Chapter 10
Today was the day Lincoln would be going back to school, and everyone could tell he was nervous about it as he absently picked at his breakfast. As Ken and Blanca carried their dirty dishes to the kitchen, Gil scooted his chair so that he was closer to Lincoln.
"You alright, kid? You look a little tense," he asked. Lincoln sighed.
"I'm not really all that nervous. Mostly, I'm still annoyed that I got in trouble for my heroism," he admitted.
"You want my advice? Don't be afraid to give 'em a piece o' your mind about it," Gil said, patting him on the back. "And if people still give you crap for it, just do what I do whenever one of Ken's quirks annoys me too much."
"Really? What's that?" Lincoln asked in curiosity.
"Observe," Gil said, grinning impishly as Ken walked back into the room. Standing up from his seat beside Lincoln, Gil grabbed the front of Ken's shirt, lifted him off the ground, and shook him like a rag doll. Ken held his head with both hands and stumbled around dizzily once Gil set him back down.
"Geez, Gil, what'd I do this time?" Ken slurred, his vision still swimming.
"Nothin'. I was just demonstrating what Lincoln should do if anyone gives him crap today," Gil smirked.
"Are you ready for school yet, Lincoln?" Blanca asked.
"I still have to get dressed, so no."
"Good. Because I have a gift for you from your sister Leni. She and I are both of the opinion that a slight change of style is in order..."
...
When Lincoln arrived at school, he was dressed in a sleeveless orange hoodie over a black tank top, denim jeans, and red-and-white Converse sneakers. According to Blanca, it had been Leni's idea to give him more of an "edgy" look to make him seem tougher and less of a "goody-two-shoes." So far it was working as he hefted his backpack and walked down the hall. Girls, both human and otherwise, stared at him and his exposed arms with varying degrees of attraction, and boys gulped and stayed out of his way. Principal Huggins walked out of his office in the middle of taking a sip of coffee, spotted Lincoln, and spat it out in shock.
"H-h-hello, Lincoln! Welcome back!" he stammered. Lincoln stopped and looked at him with a deadpan expression.
"Whatever you want to say, Huggins, I don't want to hear it," he said, "Not from the man who suspended me for doing the right thing."
"Y-you're not still mad about that, are you?" Principal Huggins asked, fidgeting nervously. Lincoln scowled.
"Yes. I am." He then kicked the principal's shin as hard as he could before continuing on his way to his classroom.
"I guess I deserved that," Principal Huggins whimpered through the pain, holding his bruised leg.
Lincoln reached his classroom and sat down with his usual friend group, who cheerfully welcomed him back and complimented his new attire. Ms. Johnson walked into the room, spotted Lincoln, and broke into a smile.
"Welcome back, Mr. Loud!" she cheerfully greeted. "I'm sorry to hear you got suspended. I hope you're ready for today's lesson!" Ms. Johnson turned around and was about to start writing on the blackboard, when...
"Levin." Ms. Johnson froze and turned back around to face Lincoln, who was once again frowning.
"Excuse me?" she asked.
"My name. It's Lincoln Levin now. After how my parents have been treating me, I don't call myself a Loud anymore," Lincoln clarified. In response to the sudden bout of whispering, Lincoln continued, "Yeah, long story short, I was adopted. Out of spite, not out of love. They don't love me, they never have, and I've been living a lie. Oh, and it turns out my biological dad is Kevin Levin, which honestly explains quite a bit."
The whispering students started to jabber louder, to the point that Ms. Johnson had to call for silence.
"Once again, I apologize, Lincoln. For both your suspension and your situation at home," she said, then began the morning's lesson.
At lunch, Lincoln told the whole story to Clyde and the rest of his friends.
"Well, that explains why Lisa thought you were completely human," said Zach once Lincoln was finished. "Since Osmosians take on the properties of whatever they touch, their DNA changes into a nearly perfect mimicry of the substance or creature they absorb. Because of that, hybrid offspring with another species appear to have DNA that's almost identical to that of the non-Osmosian parent. The difference is so subtle that a human DNA test won't notice." When he stopped talking, Zach noticed the others staring at him with their mouths agape. He looked down with an embarrassed blush. "I've been reading my parents' research papers, okay?" he grumbled.
"No, no, it's fine," Lincoln assured him. "That was very informative, actually. Thanks." A sudden scream rang through the air, causing the friend group to whirl around. Chandler, who wore a chest brace with his arm in a sling, was ordering his lackeys around. Today's victim was another girl, this time a Human/Nemuina hybrid around their own age with lavender skin, bright pink waist-length hair, and two pairs of long, narrow dragonfly wings that were normally folded flat against her back. As it was, though, Chandler's goons were trying to rip her wings off while holding her face-down on the ground. Lincoln groaned and facepalmed. "Don't these guys know when to quit?" he complained.
Lincoln reached into his backpack, and suddenly his whole body turned grayish-pink with a dull sheen. He marched over to Chandler's group with a purpose and was seen briefly discussing something with them before they all dog-piled him. However, anything thrown at him, from fists to random objects, simply rebounded off of him without leaving a scratch. A handful of forks got stuck in his chest point-first, but left no injury when he pulled them back out. Eventually, his attackers tired themselves out and slumped to the ground out of sheer exhaustion, at which point Lincoln was able to help the hybrid girl to her feet.
"Dang it, Larry! You always ruin everything!" Chandler yelled and pulled back his uninjured fist, only to stop when Lincoln clicked his tongue.
"I wouldn't do that, if I were you. Or have you forgotten what happened last time?" Lincoln warned him. Chandler wisely turned and stomped away, muttering profanities under his breath. Lincoln turned to the girl as his body returned to normal and asked, "Are you okay?"
"My wings are sore from getting yanked on, but I'll be fine," the girl replied. "I'm Sonya, by the way; Sonya Sarsgaard. I just moved here from Detroit."
"Nice to meet you, Sonya. I'm Lincoln; Lincoln Levin," Lincoln introduced himself and shook Sonya's hand. "Wanna sit with me and the gang? Something tells me you could use a few friends." Sonya immediately accepted his offer before grabbing her lunch and walking with Lincoln to his table.
"That was incredible, Lincoln! How did you do that?" Clyde asked once Lincoln returned with Sonya in tow.
"I didn't wanna put anyone in the hospital again, so I used my eraser to turn myself into rubber," Lincoln smugly revealed. "Everyone, say hello to Sonya!"
Lincoln learned from his friends that Sonya had arrived while he was...absent, and had been sitting in the back corner of Ms. Johnson's class all morning. She had been relentlessly picked on at her old school for being a hybrid, and the bullying only doubled after her father, a Nemuina Plumber agent, was killed in the line of duty. She and her Human mother came to Royal Woods for a fresh start.
"Don't worry, Sonya, I've dealt with Chandler before," Lincoln assured his new friend. "At the end of the day, he's just an egotistic jerk with something to prove. Just stick around me, and I'll make sure he leaves you alone."
"Thanks, Lincoln," Sonya peeped meekly, her cheeks turning purple as she blushed.
...
After school, Sonya asked Lincoln to walk her home. She and her mother lived relatively close to the school, but she wasn't comfortable walking by herself in a new town. Lincoln completely understood, and used the opportunity to get to know her better. Surprisingly, she was a big Ace Savvy fan like himself, but she wasn't quite as familiar with the lore as he was.
"...so, you see, One-Eyed Jack isn't actually one-eyed; his alter-ego canonically has two good eyes. The eyepatch is just a hyper-advanced scanning device that he uses to spot hidden threats and booby traps. He could've gone with a full pair of goggles, but then it'd be a lot harder to find a card-themed superhero name," Lincoln explained a piece of lore she was struggling to understand.
"Oooooooohhhhhh! That makes so much sense now!" Sonya gasped with the revelation.
Lincoln grinned at his new friend's amazement, but fell flat on his stomach when he felt someone trip him. He scowled as two burly boys laughed before picking himself up. They were Hank and Hawk, two hulking teenagers who delighted in preying on younger students, stealing anything valuable and destroying everything else.
"Great. As if Chandler wasn't enough, I have to deal with you. You guys picked a bad day for this, you know," Lincoln informed them as he dusted himself off. "I just had an emotional rollercoaster, so I'm not in the mood for your shenanigans right now." One of the boys, Hank, grabbed Lincoln by the front of his hoodie and lifted him off the ground.
"You think we give a dang about any of that?" he snarled close enough to Lincoln's face to make him gag from his bad breath. "Fork over the money, or else!"
Lincoln turned his head and looked at Sonya, who was slowly backing away. She shifted her eyes around, looking scared and confused. Obviously, she didn't know what to do or how to react. Their gazes met, and Lincoln winked, letting her know that everything was under control. Lincoln then turned back to Hank, matching the teenager's glare with his own.
"You want my money so bad? Well, here it is!" Lincoln declared and swung his solid copper fist into Hank's temple. Hank instantly crumpled, and Lincoln landed safely on his feet, the copper from the loose pennies in his pocket spreading to the rest of his body as he turned his attention to Hawk and Sonya.
For Sonya, seeing Lincoln so willing to openly use his powers for self-defense gave her the confidence she needed to use her own powers that she inherited from her father. She vigorously rubbed her hands together before flapping her wings and hovering in front of Hawk's face. With a smirk, she held her hands with the palms out level with her lips.
"What, you gonna blow me a kiss, Tinkerbell?" Hawk taunted.
"Nope! Not even close!" Sonya replied and blew on her hands. A cloud of glittery pink powder was sent flying into Hawk's face, making him cough, splutter, and rub his eyes. It only took a second or two for the powder's effects to set in, at which point Hawk fell flat on his face and started snoring. Lincoln sighed in relief and allowed the copper to dissipate while Sonya landed back on the ground and folded her wings.
"How did you get your powers, if you don't mind my asking?" Sonya asked as they kept walking.
"My biological dad was an Osmosian," Lincoln replied. "You?"
"Same here, only my dad was a Nemuina. You know what's interesting? Medieval humans came across a group of them and thought they were magical creatures; that's how the stories of fairies and pixies started."
Lincoln and Sonya continued to walk and talk until they reached Sonya's house, then parted ways.
"How was your day, Lincoln?" Blanca asked when Lincoln stepped through the door of his new home. Lincoln smiled.
"I made a new friend..."