2. Chapter 2

AN: I'm surprised people liked this one so much. I'm still not totally sure where this thing is going in the long term, but I had enough material for another chapter. Hope you enjoy it.

"And…finished!", Lincoln Loud proclaimed proudly, leaning back in his chair to admire his work.

The cover of the newest issue of Aces Wild stared back at him, depicting Ace holding The Joker in a bridal carry as the two were being launched into the air via an oversized jack in the box.

Lincoln hadn't been fully sold on this new direction when Clyde had proposed it to him. Aces Wild had begun as a lovingly made fan tribute to what the two of them considered to be the best aspects of Ace Savvy, drawn from the various eras of the character's development. The intention had always been for the emphasis to be on the man himself, with the Full House Gang only being added to round out the cast. He'd been genuinely surprised that the Gang had ended up being so well received among his online readership, which quickly necessitated them being upgraded from recurring second-stringers to main cast. He'd been even more surprised when the requests for commissions started coming in.

Lincoln was no stranger to the practice. He himself had made such requests of fan artists, and even the odd professional when the opportunity had presented itself, it was practically pad and parcel for being a comic book fan (Lincoln grabbed his notebook and scribbled that one down for later use. It would play well at Savvy-Con). What was unusual about these requests was that they tended be for pairs of the various characters. A relatively small number were for members of the Gang themselves (High Card and Eleven of Hearts were especially popular among this crowd, for some reason), but the prevailing trend that emerged were requests specifically for Ace teamed up with one of the girls. Some platonic, but the vast majority were for varying degrees of romantic situation, and others…well, those he had to decline outright. At least until Lisa agreed to get him through the content blocker on their network. For research.

While it wasn't exactly what he had expected to be doing, it made the fans happy, and that made him happy. Clyde had suggested that they start putting out issues which catered specifically to this demographic, and the results spoke for themselves. Granted, it took more work to weave the odd amusement park visit or midnight stroll on the beach around the more traditional super heroics he preferred to indulge in, but you gave the people what they wanted.

Suddenly, a glass of water conveniently placed nearby began to ripple. Ever so slightly at first, but more and more noticeably as the seconds went on. Lisa was off at some conference, and Lana had been forbidden from bringing home any animals larger than herself. That could only mean…

"LINCOLN!", came a chorus of voices with a distressing degree of proximity.

He reacted with the finely-honed reflexes that came with being the sole male child in a family of thirteen. Lincoln leapt from his chair, stuck the landing and immediately transitioned into a forward roll, counting the beats in his head. One and two aaaaaand stranding position, and that should place him in exactly the right position…

*SLAM*

To take a doorknob to the face. Right, he'd moved his desk to better take advantage of the room's natural lighting.

Shaking off the impact (he'd taken worse from Lynn on a regular basis), Lincoln pulled himself to his feet and found himself staring into the faces of four of his sisters. Lori, Leni, Luna, and Lynn, their expressions ranging from perturbed, to "Human Pretzel!"

"H-Hey, guys", he greeted them with what he hoped sounded like nonchalance. "What's up?"

With a degree of synchronicity bordering on practiced, each sister pulled out a…comic book?

Squinting through his slightly blurred vision, Lincoln attempted to focus on the proffered items. Aces Wild: Drawing the High Card. Aces Wild: Her Strongest Suit. Aces Wild: Know When to Hold Her…wait, these were his comics.

Lincoln paled as realization began to dawn on him. "W-where did you guys get those?"

"Carol!"

"Sam!"

"Margo AND Paula!"

"Leni!"

Four heads slowly turned to look at the second eldest Loud sister, then with an unspoken agreement, reverted back to their original positions to resume the confrontation.

Lincoln sighed, and straightened up, determined to face the music.

"Alright. I didn't think this would happen so soon…or that it would be you guys, of all people, who'd be the ones to call me out on it. But I can explain!"

Lynn cracked her knuckles, threateningly, "Start explaining, Lincoln" she growled.

Lincoln walked back to his desk and began rummaging through the various piles that had built up, the sensation of his sisters gazes on his back clearly conveying their feelings. Rage. Embarrassment. Frustration. Leni. Finding what he'd been seeking, he waved the girls over and held forth the object, as if to shield himself from them with it. A large door-stopper of a book entitled, Ace Savvy Through the Ages.

Four sets of eyes blinked in confusion.

"You see", Lincoln began, "Contrary to popular belief, Ace Savvy is not a single character, but rather the results of hundreds of creative visions contributing to an ever-growing literary gestalt."

Lincoln flipped the book open. "Take the Ace of the 40's", he continued, "Who was mainly focused on combating organized crime, and used a gun of all things! Compared to say, the Ace of the 70's, who's adventures largely took place in space, and…"

"Woah, woah, woah, dude", Luna interrupted, "What are you talking about?"

"I'm trying to explain why my depiction of Ace Savvy differs from the more popular, mainstream version that you're all familiar with from the Ace Savvy Cinematic Universe. That's why you're angry, right?"

"Lincoln!" Lori spat angrily, "That's not the issue with your comic!"

"Good one Lori!", Luan's voice drifted down the hall.

There was a pause as five pairs of eyes collectively rolled, before they returned to the matter at hand.

"Lincoln..." Lori ventured cautiously, her rage having subsided somewhat in the face of this new development

"Do you really not see the problem with what you've been drawing?" She flipped open her comic to a page she had dog-eared and showed it to him. Ace and the High Card, relaxing at the Fortress of Solitaire. Ace's arm around her waist, pulling her close. High Card's eyes gazing into his, her lips pursed expectantly.

Lincoln grimaced, as though tasting something sour. "Ugh, I know what you mean. High Card's totally off model there. But in my defense, that's one of the earlier issues. I've gotten her proportions much more consistent since then. You wanna s-"

"No!" Lori cut him off, the anger in her voice sharply contrasting with the sudden flushing of her cheeks. She looked to her sisters expectantly.

"Dude", Luna slowly interjected, "I think what Lori's asking about is…the design you've gone with for Ace here."

"Oh". Lincolns eyes lit up with understanding, and Luna let out a soft sigh of relief. Finally, they were getting somewhere.

"Well, the standard body type for Ace is derived from the Ace of the 90's. See, the trend for male characters at the time was an overly muscular upper body on top of inexplicably tiny feet. The more modern design, often called the 'heroic build', has evened that out somewhat to make it look less ridiculous. What I've done here is try and streamline the whole design a bit, by-"

"Alright, alright", Lynn grumbled, warding off his explanation with a weary wave of her hand.

"Guys, this is dumb and I can't take any more. I'm out." And with that, she made her exit.

Luna looked to Lori, who shook her head, threw up her hands in frustration and took her own leave. Luna, letting out a sigh that would make Lucy proud, followed suit.

Lincoln looked to Leni, the only one left. "Is there something you need Leni?"

Leni scrunched up her face with determination and presented her own comic to Lincoln. The front cover depicting a fallen Eleven of Hearts, Ace standing over her protectively. His costume riddled with bullet holes, exposing his lean musculature.

"Lincoln" She said softly, leaning in closer, "I need you to tell me…"

He leaned forward in kind, "Yes Leni?"

"…if you think I'd look good in this scarf.", she replied, indicating the item of clothing in question. "It's like, totes adorbes".

Lincoln smiled, pleased at the unexpected praise of his artwork.

"Absolutely, Leni"

"Yay!"