The old saying goes like this, With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility. A phrase once not well known to this world, but within time, would shape it's very existence. This is the story of a boy who took that phrase to heart and became one of the best superheroes his world has known. This is the story of how Lincoln Loud became Spider-Man.
It was another day in Royal Woods Michigan, the Loud Family is being their usual hectic selves, all the chaos and one boy wouldn't trade it for the world.
Lincoln Loud, the recently turned thirteen-year-old boy, and lover of games, comics and magic, was planning his trip for the Great Lakes City Zoo tomorrow that he would be taking with his class, something he was really excited about.
"This is gonna be great, a day out in the city with my friends, going to a really awesome zoo," Lincoln placed the last bit of his stuff in his bag. "Too bad Ronnie Anne's school isn't making the same trip, maybe I can see her and Sid afterward if I'm lucky. Lori should be around, she could drive me home if I stay late."
As he finished up, he decided to head downstairs, hopeful to find some snacks he could bring with him. Of course in this house, it's never a promise that there would be any leftovers whatsoever.
"Hey Lincoln," Lucy said, startling him as he walked down the hall. Lucy is Lincoln's ten-year-old goth-style sister with a love of all things spooky. Despite her love for all things dark, she still harbors a light of love for her family.
"Yes, Lucy?" Lincoln asked, trying to contain his annoyance.
"I'm working on a new poem; do you know any good rhyming words for 'power'?" Lucy asked.
"How about sour, or flower," Lincoln said.
Lucy tapped her chin a second, "Sour works, thanks Lincoln."
The goth girl walked off to finish up her poem, Lincoln wanting to focus again on his snack. He made is way downstairs when suddenly.
"Think fast!" A basketball was tossed directly at him, knocking the poor boy over. "Too slow."
"Lynn!" Lincoln complained as he stood up. "That was completely unnecessary!"
"Hey someone's gotta toughen you up," Lynn taunted. This was Lincoln's jock fifteen-year-old sister who had a love of all things sports related. "You're a teenager now Lincoln, time you showed some backbone, otherwise it's gonna be hard to nail a girlfriend."
Lincoln groaned in annoyance, since turning thirteen, his sisters have been constantly bugging him about getting a girlfriend, saying it seems like a shame to keep them waiting. It's almost a compliment that they consider him a good girlfriend choice, even if it's likely their own bias, but this is really starting to annoy him.
"Lynn, there's more to being a teenager than getting a girlfriend, I mean you never focused that much on getting a boyfriend," Lincoln said.
"Sports keeps me distracted, plus most of the guys are way below my level," Lynn said. "Meanwhile you constantly hang around three girls, especially Stella, you really should have nabbed one of them by now, you don't want to blow it with them like you did with Ronnie Anne."
"First off, I didn't 'blow' anything with Ronnie Anne, we agreed to be friends mutually, Lincoln said. "Second, Stella isn't interested in dating me though," Lincoln said.
"Then make her interested, look I know that you tried once and she turned you down, but that was two years ago, things change," Lynn said. "Even if you can't get her, you still have Mollie and Girl Jordan."
"They're more friends of Stella than me," Lincoln said.
"That doesn't mean you can't win them over, just give it a shot, will ya?" Lynn said.
Lincoln knew that when it came to his sisters, there was almost no arguing when it came to romance. Granted they weren't as forceful as they once were, occasionally their old habits would pop back up.
"Lynn, are you bugging Lincoln about girls again?" Came the voice of Lola. At only eight years old, Lola has already made a huge impact in the world of pageantry with several wins under her belt, a few she owes to Lincoln's coaching.
"Hey you know as well as I do that he's wasting his opportunities," Lynn said.
"Even so, you're going about it all wrong, let me try," Lola strutted over to Lincoln, looking her older brother in the eyes. "Lincoln, sweetie, you know you're a very handsome boy, and as such, you owe it to those girls to show more of your charming side. I know you have it in you to do it, you have a gift most boys don't have, and that is understanding girls."
"I do?" Lincoln asked.
"Not saying you're perfect, you still do and say stupid things from time to time," Lola said, annoying Lincoln. "But when you do pull it off, you give off that certain vibe, I mean I've seen it when my friends are here. You give off this extremely friendly energy and suddenly they're all googly eyed for you, because you know how to approach a girl."
"Is that why it seems like half of your pageant friends have a crush on me?" Lincoln asked.
"Precisely, it's awkard hearing them go gaga over you at times, especially Roxanne. But I get it, you're a nice and handsome boy, and I take credit for that one," Lola said.
"Don't take all the credit!" Lynn said.
"Point is Linky, I know you can pull this off, during this trip, you should try wowing a girl, it's the perfect opportunity, and you have plenty of chances," Lola said. "It doesn't even have to be Stella, I mean you're going to Great Lakes right? Ronnie Anne could be all over you if you wanted."
"Well, I appreciate the advice, and if the chance comes up I'll take it," Lincoln said. "For now, I just want to enjoy my trip."
"You'd enjoy it more with a girlfriend," Lynn said.
Lincoln groaned in annoyance, "Whatever you say Lynn." He grabbed what he needed as far as snacks went and proceeded back to his room.
"Poor Linky," Lola said. "I think the hardest thing for him is the self-esteem to ask a girl out."
"Duh, he's got no backbone, I blame the other older sisters, they baby him too much, especially Leni," Lynn said.
"Well, someone has to counteract your aggressive behavior," Lola said.
"You're one to talk, how often do you blackmail and manipulate Lincoln?" Lynn reminded.
"I don't do that...much," Lola said. "Besides Linky likes spending time with me so it works out. I'm his adorable little sister after all, and you know how much of a sucker Linky is for his little sisters, we're precious to him."
"See that's another reason he's kind of a lame-o, he lets himself get too soft with him constantly falling for your cute act and keeping his guard down," Lynn said.
"Now you're just speaking nonsense, everyone knows a guy who's gentle with children is a good potential husband," Lola said.
"A guy who stands his ground is even better," Lynn said. "I eagerly await the day Lincoln grows tired of your cute act."
"Well I eagerly await the day he knocks you out with one good punch," Lola said.
"Pfft, at this rate, he probably couldn't even knock out Lily," Lynn said, making her way out the kitchen.
"What a brute Lynn can be," Lola said. "Still, one thing I can agree is that Lincoln could use a bit more backbone, maybe I can toughen him up my way."
Lincoln had made his way back upstairs when he heard a little tiny voice getting his attention, "Linky!"
It was his sister Lily, and if there's one thing that moves Lincoln's heart is the sight of his three-year-old baby sister, "Hey Lily."
"I made something for you! Look!" Lily held up a somewhat crudely yet adorably drawn picture of Lincoln dressed as Ace Savvy alongside members of The Avengers, that being Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America.
Growing up reading and loving comics, it was surreal for Lincoln to discover that superheroes were indeed real a few years back, shortly after an alien invasion in New York City. It was then that the mighty heroes of Earth.
The first of its members consisted Thor, the God of Thunder from Asgard, as well as the son of it's King, Odin. Thor defeats his foes with the might of his hammer, Mjölnir, a hammer very few are worthy to hold.
Then was the muscular powerhouse in Hulk, originally known as Bruce Banner whose powers were a result of an explosion of Gamma Radiation. One common warning when it came to the Hulk was, don't make him angry, because you wouldn't like him when he's angry.
Next was the archer extraordinaire Clint Barton, better known as Hawkeye. Despite a troubled past, he has come into his own as one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best agents and a proud member of The Avengers.
Then came the tactical spy in Natasha Romanoff, or as she's also known as, Black Widow, a former Russian agent now member of both S.H. .D. and The Avengers. She too has her own shady past, some argue she might still be hiding some secrets.
Then came one of the Avengers leaders, Tony Stark, billionaire playboy who became technological wonder Iron Man. He built his suit from a box of scraps to escape some captives from an isolated desert and has been upgrading ever since.
Then finally came the other leader, Steve Rogers, or as many know him as, Captain America. After getting the Super Solider Serum close to 70 years prior, he was frozen in a block of ice until recently, and now he continues to save the world.
"Thanks Lily, I love it," Lincoln said, taking the picture in his hand. "Wow, me standing alongside Earth's Mightiest Heroes, that would be such an awesome day for me. Imagine if they even offer me a sidekick role, that will really take the cake."
"You certainly dream big elder brother," Came the voice of Lisa. Despite being six years old, Lisa was an award-winning scientist who doubled as a professor in college. Despite that, she chose to remain in Elementary school, which she did not mind, despite her high level of intelligence, she felt a little more at ease around her own age group, especially her best friend Darcy Helmondollar.
"Hey Lisa, did you see this drawing Lily made?" Lincoln asked.
"Of course, she kept asking me to overlook it," Lisa explained. "These Avengers really are a curious bunch; never would I have imagined such beings to exist. Especially that suit of armor that Iron Man possesses, it truly is a remarkable sight."
"Stella's a big fan of Iron Man herself," Lincoln said. "Same with Sid, they'd love to know how that suit was built. You think you could build something like that? Say the size of a thirteen-year-old boy?"
"I'm not building you a suit so you can play superhero with The Avengers, after all, their hero work is not a game," Lisa said, grabbing a book. "Now if you don't mind, I have work to do."
"Worth a shot," Lincoln said, then noticed the type of book Lisa had, "A surgeon's book?"
"It's a collection of surgical feats performed by Doctor Stephen Strange, another great genius of our time," Lisa said, looking through. "Though ever since he lost the use of his hands in that terrible accident, he hasn't been seen since. What a terrible waste of talent."
"Yeah, poor guy," Lincoln said. "Well I have to prepare for my trip tomorrow, should be fun. Enjoy your research."
"Will do," Lisa said, resuming her work.
"I think you can be an Avenger one day," Lily said.
"Thanks Lil, appreciate that," Lincoln said, holding up his picture. "This is going right on my wall."
"Oh, can you read me an Ace Savvy story?" Lily asked.
"Of course, I'd be happy to," Lincoln said, allowing his little sister into his room.
He takes pride in knowing his baby sister looks up to him and has taken interest in most of his hobbies, much to the jealousy of some of the other sisters. Like Lincoln, Lily adores comic heroes, especially Ace Savvy, and she adores his magic tricks, even playing the role of his assistant on occasion. She even loves seeing Lincoln play video games and hopes one day she can join both him and Lana in video game tournaments.
He just wishes he could be a little more for his youngest sister to admire, or even something all his sisters could admire. Lisa is right, he does dream big, but that's how he goes, and he can't imagine stopping.
The next day school friend trip, Lincoln had gone to visit the Great Lakes Zoo. It was him along with his classmates, including his best friend Clyde McBride, and his group of Rusty Spokes, Liam Hunnicut, Zach Gurdle, Girl Jordan, Mollie and last but not least, Stella Zhau.
Upon arrival, the group had met with their tour guide for the day, Becca Chang. "Hello kids of Royal Woods! Who's ready for a zoo-filled adventure!?" Upon getting a cheer, Becca gestured on to the open zoo. "Alright, then let's get ready for some fun!"
As Lincoln and his friends were about to follow, the boy heard someone trying to get his attention. "Hey...Lincoln!"
It was a Loud whisper with a very familiar voice, "That almost sounded like Sid."
"Over here!" Called the voice. Lincoln turned and saw one of his city friends, Sid Chang, hiding behind a nearby garbage can, and she was not alone.
"Sup Linc," said his other city friend, Ronnie Anne Santiago.
"Ronnie Anne!? Sid!?" Lincoln said in surprise.
"Dial it down dude, you're gonna get us busted," Ronnie Anne said.
"What are you two even doing here!?" Lincoln asked.
"That's some way to greet your two best friends from the city," Sid said. "I'm actually kind of hurt."
"Hey you know I like you girls and any other time I would be happy to spend the day with you, but if you get caught you're gonna end up in hot water!" Lincoln said.
"Don't worry, Sid knows this place like the back of her hand, we'll be able to navigate around and avoid the workers, including Becca," Ronnie Anne said.
"What about your school!? I mean, do your teachers know you're here?" Lincoln asked.
"Well duh, of course not, me and Ronnie Anne skipped out," Sid said.
Lincoln faced palmed in annoyance, "Don't say that so casually, suppose your teachers call and ask your parents about your absence?"
"Since when do teachers care if a student's absent? One less kid to watch over, or two in our case." Sid said. "Besides we can show up the next day and say we were sick or something."
"This is going to backfire against you two so hard," Lincoln said.
"Lincoln!" came the voice of Stella calling the boy over. "Let's go!"
"Looks like your girlfriend's calling," Sid said.
"She's not my girlfriend! Stop saying that!" Lincoln pleaded.
"Yeah Sid, she's way out of his league," Ronnie Anne said, much to Lincoln's annoyance.
"Oh ha, ha, real funny Ronnie Anne," Lincoln sarcastically commented. "Remember, everyone once thought you were my girlfriend, what does that say about you?"
"That your classmates are stupid, and both our families are hopeless romantics?" Ronnie Anne said.
"Lincoln!" Stella called again, this time with a little more assertiveness.
"I'm coming!" Lincoln called, then turned back to Ronnie and Sid. "You two really need to go."
"Don't worry about us, just get back to your class and stop drawing attention over here," Sid said.
"Hey I don't want to be around when you get busted anyway," Lincoln said, quickly jogging back over to his friends.
"Hey Sid, are you sure this was a good idea?" Ronnie Anne asked. "If my family found out, they're gonna be ticked off, and I don't think your parents would handle it any better."
"We're already here, might as well make the most of it," Sid said. "Now let's go."
Lincoln was seen walking with his friends, occasionally glancing back toward where Sid and Ronnie Anne were, this not going unnoticed by his friends.
"Hey Lincoln, are you feeling alright?" Stella asked.
"Yeah, you seem kind of distracted," Clyde said.
"Oh, it's nothing, really," Lincoln nervously replied. Of course he was still worried about Sid and Ronnie Anne, but he wouldn't risk giving them away. Not that he doesn't trust his friends, but he knows the type of pressure they'd be under if they have to keep a secret, especially Clyde.
The best he can do is try to get his mind off it, especially considering that Zach was continuously talking about the invasion in New York that happened a while ago. It made sense, one of Zach's interests has always been aliens, hearing about the Invasion of the Chitauri got him extremely revved up and he could not stop talking about it, "All I'm saying is that those aliens that invaded New York are probably just a small piece of the bigger picture! I just feel like there's a higher form of power out there in the galaxy!"
Rusty, obviously irritated by Zach's ramble, had said, "I honestly don't know how we can get any worse than the invasion we got back then. Besides, whatever other alien Invaders come to Earth I'm sure the Avengers can handle it with no problem. Heck, they could even possibly recruit a lot more superheroes in the future to protect Earth."
That's something that Lincoln and Clyde really like to hear about. After all, they were fans of Earth's mightiest heroes. While Zach was about to contradict Rusty's claim, their conversation was interrupted.
"Hurry up now kids, we have a lot to see!" Becca called, everyone quickly making their way into the zoo, both Sid and Ronnie Anne sneaking over using garbage cans as disguises.
"Almost there, let's hurry Ron-" Sid's encouragement was halted when Ronnie Anne had come to a complete stop, causing Sid to bump into her by accident, "Uh, why'd you stop?"
"I see my uncle!" Ronnie Anne exclaimed. "He's coming this way!"
The two quicky jumped to the side as Carlos Casagrande walked down the hall with a visiting scientist who had appeared to be missing an arm, "We appreciate you bringing over your prized spiders Doctor Connors, I promise you they're in capable hands here at the Great Lakes Zoo. The manager Becca Chang is a good friend of mine and I trust her whole-heartedly with them."
"It is no trouble Mr. Casagrande, I am glad to work with a fine zoo such as this, I believe this is the perfect place to do a little extra research, things are getting pretty crowded back in New York," Connors said.
"Oh yes, the city that never sleeps, but I must imagine how amazing it is to work in a place like that, I hear it's ten times busier than Great Lakes," Carlos said.
"There's a lot that goes on in New York, in addition to wanting a quieter workplace, I am quite concerned of the growing criminal activities, I wouldn't want my research to be stolen by a competitor or a criminal organization," Connors said.
"Well fortunately for you, Great Lakes city is a relatively safe place, aside from a burglary here or there, but nothing a group like say, The Avengers need to worry about," Carlos said. "But I am quite fascinated with some of their most recent ventures, including that alien attack a year ago."
Connors remembered the invasion a year ago and while it was a fascinating spectacle to see real life superheroes go against an extraterrestrial army, it did leave him scarred and vulnerable as he was one of the many survivors from that event, "Yeah, that alien attack..."
Carlos, however, was quick to notice this and felt aspect of guilt for not considering how much of a sensitive topic it was for Connors, "Oh I'm sorry! I kind of forgot that you experience that-!"
"No, no, it's quite alright. I'd be happy to tell you of my experiences," Connors said as he and Carlos continued walking down the hall.
Ronnie Anne peeked her head out of the garbage can, "That was close."
"Yeah, your uncle nearly caught us," Sid said.
"I'm really starting to have second thoughts," Ronnie Anne said. "I mean what if-"
"Hide!" Sid interrupted as Carlos had returned.
"Give me a second Curt, I need to throw out these old nachos," Carlos said, throwing the chips and sauce into Ronnie's garbage can. "And this drink, too watery." He tossed it in Sid's garbage can. "There, that takes care of that."
As Carlos left again, Ronnie Anne pulled herself out of of the garbage can, picking some nachos out of her hair and wiping some sauce away. "Dang it."
Sid did the same, pulling out of the garbage can, all soaked with a beverage, "I feel sticky."
"That's it, I'm leaving, I'm going back to the school and telling them there was a delay," Ronnie Anne said.
"Sure, you do that, I want to see those spiders," Sid said, heading into the room.
"Wait, hold on, what!?" Ronnie Anne asked, following her friend.
"This feels like top secret stuff, I want to see what your uncle's working on," Sid said, sneaking over to the room.
"Wait, Sid!" Ronnie Anne said, following her friend.
"I just want a quick peek," Sid said, checking on the case of spiders, the little arachnids crawling all around a moderately sized glass case. "Oooh, so creepy."
"Yes, creepy, can we go now?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"Come on, we just got here," Sid said, looking over the little spiders. "Hey what would happen if we brought one of these to your apartment? Who would freak out first?"
"Sid, Carl literally has a pet spider, maybe Carlota would be annoyed but the only guarantee is that abuela would just crush the little sucker with her chancla, or tio Carlos will probably recognize..." Ronnie's eyes widened. "Sid! What the heck are you doing!?"
"I want to see one of them up close, there seems to be a weird type of marking," Sid said, opening the case.
Ronnie Anne began pulling Sid away. "This is a really bad idea, we gotta-"
"I can't believe I left my phone in the office," Carlos was overheard saying. "I gotta keep my head together."
"Oh man! Here comes tio Carlos!" Ronnie Anne said. "Hide!"
"Where!?" Sid asked, unaware of how close Carlos was getting.
Within moments, Carlos had entered the room, his eyes widening in surprise, "What in the world!?" He went inside and saw that a few books looked out of order on the shelf. "Don't they keep these things alphabetized? Very hard to find what you need without proper order." He turned to grab his phone from the desk when he noticed something else troubling. The case that contained the spiders was open and the creatures were seen escaping. "OH NO!"
He grabbed a pair of leather gloves, picking up as many as he could, carefully as possible, "There should be eight of them, let's see. One, two, three...There's only three!" He quickly called up Doctor Connors, "Curt, we have a major problem!"
While this was going on, Sid and Ronnie Anne were crawling away inside a ventilation shaft they noticed at the last second.
"This is exciting! I feel like we're in one of those action spy movies," Sid said.
"Put a cork in it Sid!" Ronnie Anne said, the two stopping to take a break. "That was way too close."
"At least we got away, imagine if we got caught," Sid said.
"This is why I didn't want to do this," Ronnie Anne said.
"But this was your idea, you said you wanted to go to the zoo to hang out with Lincoln," Sid said.
"I never wanted to skip school though! Plus, look where we are now! Stuck in a vent because you touched a case of spiders that my uncle was asked to watch over! What if he loses his job!?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"Oh, I'm sure things will work out, I mean it's a small room, the spiders couldn't have gotten far, can they?" Sid asked.
Unbeknownst to them, at least one spider did escape the room, and it was seen crawling away toward where the students were going.
Back with Ronnie Anne and Sid, the two stayed in the shafts a little bit longer, not only wanting to catch their breath, but figure out their next course of action. Ronnie Anne contemplated telling her uncle the truth and hoping she could prevent him from getting into any potential legal trouble, especially if those spiders were a top secret experiment.
Sid was just bored, of course she felt a little guilty too, but she had more faith that things would work out well. She just wanted to hang out with her best friend and go see their other best friend.
"We should get moving, it's getting way too dusty in here," Ronnie Anne said.
The two continued crawling arriving at the other side of a shaft, finding themselves inside a bathroom.
"Uh...I really hope this is a girl's bathroom," Sid said.
Her question was answered when Stella was seen coming out of a stall to wash her hands. She turned and immediately noticed the other two girls present in the bathroom.
"Sid!? Ronnie Anne!?" Stella exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh hey Stella...what brings you here?" Sid nervously asked.
"Uh, I came to pee, wait, why are you girls here? And I don't mean the bathroom, I mean the entire zoo!" Stella said.
"Uh...we may or may not have taken a sick day from school," Sid nervously explained.
"You cut school!? And you came to the zoo where your mom works!? That's kind of dumb Sid," Stella said.
"See, even she agrees that this was a bad idea," Ronnie Anne said. "Look, we'd love to stay and chat but we have a mess to clean up."
"Huh? What happened?" Stella asked. Suddenly an alarm had gone off, surprising the three girls.
"Attention Zoo attendees! Please evacuate the premises! This is an emergency! Again, please evacuate the premises! An Emergency is in effect!"
Stella glared at the two girls, "What did you do?"
"Long story, let's just get the heck out of here," Sid said, all three girls bolting from the bathroom.
As this was happening, Lincoln was at a souvenir stand, trying to find a present for Lily, "Maybe she'll like that panda, or should I go for the narwal?"
As he tried making his decision, one of the spiders began crawling up his leg, the boy unaware so far as he continued trying to decide. The spider had reached his sleeve, crawling down toward his hand.
Within seconds, Lincoln felt a sharp bite on the back of his right hand, "OW!" Instinctively he whacked the spider hard, its limp body falling off his hand. "Stupid spider, that really...really..." Suddenly Lincoln felt lightheaded and began to fall over, just as the alarm had gone off.
The last thing he heard before fading into unconsciousness was the sound of Girl Jordan calling out his name.