104. Ghostly encounter

It's closing hour at the Royal Woods mall, the security guards have armed the alarms right before they left. One hour later inside an electronic appliance store, a pair of wireless headphones are lifted up in the air and placed in a floating bag along with some tablets.

Then over at a Reininger's sales, some security cameras were being destroyed by a green beam. A snicker is heard as a tank top is placed in another bag along with a pair of jeans.

Meanwhile in a dark alleyway, three bags are floating in the air and she place it on the ground. Then the figure appeared and it was girl about fourteen years old with pure white hair in a high ponytail, green eyes, wearing a black and white jumpsuit with white gloves and boots.

"A perfect shopping spree, especially when everything was free." Said the figure. She then grabbed the bags and turned invisible with the bags.

"Now time to make my leave." The girl said before phasing through the floor. The next morning when everyone arrived at Reininger's Sales, almost everything was gone.

"The store's been robbed!" Fiona exclaimed.

"Who would rob a clothing store?" Miguel asked as he looked at the emptied shelves and then he looked up and sees the damaged security camera. "Looks like they left no evidence."

"All the money is gone!" Ms. Carmichael shouted. "Someone call the police!"

It's sunny day in a local neighbourhood, Luan Loud in her clown outfit is exiting an house with her gear in a wagon and slice of birthday cake in her hands.

"Another job well job." Luan said as she began to walk on home. As Luan began to walk on home her phone beeped and she picks it up. "Oh right, I have patrol tomorrow night."

Luan began to text with one hand as she pulled her wagon until she bumped into someone. "Hey watch it!" Both Luan and the figure both said. Luan took one look at the person she bumped into and her mood went from happy to sour in an instant as did the other person.

It was a teenage girl around Luan's age, who has tan skin, auburn hair that reaches her shoulders, blue eyes, wearing a dark blue shirt, a red skirt, black flats, a magician hat and a black cape.

"Charlene Tanner." Luan said whiling giving her a deadpan look on her face.

"Oh great if it isn't braceface." Charlene said.

"I wouldn't be one to talk." Luan retorted. "Retainer mouth."

"Oh real mature." Charlene said with an eye roll.

"You started it." Luan pointed.

"Ugh. Whatever." Charlene said. "Now if you'd excuse me I have a birthday party to go too."

"Oh yeah, you don't want to be late pulling rabbits out of your hat." Luan joked.

"I don't do that. That's a cliche, I do amazing magic tricks." Charlene said.

"Please, my brother can do better magic tricks." Luan scoffed.

"Puh-lease I highly doubt that." Charlene told her. "Don't be jealous because my party business is more successful."

"Hey, the kids like my work!" Luan responded.

"I'm surprised kids still like clowns, they usually run away from clowns." Charlene said as she walks away. "Later Bozo!"

"Wait!" Luan shouted. "I got a birthday party tomorrow where I have routine that will blow your magic act out of the water!"

"Oh yeah? What is it?" Charlene asked smugly. This caused Luan to sweat a little as she quickly tried to think of something.

"Um, I'm going to ride a horse." Luan answered. "And I'm going to juggle flaming bowling pins while standing on the back of the horse." Charlene looked at Luan before laughing.

"Yeah right." Charlene mocked. "Since I want to see you humiliate yourself I'm going to see this in person. Good luck!" She then walks off laughing. Once she was gone, the situation finally donned on Luan.

"Oh crap what did I just agree to do?" Luan said. "Well if I'm gonna pull this off, I'm gonna need some help."

"And that's about it." Luan finished. She was currently standing in hers and Luna's room with Lincoln, Lana and Lisa sitting on her bed.

"So you told your business rival that you can do an trick that'll be impossible?" Lisa asked.

"Yes, which is why I need your help." Luan said. "If you say yes, I'll give you each a slice of birthday cake."

"I'll help you out Luan." Lincoln said.

"I'm in!" Lana said. "You never hired me to be your assistant."

"If I recall you fired me because I ruined a birthday party, because I thought the cake causes flatulence." Lisa pointed out.

"You're rehired just this once." said Luan.

"Very well." Lisa said. "I'll assist you."

"Great!" Luan said. "But no traumatizing the kids by saying cake causes farts."

"Deal." Lisa said.

"So what's the plan here?" Lincoln asked.

"Simple." Luan said. "Lana is gonna play the role of the horse, Lincoln you'll provide the flaming bowling pins and Lisa will make sure I don't fall off of Lana while I'm standing on her back as she runs."

"Hm. It sounds simple." said Lisa.

"Luan, aren't you worried that you might burn your hands?" Lincoln asked.

"Don't worry, I've been juggling pins since I was nine. I can handle a few burning pins." said Luan.

"Plus if necessary you can coat a forcefield around hands small enough where nobody will see." Lisa suggested.

"A good idea." Luan nodded. "Ok I'm going to need to practice my act so I can outstage that magician."

"Who is she anyways?" Lana asked.

"Charlene Tanner." Luan answers. "She runs her own birthday party entertainment business and she constantly competes with Funny Business. The difference is, while I do it to make kids smile and the occasional free cake Charlene does it for the money. Doesn't care about the kids at all."

"Wait she's in it for the money?" Lana asked as Luan nodded.

"She shouldn't even be in the party entertaining business." Lincoln said.

"I know right?" Luan said. "We have different ideologies and will not let her ruin the good name of birthday party entertaining!"

"Shame you couldn't get Tongri to make an appearance and have him jump through a flaming hoop." Lincoln said.

"That's a great idea!" Luan said excitedly.

"I was joking." Lincoln said immediately.

"I'm not." Luan said. "C'mon guys. Let's go to base and convince Tongri to do it!"

"I guess we should go." Lana said. "I gotta drop off Tongri's new collar anyways."

At the base, Luan told Soothsayer, Mr. Cuddles, Petty and Tongri her plan. The reaction was just as expected.

"YOU WANT TO DO WHAT!?" Soothsayer and Mr. Cuddles shouted as Petty held Tongri in his arms after the tiger jumped into them when he heard Luan's idea.

"Look I just want Tongri to jump through a flaming hoop while I ride on Lana's back while juggling flaming bowling pins." All four look at her before blinking in unison.

"That's the most ridiculous and stupidest thing I have ever heard." Mr. Cuddles said. "Martha tell how stupid that plan is!"

"It is. People will question how you got a tiger, and some parents will call animal control." Martha said. "Besides it might scare the kids."

"I'll tell them that I borrowed it from Sid's mom or something." Luan said.

"I don't think Mrs. Chang will buy that story." said Mr. Cuddles replied.

"Luan I highly suggest that you don't go through with the Tongri plan." Soothsayer told her seriously. "While Tongri is tamer than other tigers, we still don't the full depth of his time with Izahr. If something were to set him off, he could attack innocent people. I will not allow Tongri to go."

"Alright fine, I won't use Tongri." Luan said as she sighed.

"Excellent. It's best not to think too big, it does not equal better." Soothsayer said as he walked back to his study.

"Yeah!" Mr. Cuddles told her. "Now I gotta deal with a new problem."

"What is it?" Lincoln asked.

"Ryker." Mr. Cuddles replied with a sigh. "He's growing increasingly impatient. Last time he was here I promised him I'd speed up my progress but it's hard because time travel is a pain in the ass!"

"He's still asking to go back to get back to his own time?" Lana asked.

"Time travel is overly complicated and confusing, plus I don't think we have the Technology to send him back to his own time." Lisa stated.

"I don't think I'll be able to get him home." Mr. Cuddles said sadly. "I think it's too impossible to do."

"So that's how it is." They all turn to see Ryker in the entrance of the base. "You're giving up."

"Ryker?! We didn't hear you come in!" Lincoln stated.

"I let myself in. But you kids are giving up on sending me back to my time?" Ryker asked.

"Look we don't have the tech to help you out." Lisa explained.

"And here I thought I could trust you to help me." Ryker said. "Last time I make that mistake." He turns around. "You don't want to help me fine. I'll find my own way home!" He then walks out of the base. Everyone runs out after him but he's already gone.

"He's gone!" Lincoln said.

"If only he listened to us." Lisa said.

"He's desperate and desperate people tend to think irrationally." Soothsayer said joining them. "We must hope Ryker doesn't do anything rational."

The next day, Luan, Lincoln, Lana and Lisa walking towards the birthday party she was hired at. "Ok everyone know what their doing?" Luan asked as she adjusted her clown nose.

"Yeah, I set the bowling pins on fire." Lincoln replied.

"I keep your balance while you're riding Lana in horse form." Lisa stated.

"Right and then we release Tongri and have him jump through a hoop." Luan said surprising everyone.

"Um what?" Lana said. "Soothsayer said you couldn't use Tongri." Luan let's out a nervous chuckle. "Luan, what did you do?"

"I told Petty that I would take on a special walk in the woods for exercise. We'll bring him back at the base before Soothsayer or Mr. Cuddles find out about our plans." Luan explained.

"So where is Tongri?" Lincoln asked.

"Oh he's next to us." Luan told them. "He's invisible." She waves her hand and Tongri appears next to them.

"Luan this is extremely risky." Lisa said. "Tongri may be tame but he's still an animal. Not just that, he's one of the most dangerous tigers in the world. Plus last I checked he's our friend and you're using him to benefit your own needs."

"I just want to spice up my act. Besides Tongri is not going to hurt the kids, he'll keep his distance from them and he'll stay out until I need him." Luan explained.

"I'm with Lisa on this one." Lana said. "You're using him just to out stage your rival."

"Ok then let's let Tongri decide what he wants to do." Luan said before turning to Tongri. "Tongri if you don't want to do this, you can go back to base. It's your choice." Tongri thinks about it before shaking his head.

"Huh. He wants to stay." Lana said.

"He does?" Lincoln asked.

"I guess he's part of the act now." said Luan.

"Ok but do you promise to behave yourself?" Lincoln asked the large cat who nodded. "Ok good."

"Great we just need him to just jump through a hoop and we're solid." Luan said.

"As long nothing goes wrong, we'll be good." Lisa said as Luan waved her hand to make Tongri invisible again.

"Alright let's go, I want to get to my gig before Charlene shows up." said Luan.

"Then let's go." Lincoln said.

When they arrive at the house, Luan had Lana become a horse before they headed to the backyard to set up their gig.

"Ok, I have the pins here." Lincoln said as he held three pins.

"Luan and I are setting the ring of fire." Lisa replied as she connected the last part of the ring.

"Great!" Luan said. "Lana you ready?"

"Of course." Lana answered.

"Good." Luan said. "Ok, Lisa you hide in the bushes so nobody can see you. Lincoln you get in position behind the curtain. I'm going to have to turn Tongri visible but don't worry, the homeowners know he's here."

"Of course." Lisa said as she walked towards the bushes and hid. Lincoln walked towards the curtains and hid behind it. Luan made sure no one was around when she made Tongri visible, once the coast is clear she waves her hand and Tongri turns visible.

"You ready Tongri?" Luan asked and Tongri roared in response.

"He said yes." Lana whispered.

"Ok good." Luan said. "All you gotta do is jump through a hoop a few times and then you're done. Got it?" Tongri nods. "Good. Alright party is starting."

Within ten minutes the party guests had arrived as well as Charlene who stood in the back of the crowd.

"This outta be good." Charlene muttered as Luan came onto the stage.

"Hey Kids, boy do I have a treat for you all. I have two new acts to show you and I would love to introduce my new friend and don't worry he won't bite. Tongri the tiger." Luan said as the curtain is pulled revealing Tongri sitting down as the kids gasped in both fear and awe. "No need to fear he won't bite."

"How did she get a tiger!?" Charlene asked herself.

"He'll be jumping, the ring of FIRE!" Luan said as she put up a ring big enough for Tongri to jump through.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Charlene muttered. "She brought a tiger?"

The ring is lit and with fire and the kids stare in awe. "Now don't try this at home kids. Seriously you'll not only hurt yourself, but you'll burn down your home." Luan said.

"Yeah no kidding." Lincoln muttered.

"Tongri will now fearlessly jump through the ring of fire!" Luan announced.

"Oooh." The kids said in awe as they waited with anticipation. Luan turns to Tongri who stared at the ring.

"You ready?" Luan asked and the tiger nodded. "Then jump through the ring!" Tongri crouched down and then launched himself through the ring. Once he goes through it, he turns around and goes through it again.

The kids all cheered and applauded as Tongri jumped through the ring of fire another time and the final time. Luan applauded as well, and smiled. "That's Tongri everyone. Wasn't he Grrreat?" Luan laughed and so did the other kids.

Charlene groaned as she rolled her eyes. "Now I'm going to take a break while I set up my second act. Be right back!" Luan said as she walked behind the curtains.

"While we wait, let's play some party games." The host said as the kids cheered.

While everyone went off to go have fun, Tongri decided to get some rest in the sun. As he laid in the grass he listened to children play games a smile formed on his muzzle which then turned into a frown. It caused him to think of his own time as a cub. Playing with his littermates and his mother. Those moments were when he was at his happiest. And would be his last happy moments for a while. Tongri thought back to how Izahr arrived at his home and took him away from his family before turning him into a monster known as Tigalis. Those were memories that Tongri tried to surpress but sadly they were in large quantities considering they were centuries of destruction. Izahr's spell slowed his aging so he couldn't die and forever serve him. Even though he wasn't Tigalis no more, the spell lingered. Still slowing down his aging. It was because of Izahr that Tongri for a while after he was turned back didn't trust humans. In fact, he was still weary of them.

While Tongri was laying on the grass, Luan is drinking a bottle of water. "They love the stunt Luan." Lincoln said.

"I knew they would. Soothsayer and Mr. Cuddles said it was a bad idea, but they were wrong." Luan said.

"I'm glad the kids love him." Lincoln said. "He seems relaxed right now."

"I know." Luan said. "Honestly this is probably the most relaxed I've ever seen him. It really sucks that most of his life he was a slave. Now look at him."

"You're telling me. He was a normal tiger and then Izahr made Tongri his servant." Lincoln said.

"Not to mention a monster that fought Petty." Luan said.

"You know Luan, in a way you saved Tongri." Lincoln told her causing Luan to turn to him confused.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well if you hadn't freed Izahr we wouldn't have seen Tigalis and in turn, we wouldn't have decided to have Soothsayer turn him back to normal. Not only that you're the one who freed Tongri by defeating Izahr." Lincoln explained. "So you freed Tongri and helped him become the same tiger we know and love."

"Huh, I guess you're right." Luan said. "Be helped us out helped us out fought against some villains and even saved us at times."

"He sure did." Lincoln said.

"He really is a member of the team." Luan said. "He's proven time and time again that he belongs with us."

"He sure has." Lincoln said.

"Nice trick Luan." Luan and Lincoln looked at the source of the sound and it was Charlene. "I'm amazed that you brought a tiger here. Where did you get the tiger?"

"I know a guy, but I see that you're impressed." Luan said.

"I didn't say that I was impressed. I still need to watch that other act you mentioned yesterday. I hope it lives up to the hype." said Charlene, she then walks away.

"Wow you have a Chandler too." Lincoln said.

"Yeah sure do." Luan said. "C'mon, let's get ready." The two behind the curtain. Unknown to them Charlene was still watching them from a distance.

"Yeah Luan, get ready." She whispered. "Because it'll be the last trick you ever perform." Unknown to her, Tongri was watching her with one eye open before closing it.

"Alrighty kids now it's time for my second act. You'll be amazed at this one. But kids don't try this at home, you will hurt yourself." Luan said, she then whistled as Lana (in horse form) ran towards Luan.

"This is Lana who'll be my assistant." Luan said as she hops onto Lana's back. "Now I will be riding on Lana's back while juggling bowling pins on fire!"

The kids were awestucked when the bowling pins were lit on fire and began juggling them as Lana began to run around the backyard. "Ok so far so good." Lincoln said as she watched from behind the curtains.

"Ok slow down a little so I can stand up." Luan whispered.

"Ditch the pins." Lana whispered back. "You'll have better chance of standing up."

"No way. I can do this!" Luan whispered back.

"Ok but at least have Lisa help you." Lana whispered. "It'll be safer."

"Ok here goes." said Luan as she threw the flaming pins up in the air and began to stand on Lana's back and she grabs the flaming pins and juggled them again

Lisa observed Luan's act from the bushes and smirked. "Perfect." Lisa whisperly smirked.

"Thank you Lisa." Luan whispered. "Let's hope she can keep me from falling like we talked about."

Luan kept juggling the flaming bowling pins while standing on Lana's back while Lisa kept Luan from falling using her telekinesis. "No sign of Charlene, maybe she went home." Lincoln said.

However unknown to everyone, Charlene was hidden behind another set of bushes watching the trick.

"Time to make this act a little more interesting." Charlene said as she pointed her finger at Luan which started to glow green. Meanwhile, Tongri who was resting nearby caught whiff of something. A type of scent that he had become familiar with over the last few months. The scent of a meta human. The smell was close too so the meta wasn't far away. He stood up and stretched and looked around the area to see where the scent was coming from. His eyes then rested on a set of bushes.

Tongri snarled as he lunged towards the bushes and a scream is heard which grabbed the attention of the party guests, Lincoln, and Lisa. This cause Lisa to lose her focus on Luan's act causing her to fall off Lana along with the flaming bowling pins, which started to set the grass on fire. Lincoln panicked as he grabbed the fire extinguisher and puts out the fire.

"Get this thing off of me!" Charlene shouted.

"Charlene?" Luan groaned. She glanced around and saw no Tongri and gasped. "Tongri!" She and her siblings with Lana in horse form run to the bush to see Tongri on top of Charlene pinning her down.

"Help! This tiger is trying to kill me!" Charlene shouted in fear.

"Tongri get off of her!" Luan commanded.

Tongri ignores her and stays on top of Charlene. Luan whispered something to Lana who nods before galloping away. A few seconds later Wildgirl appears and goes gorilla to pull Tongri off of Charlene.

"Never fear citizens." Wildgirl said. "Because I am here." Lincoln let out a small chuckle at the reference. "I must apologize for this tiger's behavior. Rest assured I'll be taking care of this tiger now."

"Thanks Wildgirl." said Luan. "I hate to have something bad happen at my gig."

"Don't mention it." Wildgirl replied and then she ran off with Tongri under her right armpit. Luan then looked and they see concern looks from both kids and adults.

"Shall we continue the act?" Luan asked nervously as she shrugged.

"Your tiger nearly killed me!" Charlene said as she got up. "How can you say that after I almost got killed?!"

"I hate to admit it Luan but I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The mother said. "And I'm afraid that I'm not sure if I'll have you back again next year."

"Oh." Luan said. "I see. I'm sorry Mrs. Marley. I'll just gather my gear and go."

Luan begins to walk to the stage to gather her things, but when she looks behind she sees Charlene walking towards Mrs. Marley. "Mrs. Marley if you want I can fill in for your daughter's birthday party entertainment. I don't have a bloody thirsty tiger like Luan." Charlene said.

"Hmm I guess. Do you have your equipment?" Mrs. Marley asked.

"I always comes prepared." Charlene said as she pointed to a wagon full of magic tricks.

"Well then be my guest." Mrs. Marley told her.

"With pleasure." Charlene said while flashing a smug look at Luan.

"There goes that client." Luan muttered.

When Luan, Lincoln and Lisa got to base, Soothsayer was waiting for them while with an angry look on his face.

"Oh crap." Luan muttered.

"Luan, I know about your recent misdeeds." said Soothsayer with an angry tone. Luan looked and she's sees Lana looking sad as she sat on the couch.

"Yeah well so what?" Luan fired back. "Everything was going fine!"

"And then Tongri attacked an innocent civilian!" Soothsayer retorted.

"First off, innocent is kind of a stretch." Luan said. "Second I don't know what set him off that caused him to attack but we dealt with it!"

"And because we don't know what set him off I had to put a chain on him to keep him from attacking again!" Soothsayer told her. The three Louds peer around Soothsayer to see Tongri on a chain with Petty next to him. "Tongri should have never been there in the first place!"

"Well I gave him the option to leave but he chose to stay!" Luan told him.

"That's not the point!" Soothsayer argued.

Meanwhile Tongri was listening to the arguing with a hint of sadness. This was feeling familiar. Being chained up because he did something he wasn't supposed to do. Then again it wasn't the first time. Back when he served Izahr, he was chained up a lot for little stupid things that Izahr didn't like him doing and to remind him which one of them was the master and which one of them was the servant. The chains hurt because they were made to burn his skin if he tried to escape. At least with this chain it was hooked to his collar.

Tongri began to feel bad for Luan, he wanted to help Luan for her act, but then a meta human of all people popped in and out of the party, the only meta human he knows that can pop in and out unnoticed is Phantom, but it's unlikely he would do this. But now Luan is getting blamed and scolded by Soothsayer, all he can do is stay back and watch with Petty by his side.

Petty started to stroke Tongri's head. "Why Tongri attack girl?" Petty asked. "Tongri never do that before." Tongri sighed and rested his head on his paws. He really wished he could explain to them what happened. Wait. That's it! Tongri stood up put the chain on his jaws and bit down breaking it. He then ran towards the still arguing Soothsayer and Luan while everyone else watched.

"Tongri, what are you doing?" Soothsayer questioned. Tongri roared in response. "What are you trying to say?"

"He's definitely trying to tell us something and it must be important." Lisa said. "Lana could you translate?"

"Probably." Lana said before going tiger and approaching Tongri. "What's up boy?"

"Why are you talking to me like a damn dog?" Tongri growled. "Now listen up. Tell Soothsayer to use his magic on me to allow me to speak. What I want to say will come out of my mouth, not yours. It's that important."

"Alright sure thing." Lana nodded as she turned back to her human form. "Soothsayer you need to use your magic for Tongri to talk."

"Why does he need my magic to speak to us?" Soothsayer asked.

"You need to hear it from him, not from me." said Lana.

"This must be important then." Mr. Cuddles said climbing onto Lincoln's shoulder. "Tongri hates magic."

"Indeed." Soothsayer said before waving his staff over Tongri. "You're all set."

"Alright good." Tongri said. "First things first. Soothsayer it's not Luan's fault. It's all me. I know yesterday I had said no but after thinking about it last night I changed my mind because I wanted to take a walk around Royal Woods. I never get to do that and when I do get a chance to go into town, it's mostly to fight."

"That is true, we mostly bring you into fights." Luan said.

"Anyway, Luan gave me a choice if I can stay for the act or go back to the base, but I wanted to help Luan out. The family knew that I was there and they were fine with it. You all know I would never harm a fly." Tongri said.

"Actually that's not true you killed a fly yesterday because it was buzzing by your ear." Mr. Cuddles told him.

"That's besides the point." Tongri said. "Listen though. As you know when Soothsayer changed me back from Tigalis everything about me was magically enhanced. Strength, speed, stamina, endurance, durability and most importantly my senses. Past few months I've learned that meta humans have a different scent than normal humans."

"Fascinating." Lisa said. "It makes sense though. Meta humans are a different breed of human so there would be a slight difference in smell. So please tell us, what do metas smell like?"

"Depends on the power really but if I had to put a specific smell to it, I'd say flowers mixed with vinegar." Tongri answers as he grooms himself.

"Ew." Everyone said in unison with disgusted looks on their faces.

"Anyways, I scented a meta human nearby who had the intent of ruining Luan's performance." Tongri explained.

"A meta human was at Luan's gig?" Soothsayer questioned.

"Wait, when you attacked Charlene, you detected a meta human." said Luan.

"Charlene's a meta human?!" Lincoln exclaimed.

"Hmm, now that I think about it, there's been some mysterious thefts happening over the last few days." Lisa said.

"What was stolen?" Lincoln asked.

"Some money of course, but also some other items like some books, clothing, and other items." Lisa explained. "Charlene could be our prime suspect."

"Whoa whoa hold on a second." Luan said. "Charlene might be a selfish greedy party pooper but she's not a thief."

"Luan, Tongri wouldn't have attacked her for any other reason." Lana said. "And Tongri doesn't just attack with no reason."

"Yeah, my nose picked up the scent of a meta human. I may not be a bloodhound, but my nose never lies." said Tongri.

"We also don't know what Charlene's powers are." Lisa stated. "I doubt it's invisibility the items would be floating in the air if they are being stolen."

"I doubt that. Mostly because I'm getting sick and tired of fighting villains who have the same powers as some of us." Lincoln said. "Maybe Charlene can open up portals?"

"Highly doubt that." Lisa said. "You'd see them open either on camera or just by them appearing in front of you."

"Wow you guys really believe she's an evil meta human." Luan said. "Ok how about we go on patrol and find out if it's really her stealing all that stuff. Talk to store owners, bank tellers, etc. Hopefully we aren't dealing with another Clockwork." This caused a shiver to go down Lincoln's, Lisa's and Lana's spines as they remembered their encounter with Clockwork. "That being said, since there's only four of us we'll need Tongri and Petty to come with us."

"A wise idea." Lisa said. "We can use Petty to get a trace of the Charlene's meta human scent. Since it's described as flowers mixed with vinegar."

"Still gross Tongri." said Lincoln.

"Right." Luan said. "Let's suit up!"

In the city the L-Crew raced through the city with Tongri running in front of them to try to get a trace of the scent he smelled earlier.

"Alright we can use Tongri to find and stop the meta human stealing items." Ms. Appear said.

"Tongri do you smell anything?" Firecracker shouted and the large tiger shook his head.

"Nothing yet. Only normal humans." Tongri told him.

"Damn it." Firecracker said.

"Maybe they're hiding the scent?" Wildgirl theorized.

"I doubt it." Prodigy said. "If we didn't know about the fact metas have a different scent then normal humans then I doubt our enemies do."

Suddenly a teenager runs up to them. "L-Crew! A store down the street is being robbed by some crazy lady!" He shouted.

"Thanks, we'll take it from here." Ms. Appear said. "Let's get her."

When they arrive at the store they see a girl about fourteen years old wearing a black and white skin-tight jumpsuit with white boots and gloves. Her hair was pure white and tied into a high ponytail. She also had green eyes. Surrounding her was several bags of money floating around her. She stopped walking once she saw the L-Crew.

"Ugh. And here things were going so well." The girl groaned. "You know L-Crew, you surprise me. I've been able to do my crime spree without any interference from you for three days and now you show up. What gives? Not a big enough threat for you?"

"Actually we were recovering from a crazy murderous monster bent on destruction and bloodshed that forced us to work with some of our greatest enemies." Prodigy told her.

"Wait you guys were recovering from some monster attack?" The girl asked as Prodigy nodded. "Well that explains why you haven't shown up at my robberies."

"So, who are you suppose to be? A Danny Phantom ripoff?" Firecracker asked.

"No, my name is Spirit." Spirit introduced.

"What kind of name is Spirit?" Wildgirl asked.

"Simple." Spirt replied before smiling evily. "It's the name of your doom."

"That's cliche." Firecracker said with a deadpan tone in his voice.

"Ms. Appear her scent is similar to the one at the party." Tongri growled.

"So she was at the party earlier today?" said Ms. Appear.

"Looks I got other stuff to steal and I'm not letting you heroes get in my way." Spirit said.

"You won't be stealing anything except a one way trip to the Dungeon!" Ms. Appear shouted.

"Whatever you say braceface." Spirit said.

"Enough talk! Let's take this Danny Phantom ripoff down!" Firecracker said as he flew towards Spirit.

Spirit went intangible and Firecracker flew right through her. "You forgot that I can do that right?" Spirit said.

"A little yeah." Firecracker groaned after he crashed into the store.

"She called me braceface but the way she did was so familiar." Ms. Appear whispered. "Could it really be her?"

"Ms. Appear! We can really use your help here!" Prodigy said as she used her telekinesis to lift up some items and threw towards Spirit, but she fired some green energy beams from her hands and destroy the items.

Ms. Appear snaps out of it and quickly rushes at Spirit. She covers her fists in a forcefield and swings at her but Spirit dodges and hits a sweep kick on Ms. Appear.

Ms. Appear gets back up and punches Spirit in the gut and kicks her a kick to the chest. Spirit recovered from the attack and elbows Ms. Appear in the face. Wildgirl In lynx form sneaks up behind Spirit and lunges towards Spirit.

Spirit becomes intangible causing Wildgirl to go through and crash right into Ms. Appear.

"Nice try Wildgirl." Spirit taunted.

Firecracker then double kicks Spirit in the gut knocking her down. "Give up Spirit, your crime spree ends here." Firecracker said.

"Naw I'm good." Spirit said before getting to a knee and firing a green beam at Firecracker knocking him back. "Now let's see who's next." She's then suddenly knocked to the side by Petty. "Oh crap he's big." Tongri walks to his side. "A tiger too? Wait I feel like I've seen you before."

"You should." Tongri growled. "Because we met before and recognize your scent. So why don't you make this easy for yourself and tell who you really are."

"So that tiger knows me already?" Spirit whispered to herself. "Well I guess the cat's out of the bag. Since your pet knows me."

"Then who are you!?" Ms. Appear shouted.

"My name is Charlene Tanner." Spirit said.

"So it's true." Ms. Appear whispered to herself.

"I knew it." Tongri growled. "I knew your scent was familiar. You tried to ruin a girl's performance at a birthday party and she almost got hurt. That is something that you must pay for." He then let's out a roar.

Tongri then lunged towards Spirit as she went intangible when Tongri striked. Spirit reappear again that's when Tongri attacked again and slashed the right side of Spirit's chest.

"Stupid tiger." Spirit shouted as she held her shoulder. Tongri goes for another lunge but gets blasted out of the air.

"Tongri!" Petty shouted. He then glared at Spirit. "You hurt Tongri, Petty hurt you!"

"Petty no." Ms. Appear ordered stopping Petty in his tracks. "I'll deal with this."

"Are you sure Ms. Appear?" Prodigy asked.

"I'm sure of it." Ms. Appear replied. "She's mine."

"Well well." Spirit said. "One of the mighty leaders of the L-Crew is stepping up to face me."

"This is between you and me, Charlene." Ms. Appear said as she formed two forcefield clubs in her hands. "Time for you to give up the ghost."

"Seems like someone has some issues with me." Spirit said. "But I don't even know who you are."

"You will know soon." Ms. Appear replied as she smacks Spirit with her forcefield clubs and continues her attack until Spirit turns intangible.

"Oh am I now?" Spirit taunted.

Spirit fired a green energy beam at Ms. Appear, byte she blocks the beam with a force field. Spirit flies towards Ms. Appear and phases through the force field and tackles Ms. Appear.

Ms. Appear scowls and forms a small forcefield that launches Spirit off of her. Ms. Appear gets back to her feet and glares at her.

"Damn she's tougher than she looks." Ms. Appear thought. "More than that, I can't believe she's resorted to stealing of all things."

Spirit flew towards Ms. Appear and have her a roundhouse kick to the side. Ms. Appear recovered from the attack and turned invisible.

"So now you're hiding are we?" Spirit taunted. "You can't hide forever Ms. Appear."

Spirits then got hit in the gut by an unknown force, she throws a left hook but she just hit the air. Then she gets kicked down by the unknown force. Spirit got back up and realized that Ms. Appear turned herself invisible to attack her.

"You coward!" Spirit shouted. "You remind me of this girl I know. Thought everything was funny no matter what. Even ran a lame party entertaining business. It was so lame that she didn't even do it for the money. Did it just for smiles and laughs. How stupid can you be?"

"I'm not stupid. At least that girl made kids laugh and made sure they had a great birthday party." Ms. Appear said as she reappeared. "She wasn't in it for the money."

"Then she knows nothing about running a business!" Spirit shouted. "Businesses are all about making money. That's why they exist."

"That's how you see businesses!" Ms. Appear shouted. "Some people like that girl did it because they love their job, not because of the money."

"Seems like I touched a nerve there." Spirit mused before throwing her elbow back hitting something solid. "Found you."

Ms. Appear staggers back as she reappeared. "Damn it!" Ms. Appear groaned in pain.

"Not bad, but next time try and be silent." Spirit said.

"She's good." Ms. Appear said. "But I won't lose that easily."

"After I finish you off. I'll find Luan and end her life." Spirit smirked.

"You're not going to find her." Ms. Appear said. "You're not gonna touch her or hurt her and you sure as hell aren't going to kill her."

"And why's that?" Spirit asked.

"Because I ain't gonna let you." Ms. Appear told her.

Ms. Appear begins to form force field spheres around her fists and begins to beat up Spirit with the force field sphere fists.

Green energy engulfs Spirit's fists and hits Ms. Appear hard in the face sending her sliding back into a car.

"Spirit is strong." Prodigy said. "Shouldn't we get involved?"

"No. Ms. Appear wants to handle her personally." Firecracker said. "And we gotta respect her orders."

Ms. Appear gets back up as Spirit flew towards her. Spirit shot an green energy beam at Ms. Appear, but she puts up a forcefield blocking the attack.

"Damn it! Why won't you just die!" Spirit shouted. "Just die!"

"Because that's not what I do!" Ms. Appear shouted back. "My job is to protect the smiles of people everywhere by keeping them safe and I'll be damned if I let you put all that at risk!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Spirit questioned.

"I'm ending your crime spree and throwing you in the Dungeon where you belong!" Ms. Appear shouted.

"Wait a minute." Spirit said. "All the crap you just spoke about sounds familiar. But where have I heard that voice of yours before?"

Ms. Appear then forms two force field clubs in her hands and walked up to Spirit and begins to beat up Spirit with the two clubs. The next hit smacks Spirit to the ground and she looks up to see Ms. Appear about to deliver the final blow.

"I'm taking you in." Ms. Appear said. Spirit scowls before smiling.

"Now I know where I've heard that voice before." Spirit said. She holds up a finger and shoots a small green beam at Ms. Appear's face knocking off her mask. "Luan Loud. Should've known."

"Yeah that's right. I am Ms. Appear, you try to ruin my business you Danny Phantom knock off!" Ms. Appear said.

"It's all about the money Luan. You can't buy things with smile and laughters." said Spirit.

"It was never about the money!" Ms. Appear shouted. "I love comedy. That's the reason I did this. I did this because I loved to see the smiles on the faces of the kids that I entertain. I love to see their faces when they laugh at my jokes and my tricks. Sure I could do it for money but then it would defeat the purpose of why I do this."

"That's what you think metal mouth. You know how hard it is to come up with new tricks?" Spirit asked.

"You can come up with new tricks in the dungeon." Ms. Appear said as she's about to hit Spirit with a forcefield club, but Spirit grabs her wrist.

"I ain't going anyway!" Spirit said.

Ms. Appear let's out a grunt. Spirit raises her free hand to blast her with her green energy beam but Ms. Appear grabs her wrist leaving the two in a struggle.

Firecracker, Wildgirl, Prodigy, Tongri and Petty run outside to see Ms. Appear and Spirit in the struggle. "Oh man her mask is off." said Firecracker.

"So that's another villain that knows our secret." Prodigy replied.

"Probably should figure out the mask problem one of these days." Wildgirl said.

"Agreed." Prodigy replied.

Ms. Appear and Spirit are both in the struggle, Spirit knees Ms. Appear in the gut causing her stagger back a bit.

"Dirty move." Ms. Appear growled.

"Hello, villian." Spirit said gesturing to herself. "Now I'm sure your team is starting to get bored." She presses her fingers to her ear. "I could use a hand here."

"With pleasure." The voice said on the other end. Suddenly from the alleyways and sewers several robots came running out and surrounding the L-Crew. Worst part is, they all recognized the robots.

"Jestorbots!" Firecracker shouted. "She must be working for Jestor!"

"I didn't see that coming." Wildgirl said.

Firecracker threw two fireballs at two Jestorbots destroying them. "At least we got something to do while Ms. Appear fights Spirit." Firecracker said.

"Agree." Prodigy said as she lifted up a manhole cover with her telekinesis and throws it towards the Jestorbot.

"Stupid Jestorbots!" Wildgirl shouted before going elephant. She then starts smashing several of the Jestorbots with her trunk.

"Petty smash!" Petty shouted before uppercutting a nearby Jestorbot before slamming another to the ground. While this was going on, Tongri snuck off.

Meanwhile, Ms. Appear swung her forcefield blade at Spirit who turned intangible which caused the blade to go through her.

"You never learn do you?" Spirit taunted after she turns tangible again. However as soon as she does that, she immediately knocked down from behind. She then sees a large orange paw pinning her shoulder down.

"Did you forget about me?" Tongri growled into her ear.

"Tongri!" Ms. Appear shouted. "I told you to stay back!"

"I'm finishing what I started!" Tongri snarled.

"Get off of me you stupid tiger!" Spirit shouted.

"Not until you pay for your sins." Tongri growled.

"You don't know my sins tiger!" Spirit shouted.

"And you don't know mine." Tongri snarled. "My sins are immeasurable compared to yours. You've only done petty crimes, I've done a lot worse that you can only imagine."

"What are you?" Spirit asked with a hint of fear in

"My name is Tongri!" Tongri shouted as he slashed Spirit's face with his claws.

Spirit cries out in pain as the claws run across her face. "You stupid cat!" She shouted out before blasting Tongri launching him off of her and into a building. When Spirit faces Ms. Appear again, Ms. Appear sees that she has three claw marks across her face.

"Wow Charlene, that's an improvement." Ms. Appear jokes.

"Your pet ruined my face!" Spirit shouted as she pointed to the claw marks on her face. "You and the L-Crew ruined my career!"

"No, your career was ruined when you chose to take the easy to way and steal." Ms. Appear told her. "And now you're going to the Dungeon."

"Like hell I am." Spirit replied. "I'm not going to rot in some jail cell.

"Too bad." Ms. Appear said. "Besides you don't have a choice. I'm taking you in!"

"Damn it." Spirit growled.

"Spirit." A voice said from her comms. "It's time to retreat. Let the Jestorbots finish them."

"You got it." Spirit replied to the voice. "Let's do this another time Luan." Spirit then phased through the ground.

"Damn it! I should have seen that coming." Ms. Appear exclaimed. She then looked behind her and sees her siblings and Petty fighting off the Jestorbots.

"Elder sibling they keep coming!' Prodigy shouted as she sent three Jestorbots flying. "We require assistance!"

"Coming!" Ms. Appear shouted.

Ms. Appear runs towards her siblings and forms two forcefield blades and slashed one of the Jestorbots. Then she threw one of the forcefield blades at the other Jestorbot. Wildgirl morphs into puma and swipes the Jestorbot to the ground. Prodigy grabbed one of the Jestorbots with her telekinesis and crushed it.

Firecracker threw several fireballs before bringing his arms down for the Flare Crusher that destroyed several Jestorbots. Petty was smashing bots with his fists while several climbed onto him. However Tongri ran in and slashed them off of him.

Prodigy used her telekinesis to crush a bunch of Jestorbots, while Tongri slashed another Jestorbot, and finally Ms. Appear slashed the last two Jestorbots with her forcefield blades.

"So I'm guessing Spirit got away?" Firecracker asked.

"Yeah she got away." Ms. Appear sighed.

"Damn it." Firecracker grumbled. "I guess we'll get her next time."

"So now what?" Wildgirl asked.

"Few things actually." Ms. Appear answered. "One, we gotta find Jestor. Spirit was obviously working for him so we need to take him down. We take him down, we take Leonard Miller and Spirit down. Two, we gotta find Ryker. He's desperate and if we don't do something I'm afraid he might make a big mistake."

"Sounds about right." Prodigy said. "So what's the third thing?"

Ms. Appear knocked on a door and waited. When the door opened it revealed Mrs. Marley

"Hello is this the Marley residence?" Ms. Appear asked even though she knew the answer.

"Oh Ms. Appear." Mrs. Marley gasped. "What an honor. What can I do for you?"

"Oh you see Wildgirl told me that there was an incident with a tiger attacking a guest at your party." Ms. Appear explained. "I'm here to let you know that the tiger was actually ours and he was helping Ms. Luan Loud with her party. The reason he attacked the guest was because he's trained to find meta human and the girl was a meta human criminal we've been chasing after."

"Oh dear, so that magician who performed at my daughter'a birthday was a Meta human?" Mrs. Marley asked as Ms. Appear nodded.

"Yes she has the powers of a ghost, to phase through objects, fly and even shoot green energy from her hands." Ms. Appear explained. "We're looking for her as we speak."

"Oh dear." Mrs. Marley said. "I feel awful. I'll have to call Luan and apologize. Hopefully she'll want to work my son's birthday next year. I better go call her."

"You do that." Ms. Appear said. "Thanks for understanding." Mrs. Marley closes the door and Ms. Appear flies off on her forcefield hoverboard. Once she's in the air her phone goes off. "Hello?"

"Hello Luan it's Mrs. Marley." The voice on the other end said.

"Oh hi Mrs. Marley." Luan said.

"Listen I want to apologize for what happened today, Ms. Appear came by and explained that the L-Crew's tiger attacked this guest at my daughter's party because she was a meta human." Mrs. Marley explained.

"Oh it's ok Mrs. Marley." Luan assured her. "I'm not mad because I understand why you freaked out."

"I know Luan." Mrs. Marley said. "I do hope you'll be willing to be the entertainment for my son's birthday next year."

"Oh you know it." Luan said. "Ok I got stuff to do now. Alright bye." She hangs up. "Now I got one more thing to do."

When Luan got back to base, she looked around until she found Tongri with bandages wrapped around his torso resting I'm the living area. She walks over and sits on the couch by him. When she sits, the large feline raises his head off his paws to look at her.

"Can you still talk?" Luan asked.

"Yeah." Tongri said. "Spell wears off tomorrow."

"How you feeling?" Luan asked.

"In pain, but I'm healing." said Tongri. "What about you?

"Well Mrs. Marley knows about the attack and I cleared both of our names." said Luan. "But all doesn't seem right."

"It's about Charlene escaping isn't it?" Tongri aksed.

Luan nods. "It bothers me that she got away but we'll get her." She says.

"I know you will." Tongri said as Luan started to stroke his head. "We always catch our prey. Eventually." This caused Luan to chuckle a little.

"Yeah we do." Luan says. "Thanks again for doing the party today."

"Don't mention it." Tongri said. "It was actually kinda fun." They both chuckle before going quiet.

"Do you want to talk about your time with Izahr?" Luan asked. "I mean it definitely seems like it still weighs heavy on your mind."

"No, I don't mind. I want to get the load off of me." Tongri said. "But be warned it's not not going to be pretty."

"I understand." Luan nodded.

"I had a normal life as a tiger cub, I lived with my mothers and my siblings in Siberia, life was simple until Izahr showed up. He took me from my family and turned me into his servant Tigalis. These are memories I choose to repress slaughtering villages, killing innocent people for centuries." Tongri explained. "Tigalis didn't even give a second thought we he saw someone in his sights but every night when I sleep I can hear their screams."

"Must've been hard." Luan said. "Serving that mad man for all those centuries."

"Yeah. It was but thanks to you, I'm free." Tongri said. "Free to do whatever I want."

"And you chose to help us fight bad guys." Luan said.

"Yeah." Tongri said. "Might not be Tigalis anymore but I still like a good fight."

"Well we're thankful for your assistance." Luan said.

"You're welcome." Tongri said.

"Not only that, we're thankful to have you as a friend." Luan said. "You're not just Petty's pet but a good friend that we can trust. We're proud to have you on the team." Tongri smiles and licks her cheek.

"And I'm proud to be here." Tongri said. "But if anything, I should be thanking you. You're the one who beat Izahr that allowed Soothsayer to change me back to normal. So thank you Luan."

"You're welcome Tongri." Luan said. "It's getting late, I should head back home, See you tomorrow." Luan then walked out of the base as Tongri watched.

"So Jestor has another lackey?" Lori asked. She and Luan were in hers and Leni's room discussing the events of the day.

"Yeah." Luan said. "And he's got a tough one. Can't believe Charlene Tanner is a villian."

"Definitely seems like a shock but not much we can do about it now." Lori told her. "Best we can do is try to stop her."

"Right." Luan said.

"So, what's up with Ryker?" Lori asked. "Do you know where he is?" Luan shakes her head.

"When I left to clear things up with Mrs. Marley I head the rest of my team try to find him." Luan explains. "No luck. He just disappeared."

"Damn it. He could be anywhere in the city." Lori said.

"Or he could have left Royal Woods." said Luan. "He could be anywhere, even in Great Lakes City."

"Luan, relax." Lori soothed. "We'll find him. We made him a promise and I for one intend to keep it."

"You think we can find him and build that time machine?" Luan asked.

"It's going to take a lot of convincing to have him trust us again." Lori said.

"But we need to find him and maybe we can convince him that this time ain't that bad." Luan said.

"Alright then we have our mission." Lori said. "Our mission is to find Ryker!"

In an abandoned building, Jestor sat in a chair with Leonard Miller standing in next to him and Spirit kneeling in front of him.

"I failed you my master." Spirit said.

"Never fear. We got what we needed thanks to your distraction." Jestor assures her.

"You're welcome, I managed to face off the L-Crew and their pet tiger." Spirit said. "But if I may ask, what did you get?"

"Simple. Materials to assist a possible new friend." Jestor said. He turns to Miller. "Be prepared to bring him to me."

"No worries." Leonard says. "I'll be ready."

Leonard then walked out of the room as Spirit watched. "What do you want me to do Jestor?" Spirit asked.

"I want you to be on standby, in case I need you again." Jestor said.

"Yes sir." Spirit said.

"Rest assured my dear, the L-Crew will be eliminated." Jestor said. "That will be a promise."

Ryker walked up to the bar and sits down. "Hey Ryker, haven't seen you in a while." Todd greeted as he wiped the counter. "How are things?"

"Not so great." Ryker said.

"Anything I can do to help?" Todd asked.

"Booze." Ryker replied. "Lots of booze."

"Whiskey?" Todd asked.

"Whole bottle please." Ryker told him.

Todd nodded as he placed a glass and a bottle of whiskey on the counter, Ryker grabbed the bottle and poured it in his glass. Then Ryker drank his whiskey and then started to refill his glass.

"Damn kids, they promise they help me and they haven't even started." said Ryker.

He takes another drink and again refills his glass. He pulls out a card from his pocket. "The question is how far am I willing to go to get home?" Ryker questions.

Ryker began to look at the card and began to think, sure Lisa may have some PhDs, whatever those are, but she and her siblings haven't even started building the time machine yet, it's either an excuse or something that can be a threat to them. Ryker wasn't even sure if he can trust the Louds anymore.

"Todd." Ryker said. "Got a way to reach someone quick?"

"You mean a phone?" Todd asked.

"I think so." Ryker answered.

"Here you can use my phone." Todd said as he handed his phone to Ryker. "Just tap on the green icon on the bottom left side, and punch in the number you want to call."

Ryker looks at the phone and shrugs before doing as Todd instructed. "Now what?" He asked.

"Put it up to your ear." Todd told him and Ryker does so.

"So you finally called." A voice said from the other end.

"Yeah." Ryker responded. "So can your boss actually get me home?"

"Of course." The voice said. "Easily. Meet me uptown tomorrow night."

"Alright Mr. Leonard Miller." Ryker said. "I'll be there and then we'll talk." He then looks at Todd. "How do I hang up?"

"Red button." Todd answered and Ryker pressed it. "So going uptown tomorrow night eh?"

"Yeah." Ryker responded. "I got business up there." Todd nodded and stepped out from behind the bar.

"Follow me." He says. "I got something for you." They head out to the garage out back. When Todd opens the door, there's a black chopper mortorcycle sitting in the center in good condition.

"What the hell is that?" Ryker asked.

"That is my old motorcycle." Todd told him. "I don't ride anymore but I figured you could use it. Put it to better use than I ever could. She's yours to keep. In fact I'll teach you how to ride it tomorrow if you want."

"Sure you can teach me how to ride that motorcycle." Ryker said.

"Ok good. Now you can't drink and drive because you'll get into trouble." Todd said.

"Doesn't matter." Ryker said. "If all goes well, I won't be here much longer."

Smoke: Hey guys I hope you all loved the chapter. Now originally the villain was suppose to create illusions like Mysterio, but we already have Alice for that, so we decided to go with ghost powers. Here's the thing we're not copying other powers for characters, I know we have some characters who are like this like Johnny Speed, but that's an exception. Besides I think it would be fun to try some of new and underrated powers.

Zachlor16: Yeah we're trying to distance ourselves from doubling up on powers since we've done that so many times. And yes Speed Queen and Johnny Speed to have the same powers but that was at the very beginning when we wanted a supervillian with super speed.

Smoke: So anyway, please read, review and stay safe.