer.
"That, my dear Avengers, is my Time Platform. With it, we'll get to a dinner that ended hours ago, before it even started."
They were left with mouths and wide eyes, still trying to understand what he meant by that.
"Wait, so you're saying we have a time machine on the Watcher?" Lincoln tried to understand the implications of the discovery.
"No, I'm saying we have a Time Platform on the Watcher."
"And what's the difference?" Ronnie asked.
"Well, basically, it does not travel in time, it sends anyone on the platform for the wanted time."
"So, can we go anytime with this thing?"
"No. The tricky part is that the platform sends you to the platform itself. That being said, we will go to this same room, but hours ago, just in time to arrive at dinner exactly at 8pm."
Lincoln began to understand where he wanted to go with this explanation. So that was how there was two of him at dinner.
"Wait, then you'll take us to before dinner started. But what about Lincoln? Is not that going to cause a paradox or something?"
"Ronnie, you worry too much. Just act like you do not know the Loud family and it will all work out."
She shrugged and followed her partners to the platform.
The three of them climbed onto the platform, and it began to light up.
As soon as the light was out, everything looked the same, but as soon as they left the room, they could see through the windows that it was earlier.
They went to the teleporter room, and saw on the digital clock that it was 7:53pm.
As soon as they were teleported, they were at the reception of the Loud Tower, and were greeted by Kirby, the security chief.
"Good evening. How can I help you?"
"Good evening. You must be the head of security. We are the Avengers, and we are here to dine with the Loud family."
They were taken to the elevator, and then scanned.
"I hope they're ready for a very lively night." Said the scientist, excited. "If Lynn Loud is still the way he was when we met, he sure will debate everything I say."
"You know, I'd love to know how you two met." Miss Marvel was thoughtful. "It must be an interesting story."
"Well, I guess that's something for another day. Today, we should focus on making the Louds comfortable with our presence."
As soon as the elevator door opened, all three were greeted by the family. "Marvel Boy" was perplexed to see "Lincoln" staring him with astonishment, as if seeing a ghost.
Remembering what it was like to be on the other side of the room hours ago, he waited for his cue to greet his past self.
During dinner, he could not help but smile as he looked at the troubled Lincoln staring at him. Just watching the boy looking at him like some contagious disease made him excited.
He spent the night trying to focus on what he remembered the first time he attended this dinner, and he was always quiet, except when he knew he had said something the first time.
The highlight of the night was when "Lincoln" called "him" to go to "his" room.
He could not contain his grin as he followed the angry boy into the room, remembering what the "other Lincoln" had told him.
"Wow, the more I think about it, the more I get a headache."
Then they entered the room.
"Okay, I've had enough of that." Lincoln said harshly, after locking the door. "Who are you?"
"What? It's me, Marvel Boy. The guy who saved your family and was invited to dinner."
"You know what I'm talking about. Who are you, after all? And Miss Marvel, she's fake too?"
He remembered when he asked that question.
Now, he knew exactly what was happening, and he was enjoying himself.
"No, I can assure you it's Ronnie Anne. I was surprised, too, but she managed to come without arousing suspicion. And as for your other question, I'll answer you with a little story."
He then approached "Lincoln", and began to whisper in his ear.
"Do you remember, two years ago, when you went to that game of Lynn's team? You tried to get a hamster who escaped through the school's vents and ended up on top of the locker room and peeked at the girls changing before the game. And when I say "peeked," you know what I'm talking about."
The boy's eyes widened and filled with astonishment.
"H-how you..."
"Come on, think a little, and you'll understand."
He just kept smiling. This was his biggest and most embarrassing secret. There was no way he could tell this to his sisters, or they would pulverize him. And he could not tell Ronnie Anne, since even being his friend, she was also Lynn's friend, and she'll help pulverize him.
Just the thought of someone knowing this secret made him panic, but now it was his turn to see his face when he found someone who knew his secret.
""How is this possible?" Lincoln was completely terrified.
Marvel Boy remembered how scared he was earlier, and felt sorry for the boy.
"Do not worry, you'll understand, sooner than you can imagine. Now, let's go to the living room, we're close to time to go."
He descended the stairs with his past self, preparing to see how this night would end.
In the end, they entered the elevator and went to the entrance. As soon as they left, they went to the reception and teleported to the Watcher.
"So what did you guys think?" Asked the scientist, taking off his tuxedo.
"Disassemble! I have to admit, despite being weird, I had a lot of fun." Lincoln said as he returned to his pajamas.
"Disassemble! I'm still pretty confused, but it was an interesting experience." Ronnie Anne was trying to accept the new reality. "What do we do now?"
"Well, we'll go back to the Time Platform, and it'll send us back a few seconds after we've traveled back in time, and you're going back to your homes."
"Wait, you never thought to leave this Time Platform closer to the teleporter?" Lincoln asked, clearly questioning the objectivity of the equipment.
"Well, I can send you straight to your beds with the Time Platform, but this will leave a slight radioactive remnant in your beds, which would surely risk your secret identities."
The two had to agree that it made sense.
"So what do we do now?" Lincoln asked.
"Well, enjoy the weekend. A little bird told me you're going to get a surprise test on Monday, and I think you should give your alter-egos a rest to study Chapter 15 of you history book."
.
Shortly after, Lincoln was back in his room, his bed still warm, just as he left.
He was thoughtful. He saw the events that night twice, and still could not understand what was happening.
He thought he was in tune with the Ant-Man, but apparently not really.
What do the Avengers really represent?
What kind of deal does the Ant-Man have with the President?
And if he came from another universe, what else is he hiding?
"I think I should go to bed. Tomorrow I have to study that history book."
He fell asleep quickly, letting go of his worries.
For now, he would focus on school.
After all, nothing bad could happen there.
TO BE CONTINUED...
.
