Mutation.
It is not just a change in form or nature, it is the key to our evolution.
It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on Earth. This process is slow, and normally takes thousands and thousands of years.
But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward.
Which brings us to the Age of Mutants.
Humans who are born with extraordinary abilities.
But the biggest concern is not what these abilities are, it's how they are used.
Lincoln Albert Loud. A 12-year-old middle schooler living at 1216 Franklin Avenue in Royal Woods, Michigan. He lived in a small two-story house with his parents, ten sisters, and more than four pets. With this many people living in one house, things were often noisy and hectic. Crashing through the crowded halls, dodging girls like ping-pong balls, just to reach the bathroom on time. As the middle child, Lincoln often found himself caught in the middle of all that chaos. Fortunately, he knew every one of his sisters like the back of his hand.
"Hi everybody and welcome to another day in the Loud House," the white-haired preteen boy greeted the readers inside his closet-sized room. "Dad should be almost done making dinner and let me remind you, in a family as big as mine, getting the right amount of food isn't easy. To make things even more complicated, Lori is on break and is visiting from Fairway University. Which is why my plan is simple: I just need to get downstairs before everyone else first, then when Dad says 'dinner is ready' I'll be the first to take my share of grub. Luckily, this has happened so much that I'm able to predict when Dad will be done. Now I'll just sneak past my sisters while they're…"
The boy stepped out of his room only to find all his standing in the hallway waiting for him.
"Nice try, Lincoln," Lori, the eldest Loud sibling, said smugly. "But you're not the only one who's figured this all out."
With that, the ten girls started rushing excitedly downstairs toward the dining room.
"Oh, no you don't!" Lincoln said not willing to let a wrench in his plan ruin it. He grabbed the end of the carpet going down the stairs and gave it a shake which caused the fabric to create a huge wave that sent his sisters flying out the open front door.
"Lincoln!" Lori yelled after him.
Closing the door for good measure, the pleased preteen walked into the dining room.
"Always pays to have a backup plan," he told the readers taking his seat at the dinner table.
Right on time, the boy heard his father, Lynn Loud Sr., enter the room proudly humming to himself carrying platters full of food he cooked himself. There were fried chicken thighs and drumsticks, mashed potatoes, peas, and gravy.
"Hey, Lincoln," the man greeted his one and only son while putting the platters on the table. "Say, where are your sisters? I thought I heard them coming down the stairs."
"I don't know what could've happened," Lincoln replied slyly.
"Well, I guess that means you get first dibs."
"Guess it does." Lincoln put a piece of chicken, a scoop of mashed potatoes with gravy, and a scoop of peas on his plate. But just as he was about to dig in, he heard the front door open and saw his sisters standing at the dining room entrance, and they did not look happy. "Uh-oh!"
The girls all jumped into the room and started fighting over the food on the table. Lincoln quickly ducked beneath the table to avoid getting caught in the fight. He waited until the fighting was over, then poked his head up to see all the food on the platters, including the food on his own plate, gone.
"Now you see this as a fail," Lincoln calmly said to the readers. "However…" He took his napkin, placed it on his empty plate, and then quickly took it off and some grub was now on it. "It also pays to be the fifth best junior magician in Royal Woods." With that, the preteen began digging in.
Soon enough, everyone was at the table happily enjoying dinner.
"Alright, I would like to remind the family that LJ has an important soccer game tomorrow," Rita Loud informed her husband and children. "So I would like everyone to be ready for that."
"But Mom, I have a pageant recital tomorrow," Lola, the younger of two 7-year-old twins, informed.
"And I need to work with my pit crew at the race track," Lana, the elder of the twins, also informed.
"I literally have a very important golf game," Lori said.
"I have a science fair to attend," Lisa, the 5-year-old science prodigy, announced.
"I have a concert to jam at," Luna, the 16-year-old rockstar, said in her British-sounding accent.
"I have a few pet funerals to conduct," Lucy, the 9-year-old goth, informed.
"I'm doing some stand-up," Luan, the 15-year-old comedian, announced.
Rita dropped her fork and her eyes widened in horror. Wait, you ALL have activities tomorrow?!"
"Not me," Leni, the ditzy 17-year-old fashionista, said. Hearing that made Rita sigh with relief. "My fashion show is tonight at 7."
"That's tonight?!" Rita exclaimed. The anxiety returned tenfold. The time was already 6 o'clock. "Why didn't you remind us?!"
"We've wasted too much time! We're not prepared for this!" Lynn Sr. started panicking.
Soon the rest of the family started freaking out, except for Lincoln.
"Guys! Guys! GUYS!" he yelled silencing everyone and getting their undivided attention. "Relax," he said confidently. "I got this."
Immediately after dinner, everyone got ready and hopped into the family van, aka Vanzilla. Once everyone was seated and had their seatbelts fastened, the van took off down the street.
"Alright Dad, take a right here," Lincoln instructed his father when they came to an intersection.
"But this street leads directly to the fashion show, son," the family patriarch said.
"I know but traffic on this street is bad during this hour. I know a route that will get us there with little traffic and just ten minutes to spare."
"Do as he says, Lynn," Rita urged her husband.
Convinced to trust his son's judgement, Lynn Sr. turned right at the intersection.
"Turn left here," Lincoln instructed his father again when they came across another intersection.
After a few more directions, the family finally arrived at their destination with ten minutes to spare.
An hour later, after the fashion show, the family was driving back home listening excitedly to the radio.
"And so, if she is listening, I would like to congratulate Leni Loud for her amazing performance at the Royal Woods Fashion Show," a female reporter said over the radio.
Hearing this, the whole family cheered and congratulated the second eldest sibling.
"Thank you for that," a male reporter was heard. "In other news, we have received word that the number of mutants has increased significantly across the US," he explained in a serious tone which caused the family to stop celebrating and listen. "Hundreds of reports of people demonstrating bizarre abilities have been coming in. For instance, a girl with the ability to shoot beams of light from her hands and a man able to lift things five times his size and break through brick walls. Government officials are doing everything they can to keep things under control, but I would like to advise all who's listening to keep your eyes open and be very careful. Nowadays, anyone could be a mutant. We need to know who they are, and more importantly, what they can do."
"You may turn off the radio, Father," Lisa said.
Lynn Sr. did as his second youngest daughter advised.
"Mutants?" a confused Lana said what was on her mind.
"They literally can't be serious," Lori expressed her doubt but with a concerned expression.
Most of the family didn't know what to think of what they just heard. Even Lincoln looked a little perplexed and concerned.
"There is no need for concern, my family," Lisa addressed. "I've been reading about these so-called mutant sightings, and I can conclude that most of them are just exaggerations or hoaxes people concoct for attention. Mutation is a change in biology that can cause abnormal results, but a lot of what I've heard in these reports sounds way too fantastic to be true. I highly doubt that there's a mutation that can give people the ability to shoot energy from their bodies or move objects without touching them."
The family trusted Lisa's scientific genius and breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"That's a relief. The closest thing we've seen to a mutation is your baldness and extra toe," Luan chuckled at her brainy younger sister who looked unamused.
"I'll say. That stuff sounds like junk from Stinkin's lame comics," Lynn Jr. said much to her brother's chagrin.
"Now LJ, show Lincoln some respect," Rita lightly scolded. "It was thanks to him this night was a success."
"That's right. Thank you so much, Linky," a grateful Leni said to her younger brother.
Soon the rest of the family started expressing their gratitude which made Lincoln smile warmly.
"Think you can work out a plan for the other girls' activities tomorrow, honey?" Rita asked.
"Of course, Mom," Lincoln confidently assured his mother. "Remember, I'm the Man with the Plan."
"Man with Plan!" Lily, the youngest of the siblings, happily repeated.
The next morning, the entire Loud family followed Lincoln's plan. They all woke up early, cleaned up, had breakfast, grabbed the equipment they would need for their activities, and got into Vanzilla.
"Alright, where to first, son?" Lynn Sr. asked his own male offspring.
"To the race track, and then the soccer field," Lincoln instructed.
Throughout the whole day, the entire family followed Lincoln's well-organized plan to the letter. They went to support Lana and her pit crew at the race track, Lynn's soccer game, Lori's golf game, Lola's pageant, Luan's stand-up comedy show, Lisa's science fair, Lucy's funerals at the cemetery, and finally Luna's evening rock concert.
"Thank you, Royal Woods!" the teenage rockstar proudly yelled once she was finished with her song.
The entire audience erupted in cheering and applause. Luna dove off the stage and into the crowd and was carried all the way over to her family.
"Way to go, Luna!" Lincoln congratulated his older sister.
"You were great!" Luan added.
"Awesome, Lunes!" Lana said.
"Well done, Sweetheart!" Rita said proudly.
"Is that the Loud family?!" an excited voice asked. Everyone turned to see Katherine Mulligan, Royal Woods' residential news reporter, and her news crew. "Come, let's get an exclusive interview!"
Katherine and her crew quickly pushed past many people, including Lincoln, to get close to the family. The white-haired preteen got up and attempted to rejoin his family, but more and more people start gathering around to hear the interview. This resulted in him getting pushed farther and farther away.
"Hey, guys!" Lincoln called to his family, but they couldn't hear him over the many voices of their adoring fans. The rest of the Louds were too busy answering questions and basking in everyone's praise to notice Lincoln was missing.
Eventually, the boy found himself by the exit to the stadium with a huge crowd of fans blocking his path to his family.
"So tell me, Lynn," Lincoln heard Kathrine's voice. He turned to see a fan still sitting in his seat excitedly watching the interview livestream from his phone. "So many people are talking about how great your performance at the soccer field was. Tell me, what is the secret to your success?"
"Well Kathrine, let me tell you, it's no secret," he heard Lynn's voice. "I never could've done so awesome without…" Lincoln smiled warmly as he thought his older sister was about to give him some credit. "These two strong kickers!" The livestream showed Lynn lift her feet up and give each one a kiss. Hearing this made Lincoln's heart sink. His heart sank even more as he listened to the rest of his sisters give their interviews. He even heard his parents say how proud they both were of their daughters' achievements. Not once did he hear his name mentioned.
Depressed, the poor boy walked through exit door and left the stadium. The outside the stadium was cold, dimly lit, and devoid of any people. It felt as if he was the only living thing there.
"I don't know what I was expecting," Lincoln said sadly to the readers. "I mean, who would ever want to talk to plain old, boring, not special Lincoln Loud?"
Although Lincoln loved all his sisters dearly, there were times when he couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the fame, good fortune, and admiration they all received. Even though he was often the one who made all their achievements possible, he was still overlooked in favor of them. Not even becoming the fifth best junior magician in Royal Woods made him any more noticeable.
The despondent boy decided to take a walk by himself while waiting for his family to be done with their interview and basking in the adoration of their fans so they could all go home. Then he looked across the street and saw a shop with a display of active televisions sitting in the front window. Curious, he walked over to see what they were showing, but soon regretted that decision when he saw that almost all of them were just news about his sisters. There was even a news article about Lily being named 'Cutest in all Royal Woods'. Not all the TVs were showing stuff about his sisters, there was one news article about more mutant sightings found in the US. However, Lincoln ignored the news about mutants as he had taken Lisa's earlier words to heart. He had more serious things on his mind, like how insignificant and forgettable he was compared to his ten superstar siblings.
"I wish I had something that would make people think I was just as special as my sisters," Lincoln sadly said to himself and sighed. "But I guess my future looks pretty uneventful." With that, the poor boy started walking down the dark sidewalk alone, unnoticed, and unhappy.
Elsewhere, in an unknown location, a mysterious woman was walking down a dimly lit hallway. She wore a light blue cloak and a golden mask. She entered a room where a mysterious stood behind a desk. The man wore a red uniform with purple gloves, purple boots, a purple belt, a purple cape, and a helmet a big Y-shaped opening to show his face. In his right hand, or rather floating a few inches above his right hand, were three small shiny metal balls slowly spinning in a circle.
"Destiny," the mysterious man addressed the woman. "I presume you have come because you have foreseen something. Something important?"
"Yes, sir," the woman known as Destiny confirmed. "In less than 24 hours, a young mutant in Royal Woods, Michigan will discover their abilities. I have seen that this mutant will become very powerful, and they will have a great impact on the world. I don't know who this mutant is, what their powers will be, or how they will impact the world. But I have seen they are destined for greatness."
"I have never doubted your powers of precognition, and I won't doubt them now," Destiny's master replied with a pleased smile. "If what you say is true, then this mutant could be beneficial to our cause."
"However, I fear they too will discover the mutant when their powers manifest and will surely track him down as soon as possible," Destiny added with concern.
"After all these years, I wouldn't be surprised if they did," her master replied unconcerned. "But we will find the mutant and they will join the Brotherhood." Then he looked down at the three metal balls spinning above his hand. "I hope your 'heroes' will be up to the challenge, Charles." Then he clenched his hand into a fist which made the balls stop rotating and clash together.