25. Chapter 25 - Side Story: Lori's Origin

AN: Just wanted to thank the fans who've put time and effort into making tvtropes pages for some of my stories. At this time, there are pages for myself as a creator, but also for Archetypal, Earth's Mightiest Mortals, Stupor Heroics, and most recently, Gigant. Different people have worked on different pages, and I'm floored that there are multiple groups of people who enjoy my stories enough to make pages for them, its super cool. I've brought this up before in different stories, but I think Archetypal is the story that gets the most views, so I wanted to reiterate my thanks here, so as to ensure that as many people find out these things exist as possible, because I'm just very grateful to these fans. Gigant especially is a pretty new page, and I've only managed to plug it on what I think is my least popular story right now, so I wanted to make sure people know those pages exist, because these fans have put work into these pages, and I want them to know that they're appreciated.

Lori awakened from her slumber and was immediately hit by a flood of information, her enhanced senses instinctively probing the surrounding area even before she was fully cognizant. Nobody screaming, nothing burning, and nothing beeping or ticking ominously. Her family was safe. Best of all, the bathroom was free.

Finally allowing her body to relax, Lori began the process of properly waking up. She stretched, let out a very unladylike yawn, and allowed herself to bask in this rare moment of calm in her life. Though even as she did so, Lori couldn't help but feel a little disappointed by one other, niggling detail she'd managed to confirm in her sweep.

Lincoln was nowhere on the premises. Hardly cause for alarm, they were any number of perfectly valid reasons as to why Lincoln might be out and about. But she couldn't deny the fact that her morning was just that much more dreary without a little brother to greet her. Still, Lori didn't allow herself to dwell on her disappointment. That kind of thinking would almost certainly lead to...thoughts, and it would be better for everyone, Lincoln included, if she could steer clear of those.

With one last shake to clear her head, Lori slipped out of her bed, stopping herself just before she hit the ground, and silently glided out of the room. A few moments later she returned, hygiene and bodily needs having been seen to. All that was left to do was get dressed.

Lori hesitated as she turned towards her closet. On the one hand, she had the day off, and that meant this was one of those oh so rare occasions where she had no need to be costumed. The urge to slip into her civvies was strong, to stay in her pajamas for at least a little longer even more so but...

Lori glanced at her clock and let out a small sigh. Nearly eleven am. And while she didn't have any official duties scheduled, she did have an obligation to fulfill. One for which she was probably better served wearing an outfit that was bulletproof, flame retardant, and extremely dismissive of lasers, lest she lose her outfit entirely (again). So after one last glance down at her slumber-wear, Lori quickly dressed in her costume and began making her way towards Lisa's room.

"Lori." The young scientist greeted her at the door. "Punctual as always, which I very much appreciate. Come in and have a seat." Lori gave the scientist a cordial nod, but even as she stepped aside to allow her passage, Lori hesitated, just a bit. Lori's much-vaunted invulnerability was a bit of an exaggeration. At best, she was merely nigh-invulnerable, which was a fairly big distinction. Her extra-durable skin typically laughed at conventional weaponry, and could easily shrug off the attacks of lower-tier Soulless, but Archetypes rarely dealt solely with the conventional. Magic slipped through her defenses often enough to immediately put her on edge if she saw the slightest hint of a pointed hat, or star-speckled robe, likewise with psionics. And there were all sorts of sufficiently advanced and esoteric science tech that could bruise her body as easily as it bruised her ego. And, well, she didn't like to talk about it, but vegetables had made her uneasy ever since a heated argument with Lana had lead to the younger girl pulling out a gigantic, smiling turnip from...somewhere, and walloping her with it, somehow putting Lori out of commission for the better part of the day. The point was that Lisa's lab was full of many wonders and impossibilities, and while Lori was inordinately proud of her younger sister's accomplishments, the sheer concentration of those wonderous things potentially left Lori as vulnerable as anyone else whilst in this particular place. And that was inherently, and inescapably unnerving to someone who spent so much of their time trying to avoid breaking the world around them with their mere presence.

Still, Lori didn't get where she was by allowing fear to control her so, after a quick calming breath, she pushed forward and through the lab's threshold, convinced was ready for whatever might lay beyond.

She wasn't expecting the couch.

"Have a seat." Said Lisa, closing the door behind Lori and triggering the thirty-or so locking mechanisms that usually served to ensure that things that were supposed to stay in her lab remained there. Lori ignored the suggestion, content for the moment to examine the object in question, trying to decipher its meaning.

"Is there a problem?" Lisa asked, walking up alongside Lori. "It's a perfectly ordinary couch, I assure you. You've asked me to warn you when my experiments involve the modification of ordinary household items, and I make every endeavor to respect that request."

Lori appreciated the assurance, though she'd already suspected as much, having already scanned the item with her x-ray vision (one could never be too careful). Her problem was that, in spite of her sister's reassurances, this was no mere couch. It was a therapy couch. Like, literally a couch intended for therapy sessions. The price tag was still attached on the far end, and with her enhanced senses Lori could easily pick out the relevant labeling for the product. It wasn't the furniture itself that worried her, so much as the implications of it being here.

"I'm just surprised," Lori answered, keeping her voice level. "You said you needed my help with one of your experiments. Normally those tend to involve a lot more...zapping, and, you know..." She used her hands to pantomime an explosion.

"Didn't think you dealt with the soft sciences," Lori concluded, giving the younger girl a sideways glance.

"On the contrary," Lisa replied, moving past Lori and seating herself at a large, comfy-looking chair that had been set up across from the couch. "An Archetype is derived its place in the public's perception of that Archetype. Thus, the study of Archetypes will inevitably involve an examination of both how other people perceive that Archetype, and how the holder of a given Archetype perceives themselves."

She reached into her lab coat and produced a small notepad and pen.

"Rest assured, however, that despite all appearances to the contrary, I have no intention of psychoanalyzing you today."

"I wasn't worried about that." Said Lori, the lie coming easily to her lips. She couldn't tell if Lisa had bought it, the younger girl had one hell of a poker face, and rather than reply she simply looked at Lori, patiently but expectantly. Sensing that there was nothing to be gained by refusing, Lori grudgingly took her seat. Though, she chose to remain sitting upright, rather than reclining. There was no need to get too comfortable. "So then what are we doing?"

"I have a...hypothesis," Lisa said after a moment of consideration, clearly choosing her words carefully. "About Lincoln's abilities. And there are certain events relevant to this hypothesis which I believe you may be able to give me some valuable insight into."

"Okay," Lori nodded hesitantly. "I guess I might be able to help with that, though it depends on what exactly you're trying to figure out here. But, wouldn't it be better to just ask Linc himself?

"I can't ask Lincoln. I may follow up with him at a later date, just to see if I can corroborate some things, but my questions concern a time when he would have been quite young, and I wouldn't expect him to be able to recall the relevant events in sufficient detail. As to what that hypothesis might be, I can't tell you."

"Can't?" Lori asked, one eyebrow rising in suspicion.

"Bad phrasing on my part." Lisa amended. "I shouldn't tell you. The scientific method calls for objectivity. I have crafted my hypothesis based on the information currently available to me, and it is my hope that your insight will support my theory. Telling you exactly what I am looking for may influence your recollection of events, and it is necessary that I receive as accurate a recounting as possible."

"I guess that makes sense." Lori agreed. "I'll try my best. But it's not like I have super memory recall."

"Truly? I could swear I put something to that effect into my living database of your abilities."

"Only for cereal jingles," Lori muttered, sighing softly. "Hearts, stars, horseshoes! Clovers and blue moons! Pots of gold—"

"You can stop there," Lisa interjected, holding up one hand to forestall any further mention of magical marshmallowy shapes. "Please do not make me beg."

"There's a nice way to do that." Lori huffed, slouching into her seat. "But fine. In that case, what do you need to know about?"

"I need to know how you became a hero." Lisa flipped open her notepad and began scribbling upon it. "Or, I suppose it would be more accurate to say that I need to know what led you to become the hero you are today."

"That sounds...philosophical," Lori said noncommittally.

"It doesn't need to be," Lisa replied, clearly surprised at the non-answer. "You're a Super Hero Archetype, you've spent the majority of your life shouldering responsibility for the benefit of others, and you eventually developed powers that allowed you to put that innate nature of yours to good use. Frankly, it's almost too convenient, as if you were literally born for the job."

"I don't think I like hearing you talk about me like I'm some kind of concept," Lori said, flatly, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Besides, it wasn't exactly that straightforward..."

"Loriiii!"

Lori twitched in irritation as the sound of her name once again coincided with the sharp rapping of tiny fists against her door. That combination of noises had gotten really old, really fast.

"Hold your horses, Linky!" She called back, trying to sound less annoyed than she actually was. "I literally just need a minute!" She turned her attention back to her dresser draw, and resumed looking through it.

Lori loved playing with her little brother. At twelve years old, certain people had strongly hinted that she might be getting a tad old for it, but she strongly disagreed. The Louds were a very tightly knit family, and a little thing like her age wasn't going to stop her from playing with her siblings. Especially Lincoln, for whom if she was pressed, she'd be forced to admit an amount of favoritism towards. Not that she didn't love her other siblings, but Lincoln was the youngest, and the only boy. He needed guidance from his older and wiser sisters. Not to mention...

THUMP!

"Sorry, Lori." Came her brother's suddenly much weaker voice. "I hit my head on the door again."

"That's why we have rules, Linky." She answered. "Three steps away from the door, remember?"

She shook her head in amusement and resumed her task. Accident-prone, that's what Lincoln was. Part of the reason she played with Lincoln was because it was genuinely fun. The young boy had a very vivid imagination, and the games he'd come up with were both fun and creative. Sometimes they were a little too creative for his own good, and that's why Lori felt it was necessary to step in and keep him from getting so lost in his own little world, that he hurt himself in this one. Case in point...

"Are you ready now?"

Lori's lips curled upward, halfway between a smile and a growl. Lincoln's effect on her in a nutshell, really, the boy's enthusiasm could be incredibly grating at times, but there was also something very endearing just how earnest he was. She'd been about to reply, saying she'd need another minute, but then she spotted it. A set of blue goggles, just a tad darker than the shade she preferred to wear. Leni had insisted that a slight contrast was better for her color scheme. Not that she really had one at this point, or even a costume, really, but everyone started somewhere and these had cost her a good chunk of her babysitting money. She wasn't ready to break them out in public just yet but for an afternoon with her little bro, they'd work just fine.

"Almost ready." She called out, slipping the goggles on over her head, and adjusting the fit. Then she made her way to the full-length mirror she shared with Leni to check herself out.

Perfect. She did a little twirl in front of the mirror. These were going to look awesome once she got herself a proper costume to go with them. And they'd hide her secret identity to boot! She struck a few poses in the mirror, just to make sure she looked sufficiently cool for the task before her. Then, she walked over to her door, and placed her hand upon the knob.

"Linky?" She asked. "Three steps back, right?"

She could hear the distinct sound of tiny sneakers shuffling against the hallway carpet.

"Yes." He answered back. Lori toyed with the idea of teasing him further, but after a moment of consideration, she'd decided he'd had enough.

"Okay." She announced, twisting the knob and gently opening the door, internally pleased when it met no resistance. "I'm ready!"

When she'd left him only a few minutes earlier, Lincoln had been dressed fairly normally in black shorts and an orange t-shirt, unremarkable save for the black scribble that ran along the bottom (where her parents had found the metric ton of them that were currently stuffed into the boy's dresser drawers, she had no idea). At some point in her absence, he'd found himself a black domino mask and a blue cape. Leni's handiwork, she suspected.

"And just who are you supposed to be?" She asked, unable to resist smiling at the boy's change in outfit.

"I'm Ace Savvy!" The boy declared, reaching into his pocket and unfolding a handful of playing cards in front of his face. "The world's savviest crimefighter!"

It would have been significantly more impressive had he not immediately lost his grip on the cards, sending most of them fluttering to the ground.

"Oh my." Said Lisa, reduced to blinking in surprise, a rare sight for the normally composed scientist.

"You wanted the story." Lori reminded her, smirking at the younger girl's bewilderment.

"I did. But I'm suddenly very glad I wasn't alive for most of this."