Author's Note: Hey everyone, this is FireSlash and welcome to another chapter of Lincoln Loud: Defender of Earth. I just want to say a few things before we begin. First off, thanks for all the support you've given this story. It means a lot to me. Secondly, pairings are still being decided. Vote for who you want Lincoln to end up with in the reviews. So far, Tabby is winning with Haiku not far behind. Third, I'm pretty sure some of you know this already, but I have recently adopted Harem Master123's story 'The Loud Titan,' a Loud House/Teen Titans crossover fanfic. I plan to have the first chapter out in less than a week, so be on the lookout for that. I'd also recommend checking out Harem Master 123, he's a darn good writer. I'm not afraid to admit that he (or she. Not going to assume genders) might be a better author than I am. Finally, I wanted to tell you that unless specified, all Loud House episodes have yet to happen. Some of them will be featured in this story with a twist while others will have already happened. The Sadie Hawks dance is one of those episodes that has already happened while another episode is mentioned to have happened in this chapter. Anyways, enough with my babbling, review and enjoy :-).
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"Geez man, these guys sure are weird," A male cop told his coworker as the two stared at the recently captured aliens Lincoln had fought. Not knowing what these aliens were capable of, the police originally placed them in a regular cell, only for them to bust out once they regained consciousness. Thankfully, with the use of many tasers, the cops were able to recapture them and move them to a bulletproof room. So far, it's been enough to contain them. "How long do we got to watch over them again?"
"Until those government agents come," The other guard shrugged. "You know, even though they're ugly and all, I think the wackos we caught hanging out with them bother me more. They've been muttering nonsense ever since they woke up…"
"They called themselves the Forever Knights, right? What could they want with these aliens?"
"Probably alien fanatics? Who knows? Man, remember when nobody knew if aliens existed? Ah, good times. The world actually seemed a bit less hectic a few days ago, and that's saying something."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm just glad there are good aliens out there to help us out with the bad ones."
"Hmph, let's hope it stays that way."
As the two men continued talking, the failed to notice Albert walk up to them with six men accompanying him. Clearing his throat to catch their attention, he began to state his business as he showed them a badge. "Greetings gentlemen, we're part of international security. We've come to collect the aliens and men found with them."
"They're all yours," The first cop said. "Assuming they don't kill you first of course."
"Don't worry, that won't be a problem," Albert told them. "However, you will need to leave the room. We can't risk you getting hurt."
Though hesitant to do so, the cops eventually complied, tossing the elderly man the keys to the cell. When the two men left, Albert gently removed the jacket he was wearing, revealing a a fancy white breastplate that had a red circle in the middle. Putting his hand over the circle, the breastplate began to expand, covering Albert with a suit of armor, a glass dome covering his head. Following their leader's lead, the other men did the same, activating the armor they were wearing as well. Walking towards the door, Albert began to unlock the jail cell. Once he did so, he tossed a small ball into the cell and closed it before the aliens could even think of escaping. When the ball hit the ground, it began blinking before unleashing a torrent of electricity inside the cell, its power being enough to effortlessly knock out the aliens. With all the extraterrestrial beings now unconscious, Albert and his men entered the cell and began attaching blue glowing handcuffs to each of them.
"Half of you grab the Forever Knights, the rest of you help me take these guys back to the van," Albert ordered once all the aliens were handcuffed. As he and his men began loading the Forever Knights and aliens into the large and high tech prisoner transport vehicle they brought with them, Albert began thinking to himself, for at the moment, so much seemed to be happening in the old man's life. 'I normally wouldn't be out in the field, but these guys aren't anything I've seen before. I'd have to be stupid to pass up a chance at meeting an undiscovered alien species. But the question is, who are they and why are they here? It's obviously not good if they're allying themselves with those darn Forever Knights. Are they responsible for all the recent kidnaps? Well, that's for HQ to find out. I'll wait until they give me their report. For now, I need to focus on my grandson…'
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"Clyde to Lincoln, Clyde to Lincoln, over!"
"Ugh."
"Lincoln, are you there?"
"Wazzat?" Waking up, Lincoln rubbed his eyes before grabbing a walkie talkie he kept next to his bed. Though most kids his age normally used their cellphones to communicate with their friends, Lincoln and his best friend decided to use walkie talkies instead on the basis that both agreed it was more fun talking into a walkie talkie instead of a cell phone. Both boys did have each other's numbers though just in case the walkie talkies failed for some reason. "Clyde? What are doing calling me up this early?"
"Early? It's almost twelve o'clock, over."
"What?" Looking at his alarm clock, the boy's eyes widened when he saw the time. "Shoot! You're right. Sorry Clyde, last night was quite rough for me." He wasn't lying. After taking care of some lowly thugs without much trouble, Lincoln attempted to do some more research on the Forever Knights. He ended up staying up until four in the morning just trying to find something, anything about the strange group that were allied with those even stranger aliens, only to find nothing yet again.
"Oh, sorry to hear that buddy," His friend said. "Do you think you'll still be up to going to Gus' Games and Grub today?"
'Right, I forgot that Clyde and I made plans today,' Lincoln thought to himself. "Clyde, I'm always up for Gus' Games and Grub. Wanna meet at my place or yours?"
"Could we meet at yours?" Clyde asked. "My dads are planning to clean today and you know how hectic that gets..."
"I definitely do." Lincoln knew that his best friend's parents were germaphobes to the point it could be scary at times. "What time you wanna head out?"
"Maybe in two hours?" Clyde answered.
"Alright bud, I'll see you in a bit. Over."
"Roger that, over." With that, the two boys hung up, leading Lincoln to turn his attention towards his 'imaginary audience.'
"With having to deal with ten sisters and being a superhero, sometimes a boy needs a break," Lincoln informed his 'audience.' "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to be doing good, but I need to recharge. It takes a lot of stamina doing what I do on a daily basis."
Quickly getting dressed, Lincoln was about to leave his room and let his parents know he'll be with hanging out with Clyde for a bit, only for a red mark on his calendar to catch his eye. Looking at it, the boy let loose an annoyed sigh, for that mark meant today was chore day.
"Ugh! How could I forget today is chore day?" Lincoln groaned in anger. Chore day was never a fun time for the single Loud son. Though his only job was to take out the trash, it was much harder than it looked. Each sister had their own individual trash can, which was never fun to look at, especially Lynn and Lana's. In addition, there was the large trash cans in the living room and kitchen, which were not only as disgusting as Lynn and Lana's trash, but it was extremely heavy for the thirteen year old. While Lincoln was far from weak, him having to deal with his sisters' antics causing him to be quite strong and agile for his age, the trash was just too heavy for him to carry. As such, he had to resort to pulling it outside instead. Oh, and God forbid him from accidently ripping any of the bags as he dragged them outside. He'd have to clean that up himself with nothing but a broom. You know, now that he thought about it, his sisters never seemed to have as much trouble as he did with their jobs. Lori was responsible for doing the laundry, but she had a machine doing half the work for her. Leni had to pick up all the hair in the sink and bathtub, something which hardly required any effort. Lucy, Lynn, and Luan managed to get stuck with dish duty, a job which rivaled Lincoln's job in difficulty, yet said difficulty was actually negated by the fact there were three of them working together. Luna had to vacuum the house, a hard job, but not as hard as one would think. Lana had to pick up after the pets, which she only partially did. While she was the one to physically pick up their droppings, she ended up giving them to Lincoln to throw out. Even if this wasn't the case, she enjoyed her assigned task, so did it really count as a chore? Finally, all Lola had to do was make the beds, a job she barely had to do since everyone did that anyways. The only person who had it harder than him was Lisa, which made sense since she was responsible for doing the taxes.
Sighing, Lincoln began sulking. "How on Earth will I get this done in time?"
Immediately, the man with a plan began thinking of ways to make his job easier. His first thought was to start his chore earlier than his sisters, but that was a no go seeing as they all were already up and working, if the noise from downstairs was any indication of this. Thinking further, he could try taking several breaks instead of doing it all in one go, but knowing his sisters, they'll nearly double the amount of trash he'll have to take out after each break. They were a big family after all…
Maybe he could start a strike until someone traded jobs with him? Eh, that could be used as a last resort if he couldn't think of anything else. He wasn't a hundred percent sure it would even work since he was the only one who had a problem with his job.
'Hm…' Putting his left hand on his chin, the boy eventually noticed the Omnitrix, giving him an idea.
"Taking out the trash might be a hassle for Lincoln Loud, but not for XLR8," Lincoln said to himself. With the alien's increased strength and its ability to run at supersonic speeds, he'll have the job done in seconds. Still tired and not willing to throw himself into the chaos caused by chore day, Lincoln decided it would be best if he saved doing his job until five minutes before it was time for him to leave. That way, he'll give the Omnitrix more than enough time to time out.
Smiling, Lincoln whipped out his laptop and began to do some more research on the Forever Knights. "I'm so glad I found this thing."
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Meanwhile downstairs, the Loud House was hard at work, each of the siblings doing their designated chores. However, to Luna Loud, something seemed to be missing. Though it took her awhile to figure it out, she eventually noticed that she hasn't seen her younger brother at all today.
"Hey dudes, have any of you seen Lincoln?" The musician asked Lucy, Lynn, and Luan as she began vacuuming the kitchen.
"He might be asleep," Lucy bluntly told her. "His room is locked."
"He never locks his room at night though," Luna replied to the goth.
"Oh. Truth be told, that was a guess. Ever since he somehow fenced off the vents connected to his room, I haven't been able to check up on him."
"He did what?" Lynn questioned, tilting her head to the side. This was certainly news to her.
"Yes, I can no longer enter his room from the vents. Normally I wouldn't let my emotions overcome me, but I cannot deny that I'm worried about Lincoln."
"Eh, I'll ask him why he locked his room when he gets down here," Lynn said.
"Who's to say he won't lie to us?"
"But we're his sisters," Luna informed Lucy. "Why would he ever lie to us?"
"The desire to keep secrets often overpowers the bond family members share with one another. We've lied to one another in the past, Lincoln's lied to us, so what's stopping him from lying now?"
Luan gave her younger sister a worried look. "That's dark, but true. You know, if lying was a job, then we'd be the richest family on the block."
"I feel like I've heard that joke before," Luna admitted.
"Well, it isn't a Luan original. I just wanted to lighten up the mood, sorry."
"Should one of us check up on him?" Lynn asked. "He still has to take out the trash."
"Let's let him rest," Lucy responded. "He probably wants to be left alone right now. If he doesn't take out the trash by the end of the day, then we can bother him."
"You know, maybe we should have another secret sibling meeting," Luna suggested. "It never fails to get one of us to open up."
"She's not wrong there," Lynn stated as she rubbed her head, remembering all the embarrassing things she spoke to her family about. Hell, they even knew about her crush on XLR8. Then again, she wasn't the only sibling with a crush on one of the new aliens. For example, Lucy was obsessed with Big Chill while Lola and Leni had feelings for Diamondhead. Funny enough, those weren't the only sisters who had crushes on one of the aliens…
"Alright, I'll let Lori know once I'm done vacuuming the house," Luna said. "She's the one in charge of these things after all."
"Ugh, don't remind us," Lynn spat bitterly. The oldest Loud sister never failed to flaunt her authority to the rest of them. The rest of the sisters present grimenced before continuing their chores, eager to get them over with already.
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With there only being five minutes until Clyde was supposed to arrive, Lincoln began to activate his Omnitrix, pressing the face a second later. Doing so turned him into XLR8.
"Well, let's do this." Causing XLR8's natural visor to cover his face, Lincoln began to do his chores. Dashing into all his sisters' rooms, the boy managed to grab each of the trashbags and take them outside in about two milliseconds. Not stopping, Lincoln running towards the living room and much to his surprise, the trash weighed next to nothing now that he was XLR8.
'Looks like I underestimated his strength,' Lincoln thought to himself as he carried the bag using only one of his arms. Entering the kitchen, he then picked up the final trash bag with his remaining arm and managed to safely transport them outside without spilling any of its contents. Smiling to himself, the boy ran back into the house and entered his room. Locking the door, Lincoln began waiting for the watch to time out, only to realize he had a problem. Since XLR8 had had super speeds, it also meant he had the ability to think at blazing speeds. Normally this would be a good thing, unless you were waiting for something. XLR8's perception of time was sped up, meaning a second now felt like forever for the boy.
"I think I'll go for a run," Lincoln said to himself, confident in his ability to make it home before the watch timed out. Reactivating his visor, the boy shot out of the house and began running all over Royal Woods, having nothing better to do. By the time the watch began to time out, the boy had explored all of Royal Woods. Running back into his room, Lincoln locked it as the watch timed out, surrounding him in a red light before returning him to his original form.
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Having finished her chores, Lynn found herself sitting on the couch, thinking. Normally, the sporty sister was someone who preferred to use her body over her brain to solve her problems, but she knew that what was currently bothering her wasn't something which could be solved at all with brute force.
'Darnit, what do I do?' Lynn mentally asked herself. Like the rest of her sisters, the girl was worried about her only brother. The two of them had a relationship which even rivaled the likes of Lola and Lana's, and as such, she was quite overprotective of him. In the past, if he showed even the slightest change in behavior, she would be on his case, attempting to figure out the cause of such a change. It actually got so bad at one point that Lincoln himself had to ask her to back off. Since then, she's tried to keep her overprotectiveness to a minimum, only interfering when needed. Generally, Lynn was good at finding out what was wrong with her brother, just as he was with her. This time though, he had left her in the dark, leaving no clues as to why he was acting so strange. The athlete honestly hated this, it made her feel powerless, powerless to protect those she cared about. She desperately wanted to beg Lincoln to spill the beans, but her pride prevented her from doing so since she believed begging was for the weak. Sometimes she wished she had more charisma so she could convince him to trust her with his secrets, something she did with him. When it came to dealing with others, Lynn wasn't exactly a 'peoples person' even though she was captain of all her sports teams.
*Ding Dong*
Being the closest to the door, Lynn began to open it, revealing an African American child standing on the other side.
"Oh, hey Clyde," Lynn greeted the nerd who politely waved in response.
"Hey Lynn. Is Lincoln home?"
"Yeah, He is. I'll go get him," Lynn replied, turning around. Walking off, she was about to grab her brother, only to realize something. Clyde and Lincoln were extremely close to each other to the point it seemed like they were brothers. Maybe he knew something about Lincoln. "Hey Clyde, does Lincoln seem different to you?"
"No, not really," Clyde answered, causing the girl to frown. "Well, actually, he does seem more tired than usual. He woke up at twelve today."
"He did?" Now Lynn was confused. If he's been awake for two hours now, then why didn't he come downstairs? Why was his room still locked? She had so many questions now…
"Yeah, I found it weird as well."
"Lynn, who's at the door?" Lori asked, walking towards her younger sister. Doing so ended up being a mistake, for when Clyde laid eyes on her, his nose immediately began bleeding.
"L-L-Lori?!" Unable to handle seeing his crush, Clyde fainted, causing Lynn to groan.
"Darnit Lori."
"Hey, it's not my fault he's like that," The blonde defended herself.
"You're right," Lynn said, sighing. "I'll put him on the couch, could you get Lincoln?"
0000
"Hey Lincoln, think we'll ever see those aliens in person?" Clyde asked his best friend as the two walked to Gus' Games and Grub. After Clyde had fainted, Lori had informed her younger brother he was at the house before stepping far from the scene, not wanting such an incident to repeat itself. Thankfully, the boy quickly woke up and the two were able to leave shortly after.
"Hopefully," Lincoln responded, knowing that he was a huge fan of his alien alter egos. "They seem to love hanging out in Royal Woods."
"It would seem that way."
Chatting as they walked, the two boys eventually arrived at their destination. However, much to their surprise, the whole place was surrounded by police cars.
"What's going on here?" Clyde asked as he and Lincoln continued to stare at the scene unfolding in front of them. There were many police officers hiding behind their cars, guns in hand. Meanwhile, there were many people spectating as well, looking at the arcade in worry.
"Larry, is that you?" Looking to their left, the two boys noticed a familiar red haired boy in the crowd.
"Hey Chandler," Lincoln greeted. Chandler was one of Lincoln's friends, though this wasn't always the case. Back in elementary school, Chandler was one of the most popular boys while Lincoln and Clyde were practically nobodies. In the fourth grade, Chandler was hosting a party. Seeing as he was not only rich, but cool, Lincoln and Clyde wanted to go, only for Chandler to reject them. Eventually, he discovered Lori worked at Gus' Games and Grub, and since Lori was Lincoln's sister, he told the two boys he would let them attend his party if they got him free stuff from the store. In the end, it caused Lori to work overtime to make up for al the stuff Lincoln gave Chandler. It ended up getting so bad Lori was about to miss a dance her high school was having, but Lincoln ended up covering for her, feeling guilty about the whole ordeal. At first, Chandler was upset at the boy for ending the deal, but overtime, he matured and actually ended up admiring Lincoln for what he did. An apology later, the two boys ended up becoming friends with Chandler calling Lincoln 'Larry' out of affection. Even when he was getting free stuff from him, fourth grade Chandler didn't bother remembering his name, so he kept calling Lincoln by the wrong name. "Dude, what's all this about?"
"A hostage situation," Chandler told the boys. "Some guys seem to have some business with the manager and started holding people by gunpoint. I managed to escape before they could even notice me. Once I was a safe distance away, I called the police."
"Thank goodness you did and weren't hurt," Clyde said. "Man, looks like we aren't going to hang out here today. So, what do you want to do now Lincoln? Lincoln?"
Looking around, the two boys noticed their white haired friend had disappeared.
"Uh, wasn't Larry here just a second ago?"
"Yeah. I wonder where he went…"
0000
Not wasting any time, Lincoln had broke off from the cloud and hid into some bushes. It seemed a hero's work was never finished. Pressing the button under the watch's face, the boy began twisting it until the silhouette of XLR8 appeared.
"I know I've been using this alien a lot, but c'mon, superspeed is just too useful," Lincoln said to his 'audience' before slamming the face down. Green light briefly enveloped the boy, but when it disappeared, it revealed Lincoln had not transformed into XLR8, but a different alien entirely. Instead of the blue velociraptor looking alien, a large orange crab looking alien with six legs took its place. Unlike the common crab, the creature had a visible head and body, the Omnitrix symbol embedded in between the two sections. Its pinsirs seemed to be attached to the alien's skull. Finally, there was a line dividing the upper portion of the alien's skull, making it seem as if his head was covered with two flaps he could open it at will.
"Curses, I wanted XLR8, not Brainstorm," Lincoln growled to himself, only for him to smirk confidently a second later. "No matter, I do not need to move at supersonic speeds to complete such a simple mission."
His claws and eyes glowing yellow, Lincoln caused his body to levitate off the ground before floating towards the building. Making sure he was at high enough of an elevation to avoid being detected by anyone inside the building, Lincoln flew over the cops, who immediately noticed him.
"Do not fret, I'll get everyone out of there safely," Lincoln declared, continuing to float towards the building. Now, one might be asking themselves how Lincoln was having no issues levitating if he could barely fly with Big Chill. Well, the answer was quite simple, Brainstorm had unbelievable amounts of superhuman intelligence, sprouting a nifty IQ of a nonillion. For a quick comparison, comparing Brainstorm's intellect to Lisa's would be like comparing Lisa's intellect to an ant's. With this nifty gift, Lincoln was able to master Brainstorm's abilities in a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, unless he was capable of understanding a concept as his human self, whatever he learns as Brainstorm doesn't carry over when he reverts back to normal, meaning he couldn't use Brainstorm's massive intellect to help him fully control his other alien forms. Sadly, with massive intellect comes a massive ego. As such, Brainstorm was one of Lincoln's more annoying aliens to transform into, the brainiac having certain urges the boy couldn't control such as the need to be cocky.
"Sir, should we shoot him down?" One of the cops asked the chief. Looking at the alien, the man shook his head.
"It's better if we let him take care if this instead. That guy's supposedly a supergenius."
"If you say so."
Landing on the roof, Brainstorm began thinking about a way to infiltrate Gus' Games and Grub. As expected, it didn't take long for the alien to find a solution to his problem.
"Hm, based on prior experience navigating this place, it is safe to claim the bathroom is right...over...here," Brainstorm said as he scurried towards the far right corner of the building. "Unwanted damages will need to happen if I wish to get in, but no matter."
Opening the flaps on his head, Brainstorm exposed his large brain. Concentrating, Lincoln began to generate yellow electricity from his brain, before using it to cut a hole in the roof. As the debris began to fall, Lincoln then shot it with another bolt of lightning, this one being a lighter shade of yellow instead. Having done so, the rubble stopped falling as Lincoln's claw began to glow. Now having telekinetic control of the rubble, Lincoln moved the unnecessary items to his side.
"Too easy," the boy stated before crawling into the bathroom. It was time for him to save some hostages.
0000
"Did you hear that?" One of the kidnappers asked his comrade. Currently, there were five kidnappers and twelve hostages in the main section of the arcade, with the manager being held up in his office by two other kidnappers and their group's leader.
"Hear what?" The other guy replied, keeping his eyes on the hostages.
"...Nothing. It might've been my imagination."
"Tch, whatever."
Unknown to them, the bathroom door began to open, a lightning bolt striking one of the kidnappers a second later.
"Agh!"
"Who's there?" One of the men asked before he and his pals began pointing their guns towards the direction the surge of electricity came from. One could only imagine the looks of their faces when they saw Brainstorm.
"Gentlemen, for your safety, I ask that you kindly surrender," Brainstorm condescending told them. Obviously, the men didn't take kindly to being talked down upon.
"Use your eyes Einstein," one of the men taunted. "There's twelve of us and one of you."
"Oh please," Lincoln egotistically replied. "You are all nothing but mere roaches to me. Even if there were a thousand of you, I will reign victorious."
"Damn dude, they got destroyed," One of the kidnappees, a young boy, said to his friend. Obviously, this enraged the men.
"If you're really as powerful as you think you are, try stopping this!" Turning his gun towards the boy, the guy didn't hesitate to fire a round in the boy's head. If Lincoln was perhaps another alien, then this might have ended in a casualty. However, it should be noted Brainstorm has the ability to think at supersonic speeds, with this ability being powerful enough to allow Brainstorm to keep up with XLR8's speed easily. While he couldn't move that fast obviously, he could still react to situations for him using his powers only required concentration, not movement. As the hostages began screaming, Brainstorm created an electrical force field around the boy before the bullet could even leave the gun. As such, the bullet ended up disintegrating before it could even touch the boy.
"Stopped," Brainstorm boredly told him. "Have any other challenges for me? This is honestly quite boring…"
"FUCK YOU!"
"Language," Lincoln reprimanded him. "Actually, I thought of a fun game we can play." Turning towards the hostages, he smiled at them. "You all can leave if you wish. These men won't be stopping you."
"None of you better move, ya hear me!" One of the men shouted. "I'll put a bullet in your head in you do."
"Which I could stop at any time," Brainstorm retorted. "Now, whenever you're ready, you can lea-"
BANG!
One of the men fired a shot at another hostage, hoping to teach the alien a lesson for trying to toy with them, only for another electrical shield to surround the intended hostage, protecting them from harm.
"See? You can leave, nothing's going to happen to you."
Having witnessed the alien successfully block two shots, the hostages got up and began to leave, much to the annoyance of the men. As such, half of them began firing at the crowd while the other half decided to work on the smartass. Unfortunately for them, Brainstorm saw this move coming from a mile away and ended up creating two force fields to block the attacks. Eventually, all the hostages had left, leaving the men upset.
"Gr… hey, wait a minute!" One of the men shouted. "I wouldn't recommend doing anything you might regret. Our boss is still with the manager and he's probably hearing everything happening out here. He may even be holding a gun towards the manager as we speak, ready to kill the guy if anything happens to us."
"While I must admit that I'm impressed by your plan, it won't work," Brainstorm bluntly told them. "Your boss has been dealt with accordingly. All that is left is his lackeys."
0000
In the Manager's Office
A bald man was hiding behind a desk, in front of said desk being the electrocuted body of the kidnapper's boss. One moment he was getting held at gunpoint, the next moment the man starts spazzing around as electricity began to surround his body. The manager didn't know how that happened, but he wasn't taking any chances. He was just going to stay behind his desk where it was safe...hopefully.
0000
Back With Lincoln
"Now, I'm not going to ask again, kindly surrender yourselves to the police or else I will be forced to use force," Lincoln threatened. As much as they didn't want to admit it, the men knew they had no chance of beating the supergenius in front of the. Groaning, all the me dropped their weapons, which made Brainstorm smirk.
"Good." Quickly destroying the weapons with a bolt of lightning, Lincoln had them all line up and walk out in an orderly fashion, keeping two of them behind. Crawling into the manager's office, the boy grabbed the unconscious body of their leader before gently handing him to them. "You may leave now."
When the final men finally left the building, Lincoln began smiling as he heard cheering coming from the outside. It seems the spectators realized what Lincoln had done. Giving the manager a small wave, Lincoln began teleporting out of the building, leaving the man with nothing but some trama and a giant hole in his establishment's bathroom.
0000
"Hey guys, what did I miss?" Lincoln asked his friends, having managed to sneak back into the crowd without anyone realizing.
"Where'd you disappear off to Larry?" Chandler asked the boy, skeptically eyeing him. His disappearance was far too sudden for the boy's comfort
"I had a call I needed to answer," Lincoln answered, earning a confused look from Clyde.
"You were on the phone for ten minutes?"
"It was Leni."
"Ohhhh," both boys said. Knowing how much Leni loved to speak with her brother, the boys fell for the lie.
"Well, did you see Brainstorm save the people inside?" Clyde asked his friend. "It was so cool!"
"Heck yeah it was," Chandler agreed. "What do you think he did in there? No one looked hurt."
"Maybe he tricked them or something," Lincoln suggested.
"Or maybe he hypnotised them?" Clyde added.
"Both make sense," Chandler stated. "Anyways, since all the cool action's over with, I'm bouncing. See ya!"
Waving goodbye to their rich friend, Lincoln looked at Clyde. "So, what do you want to do now? It doesn't look like we'll be able to enter Gus' Games and Grub right now."
"How about we go to Flip's Fuel and Food?" Clyde suggested. "I could go for a good burger right about now."
"You know, that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Lincoln told him. "Well, let's go."
0000
"Hey guys, I'm home," Lincoln announced as he entered his house a few hours later. Upon entering, Lincoln noticed that Albert had already arrived. "Hey Pop-Pop. Sorry I wasn't home when you came. I was hanging out with a friend."
"Ah, don't worry about that," the elderly man said, getting up from his spot on the couch to affectionately rub his grandson's head. "So, how's my look alike doing?"
"I'm good," Lincoln said with a smile.
"That's good. Say, I know you were just with your friend, but would you like to spend quality dude time with your old man?" Albert asked him. Truth be told, he needed to speak with him about whatever piece of alien tech the boy managed to find. It took him a bit, but in the end, Albert managed to decode the DNA of all the aliens, finding that they all resembled Lincoln's.
Thankfully, Lincoln had no objections with doing so, actually loving his grandfather's company. "I'd love to. Is dad coming?"
"Unfortunately he won't be able to," Albert replied. "Someone needs to watch over your sisters."
"Huh, but what about mom?"
"She's working overtime."
"Oh, well, what place do you have in mind?"
"There's this new restaurant that just opened up that I know you'll love," Albert declared before standing up. "C'mon, we should get going before they close."
0000
"Uh, Pop-Pop, this isn't a restaurant," Lincoln said as he stared at what looked to be an abandoned hotel. "Are you sure this is the place?"
"Yeah, it is," Albert replied with a sigh. "...And I know it's not a restaurant."
"What? Then why would you take me here?"
"I know you must be confused, but it'll make sense in a bit," the grandfather informed him. "Right now, we need to wait for someone to show up."
"And who would that be?" Lincoln asked, confused. The boy honestly had no idea what was going on right now.
"Me," a female voice said, one which Lincoln recognized immediately.
"Mom?" Lincoln asked, now even more confused than before. "What are you doing here?"
"...I'll tell you once we get inside," Rita said, a bit nervous. Her baby boy was about to be brought into a life he didn't know existed after all, and it was a dangerous one to boot, so it made sense why she was nervous at the moment.
"Well, the gang's all here," Albert said. "Let's head inside."
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Entering the building, Albert waited no time in approaching the front desk. Managing it was a lone hispanic man was trying his best to stay awake. However, when he noticed Albert and Rita, his posture immediately changed.
"Ah, Albert and Rita, what are you two doing here?" The man asked the two. "I thought you both were retired."
'Retired?' Lincoln asked himself as he stared at his two family members. 'But that's impossible. Mom's still a dentist, isn't she?'
"We are, but it's urgent," Rita explained. "Do you still have a room available?"
"Well, we have a lot of regular rooms open since we rarely have customers anyways," The man informed them. "But if you're talking about those rooms, then we do have a few available."
"Mind if we borrow one of them?" Albert asked. "We'll only be in there for a few minutes."
"Sure, but even though you two kicked a lot of butt back in the day, it'll cost you."
"Not a problem," Rita stated before giving him two one hundred dollar bills. Taking the bills, the man nodded before giving the woman a white card, one which had a red button in the middle.
"You remember how to use this, correct?"
"It hasn't been that long Diego," Albert replied with chuckle before turning his attention towards his family. "C'mon. Let's get going. Lincoln, we'll need you to get close to us."
"Take care," Diego said as Albert pressed the button once Lincoln did what he was told. Upon doing so, a brief blue light engulfed the three Louds. Once it disappeared, it was revealed they were no longer in the hotel, having somehow vanished.
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"Ugh that light was bright," Lincoln groaned as he rubbed his eyes out of irritation. When the boy finished doing so, he noticed that he was no longer in the sad looking hotel. Instead, he was in what appeared to be a high tech room complete with various TV and computer screens, a large sofa, an enormous refrigerator, two bathrooms, and three king sized beds. The whole room had a whole color scheme going on, most of it being a mixture of white and red. It was safe to say Lincoln was now beyond confused at this point.
"Like it?" Albert asked, noticing his grandson looking around the room. "These rooms are created to accommodate all guests."
"It's nice," Lincoln dumbly said, still trying to take in his surroundings. "But where are we?"
"We're about thirty feet below the hotel we were just in," Albert replied. "This is the closest place we could find that would allow us to speak privately."
"Ok, but what's so important that you take me to an underground room?" Lincoln questioned. "And how do you two even know of this place?"
Taking a deep breath, Albert prepared himself to tell his grandson the secret he and his daughter have been hiding from the rest of their family all this time. "Before we begin, let me make it clear that everything said in this room stays between the three of us, understand?"
"Uh, alright."
"Lincoln, we're serious," his mother sternly told him. "Whatever you do, you cannot tell anyone, that includes your sisters. Are we clear?"
"I understand mom," Lincoln said. He knew that whatever they were going to tell him today must be important if he couldn't share it with his sisters.
"Good," Albert stated before taking another deep breath. "To start off, remember how I said I was a part of the Vietnam War?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"...Well, the truth is, that's a lie I use to cover what I really used to do."
"What?" Lincoln asked in disbelief. "You weren't a soldier?"
"No, I was, but not in the Vietnam war," Albert admitted. "What I did was far more dangerous."
"Which was?"
"I worked as an intergalactic police officer for a group known as the Plumbers," Albert revealed, causing Lincoln's eyes to widen. "I used to travel to different galaxies and would do battle with the fiercest villains around. I was one of the best at what I did and am still regarded today as one of the best Plumbers to this date. It's all because I defeated an intergalactic warlord known as Vilgax, the most dangerous warlord to have ever existed. This room actually belongs to the group. It and various other rooms are used by Plumbers visiting the galaxy."
"No way…" Lincoln said in shock of what his grandfather was telling him.
"It's all true Lincoln," Rita told her son. "I was there during some of his battles."
"You went to space as well?" Lincoln asked in even more disbelief.
"Yeah," Albert replied. "As a Plumber, you're supposed to keep your job a secret, but your mother ended up learning about what I did for a living and wanted to join. I originally said no of course, but after she threatened to spill my secret, I ended up letting her on board. She was actually quite the skilled fighter."
"But, if you guys were good at what you did, then why did you retire?"
"Lincoln, have you seen me? I'm old," Albert said, pointing to his white hair.
"And I met your father and ended up having a family," Rita explained. "There was no way I could balance being a mother and fighting alien bad guys. I know this is a lot to take in, but Pop-Pop and I thought it was time to let you in on our secret."
"But why? Why are you telling me specifically?" Lincoln asked the two adults. "Why me compared to Lori? She's the oldest…"
"We never planned on telling anyone," Rita answered. "Your dad doesn't even know."
"He doesn't?"
"No," Albert stated. "No one else in our family knows. You weren't even supposed to know, but things happen."
"What do you mean 'things happen?' What made you decide to tell me all this?"
"...You know the recent pop ups of those ten alien heros right?" Albert asked him, causing the boy to nod.
"Of course, they've been on the news all week."
"Well, I ended up doing some digging and I ended up learning that they are actually the same organism," Albert informed him, causing Lincoln to start sweating out of nervousness. It seemed his grandfather was onto him. "They had some human DNA as well, meaning that somehow, someone managed to pick up some sort of device which could turn them into aliens. It took me a while to find out who it was, but I now know that it was you."
Scratch that, the old man already knew. Chuckling, Lincoln began to lie. "I-I have no idea what you're talking about…"
"Lincoln, please don't lie," His mother begged him. "I know it was you who has been going around and saving people, but with a weapon that powerful, you will be hunted down. We just want to protect you."
Hearing his mother's heartfelt speech, Lincoln decided to come clean. "...Yeah, it's me. I'm all the aliens. I'm not in trouble, am I?"
"Though what you did was risky, I couldn't be more proud of you," Rita said before giving her son a hug. "Most people would abuse such a power, but you chose to use it to do the right thing. The thing is, what is it that you're using to transform into those aliens?"
"Oh, it's this thing," Lincoln said, flashing them his watch. Seeing the thing caused Albert's eyes to widen.
"The Omnitrix."
"The what?" Lincoln asked, for his grandfather had mumbled that under his breath.
"Dad, you know what this is?" Rita asked her father.
"Yes, it's called the Omnitrix. It was designed by an old acquaintance of mines, the smartest being in the universe. The thing is, I didn't know it was completed. But what is is doing down here?"
"I don't know," Lincoln admitted. "But it won't come off."
"It's not supposed to," Albert told him. "...Kiddo, I need you to promise me that you'll be responsible with the Omnitrix. What you're wearing is the most powerful weapon ever created, so I need you to promise me that you won't treat it as a toy."
"Don't worry, I promise," Lincoln said sincerely. "Does this mean I have to stop being a hero?"
"No. Actually, it means the opposite. You remember those aliens you fought yesterday?"
"Yeah. They were with some strange guys who called themselves the Forever Knights," Lincoln told him.
"Well, you see, no one at the Plumbers knows who they are," Albert explained. "They seem to be a newly discovered species. We've been noticing them a lot this past month and we believe they are responsible for the recent kidnappings the news keeps talking about. The fact they're working for the Forever Knights confirms this."
Lincoln nodded in understanding. "I tried learning about the Forever Knights, but I couldn't find anything about them. Do you know who they are?"
"The Forever Knights are illegal arms dealers and alien researchers who've been active for centuries," Albert told him. "They're wanted for various illegal activities other than participating in forbidden arm trades. Listen Lincoln, I know we just threw a lot of information at you, but I'm going to ask that you help us take out this new threat. Heck, your mother and I are retired, but this is something we can't ignore. With the Omnitrix, you'll be of great help to us. We'll even help you control some of your aliens."
"You saw that?" Lincoln asked, embarrassed.
"Oh yeah, especially all those times you tried flying," Rita said. "But that's something that can be fixed."
"So what do you say champ, are you willing to help us?"
"Do I get access to some cool alien weapons?" Lincoln asked.
"You're far too young for that," Albert replied, causing the boy to pout. "But you do get access to hotels like these if you join, which'll allow you to have some quality time to yourself without having to worry about anyone interrupting you. Oh, and you get paid each month."
"I do?"
Albert nodded. "Yep, about 800 credits a month. If you convert that to US dollars, that's about $30,000 a month. You're a minor though, so the amount you'll be earning will be half of that."
"Holy moly, $15,000!" Lincoln shouted, surprised by what he was hearing. While it sucked he wouldn't be earning the full $30,000 a month, $15,000 a month was still a lot, even for an adult.
"I was originally going to say yes, but now, heck yeah I'll join."
"Well, welcome aboard," His mother said with a smile. "Just remember not to tell anyone, especially your sisters."
"Don't worry mom, I promise that I won't tell anyone, not dad, not Clyde, not my sisters, not even the pets. You're secret's safe with me."
"Atta boy," Albert exclaimed. "Now how about I help you successfully control some of your aliens? I may not look like it, but I'm an expert when it comes to the anatomy of aliens."
"That sounds great. Seriously, some of them are a pain to use…"
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Author's note 2: A few more things I want to clear out: First off, I decided to make Lincoln and Chandler friends. The show basically shows him to be a selfish brat, but since they're no longer in the Fourth Grade in this story, I decided to have him mature. They'll also be an arc where he'll play a big part in, so yeah. Secondly, I'm not a hundred percent sure Ben got paid in the show, but if he didn't, I feel he should have been by the Plumbers at least. The kid is risking his life regularly after all. As such, I decided that Lincoln will get paid (even though it seems like a lot, remember Lincoln IS risking his life to help keep the universe safe). Finally, here's my reasoning for picking the newly introduced alien.
Brainstorm: I personally like Brainstorm more than Graymatter. I understand Graymatter's whole thing is proving that someone can still be useful even if they are physically weak (something he shares with some of Ben's other aliens), but Brainstorm just seems more useful as the 'intellectual' alien of the group. Having telekinesis, force-field creation, the ability to shoot lightning, and the ability to calculate your opponent's moves even if they are as fast as Jetray (who can supposedly fly at the speed of light) is far better than having the ability to go inside robots and destroy/control them from the inside. Even then, one of the aliens that has yet to be introduced can do that far better than Greymatter. With that being said, I don't dislike the pint sized alien, I just don't believe him to be that interesting compared to Brainstorm (and no, it's not because Brainstorm is more powerful. Ditto is arguably one of Ben's worst aliens, being made irrelevant by another alien he has (one which Lincoln is also in possession of), yet I still love the two equally) Also, Brainstorm's ego is just more fun to write and is something I can play with in the future. Anyways, hope you enjoyed :-).
