Lila played with her food as she listened to Will and Leo rant about Kitsune. She had to contain her laughter as they talked about her alter ego right in front of her, without them being any the wiser.

"And she- she had the audacity to insult my brothers." Will hissed out.

"So you do care about us." Tim cooed as he teased his brother.

Will flushed before jumping to denial, "No, it's just- it's my job, idiot!"

"What job?" Tim goaded.

"Both of you shut up." Leo ground out as he rubbed his temples. "Mom, Dad- we have a problem."

Catherine smiled at her sons in amusement, "Well, if it wasn't clear back then... it is now that you mentioned it."

"Mom..." Leo groaned. "It's really serious."

"Alright, alright... go on." Catherine waved her hand.

"Well, there's this new villain-"

"Are you sure it's really a villain and not some costume fangirl or whatever?" Lila piped up, "Like, what are the indications or something?"

"She had powers." Leo ground out, hating to be interrupted.

"Oh?" Daniel raised an eyebrow as he leaned closer. "This could be a problem."

"Finally!" Leo threw his hands up in the air. There was a pause and he flushed as he let his hands fall back down. "Sorry."

"It's alright, darling." Catherine smiled warmly at her eldest son, "What were her powers?"

"She created copies of herself and she could fly." Will piped up. "I feel like her ability is to clone herself because it seemed like her clones would disappear after inflicting bodily damage. Any, really."

"Her clones are weak but..." Tim frowned as he tapped his fingers on the table repeatedly, "they're super annoying and a hindrance to us especially since we can't really capture her."

While the boys were distracted, Catherine glanced at her daughter from the corner of her eyes and noticed her calm demeanor. She smiled at that and turned her attention back to her boys, "Well, if her clones are weak then you can easily overpower them with your powers."

"That's the problem." Leo sighed, "We tried that but it seems like it just disrupts the clone for a while until it can physically put itself back together. To really get rid of it is to inflict physical and bodily harm to it by our own hands."

"How do they react to your powers?" Daniel asked seriously, actually surprised his daughter got this far in such a short time.

"It flickers, like a fire that was disturbed by a short breeze. Then it becomes whole again and resumes attacking." Will described.

"Good job, Shakespeare." Tim snorted as he played with his hoodie strings.

Will swatted at his brother before he turned back to Leo, "But I haven't seen Leo use his powers on them."

"I did." He grunted back, leaning against the back of his chair. "They just ran through the flames."

"How do these clones act?" Catherine asked, intertwining her fingers.

"Like they have their own mind," Leo muttered.

"It's like she's connected to them somehow, projecting herself onto the copies but she doesn't become them or vice versa." Will breathed out.

"Independent. It's like they aren't attached to her or whatever." Tim shrugged.

"This is bad." Daniel closed his eyes as he breathes in and out.

"Anyways..." Lila drawled, "What happened last Friday anyways."

"What do you mean?" Leo turned to his sister.

"I mean, Tempest-" she emphasized his name, "-created a storm mixture of rain and hail. It was surprising."

"Yes, that is true, I saw it when I was coming home." Daniel agreed as he opened his eyes.

"I- uh-" Will flushed as he sunk into his seat, "She was annoying me."

"Ohohoho," Tim wiggled his eyebrows, "are you implying anything, Will? Could it be that you... care for us?"

"Shut up!" His face was red and he covered it with his hands, "I will get back at you for this."

Time laughed, "With what? Love~"

"Wait, Lila is onto something here." Leo piped up.

"What do you mean?" Lila blinked. She hadn't said anything. This didn't stop her from smiling internally. She had hoped Will would be the first to notice but then again, he was easily distracted despite being smart.

"It's a stretch but maybe we can find a way to combine our powers. Like how dad did back then."

"It's possible." Daniel agreed. "But the problem is, are you three ready to treat your powers as one and not individual elements?"

"I-" Leo started but stopped himself.

Lila leaned on her fist as she stared at her reluctant brothers, "Well? What is stopping you? You named yourself based on the combinations of your powers all together. Why can't you follow through?"

"It's just that... it might be too much. We've been used to using our powers as individual elements so we know how much power output and energy is being used. What if we try to do it and we end up fainting afterward." Leo frowned.

"Will managed," Tim argued.

"I was on adrenaline." Will retorted.

This then descended into a debate of sorts between the brothers whether or not it mattered that Will was on adrenaline.

"You really put them in for a loop." Catherine leaned close to her daughter.

"They're overthinking, as always." Lila sighed.

Catherine smiled softly, "So do you."

"What?" Lila snorted, "I don't."

Catherine laughed under her breath and pulled away. The three brothers continued to bicker and Daniel dragged a hand down his face in exasperation, "Okay, you three... stop."

The three, miraculously, stopped arguing and turned to face their father with wide eyes. They shifted in their seats and placed their hands on the table. This was the first time their father went in between their fights or arguments as it was usually their mom or Lila.

Leo opened his mouth to speak but stopped when Daniel raised a hand, "I don't want you three to give me excuses. Tell me when you are ready, with zero reluctance or hesitance. Understood?"

"Yes, dad." The three brothers chorused.

The whole table watched as Daniel let out a sigh and stood up to leave the table. A few seconds after he ascended up the stairs, the thee brothers stood and left the kitchen and up to their rooms- most likely to think about what their father had said.

"Is dad going to be okay?" Lila turned to her mom.

"He's just a bit stressed over the new information leak we had about Apophis." Catherine sighed as she wrung her hands together. "He was hoping with the new villain, you, the boys would be more accepting on mixing their powers together but even then those three are stubborn."

"Yeah... I was close though." Lila sighed. "Will had mixed his ice and water well, close enough that wind was almost incorporated but they're all still reluctant."

Catherine hummed but her eyes sparkled with sudden interest, "How did you create your clones anyways. I had thought they were still intangible with how your brothers describe they acted to bodily harm but how they reacted to your brothers' powers... that is new."

"Well, I just incorporated a bit of every element into the clones to make them slightly tangible." Lila smiled, "It took a while to get the hang of it but I'm getting better with every confrontation."

"Good, practice more and encourage your brothers to do the same. With the recent news about... him... we don't really know what he will decide to act."

"Better safe than sorry, right?"

Catherine hummed as she started keeping the dishes on the table. Lila pushed her chair back and started to help her mom keep the dishes.