Authors Note: Thank you all for the support thus far, I know this fic is not that good but it is still something I have wanted to do for a long time. I hope you are enjoying it, please let me know your thoughts.
"Haah… haah… almost… there…" Lincoln wheezed as he was arriving to the Golden Pine Airport, having to stop and get off his bike and grab the presumably important briefcase. He wished he had time to gather his breath. Sadly, Lincoln had wound up lost twice trying to get here and lost a lot of precious time. He began to make his way to the airport, looking left to right for the intelligent elder.
"Of course, the airport's got everyone here today," Lincoln groaned. The airport was packed with people awaiting or preparing to board their flights. He decided to go straight for the front desk, hoping maybe an attendant could take it onto the elder's plane, if it had not left yet.
"Excuse me, pardon me, sorry, excuse me," the teen apologized for each person he brushed past. The young boy never was good in crowds. He always felt like everyone was invading his personal space and vice versa that he was invading all of there's.
"Can I help you, little guy?" The worker behind the desk requested. Lincoln coughed slightly, finally catching his breath.
"Uhh… Vernan Otis left his briefcase behind. I wanted to ask if his flight had left yet?" The bucktoothed boy explained the situation. He waited while the worker looked over her computer for the information.
"Mhm… sorry little guy. He was on Flight 307 and that left about seven minutes ago," the worker apologized. Lincoln groaned, his head lying on the briefcase in irritation, trying to tell himself mentally that it was fine, since he needed the exercise from the cycling, but that did not really make him feel better.
"Thanks ma'am… is there any way to get him this? It's very important… I think," Lincoln requested to know if there was anything they could do to save him the burden of trying to send this through the postal office.
"Well yes, if you go downstairs, there is a small area dedicated to lost and found possessions. We'll attempt to get in contact with Mister Otis and things will go from there," she explained. Lincoln felt relieved to hear this.
"Thank you!" Lincoln told her. He barely moved, and three people behind him in line grabbed him and tossed him aside out of impatience.
"Tough crowds…" The Loud boy rubbed his arm sorely. He just made his way off to try and find a way downstairs, feeling a lot more at ease to know there was not a time limit pressuring him anymore.
"Huh? What was that…?" Lincoln wondered. He noticed the lights in the airport flicker slightly, though he could take a guess that the minor power issue had caused flight delays, judging by some irritated groans. He finally found the staircase at the other part of the airport more off to the side.
"No wonder lost things never get found…" Lincoln chuckled. If the lost and found was this far out of people's ways to get to it, then he presumed that no one would find it. Most likely anything lost and sent there probably stayed there. He made his way down, or got taken by a worker.
"Huh… It happened again…" Lincoln noticed the lights flicker again, but this time it seemed to be more random and out of control. Once the lights fixed, he was surprised. At the bottom of the steps, there laid a security guard.
"Hey are you okay? Sir?" Lincoln crouched down and shook the man, hearing a pained grumble. He looked at the guard's radio, used to communicate with the other security staff, and grabbed it bringing it to his face.
"Uh, he-hello? There's an officer unconscious in the staircase downstairs," Lincoln spoke in the radio. Some voices responded in confusion, but they said they will send help immediately and others to come check things out.
"AHHH!"
Lincoln felt his heart skip a beat. The cry of pain came from the hallway that led to the luggage storage room and the lost and found which was nearby.
"Wait… that was Vernan!" Lincoln stood straight up, the briefcase still tight in his grip. He made a mad dash down the hall, sliding on the tiled floor on one turn. When the young boy reached the source of the noise, he felt his heart stop with terror overwhelming him.
"What… what are you?!" Lincoln's mouth opened wide. Before him was a tall, scary figure with a blue helmet on and horns sticking from the sides of its head, grey skin and bright yellow eyes. The monster had Vernan pinned against the wall by his throat, and drawing some green energy out from his face.
"Knock it off!" Lincoln charged at the monster, swinging the briefcase overhead, but the monster caught it, he gulped seeing the yellow eyes of the monster flash when he turned his head to him.
"Annoying child…" The monster delivered a hard hit to Lincoln's stomach, harder than a horses kick. He drew the monster's attention enough to get him off Vernan thankfully, the young boy groaning in pain seeing the monster absorbing that weird green energy into itself.
"Give me your essence," the monster approached the teenage Loud boy as he struggled himself off the floor, the briefcase lying nearby.
"Wha-what?! Mhphf!" Lincoln felt his face get grabbed by one of the monster's scary claws. His skin felt so rough like sandpaper. The young boy tried to kick and punch him off, to little avail.
"Hm…? Nothing is coming out," the monster sounded disappointed. He threw Lincoln down the hall, the young boy letting out a pained yelp when he hit the tiled floor and slid across it a short distance.
"It appears my time is up," the monster bowed before turning around, beginning to walk away. Lincoln watched the monster slowly fade away before completely vanishing. He panted, getting up and rushing straight over to Vernan.
"Vernan! Vernan! Are you alright?!" Lincoln shook the elder, unable to believe what he had even witnessed right now. He grabbed his cellphone out from his pocket and dialing 911. Vernan was half conscious, but he was not giving any response to the young boy. Lincoln guessed he had missed his flight because the monster had attacked him and the security staff.
"911, what's your emergency and what services do you need?" the operator answered.
"We need ambulances and police at the Golden Pine Airport. A lot of people were beaten up," Lincoln explained. So far from what he could tell there had been only four people hurt, not counting himself, and he doubted he would have anything worse than a small bruise on his stomach and back.
"Emergency response services will be there soon, sir," the operator informed him. Lincoln thanked her before hanging up, hoping that security would come to help him with everyone.
"What… what are you doing here boy?" Vernan asked the Loud boy while he was conscious. The teenage boy went and grabbed his briefcase, coming over and showing it to the scientist.
"You left this at our house. I came over to give it back to you," Lincoln tried to give it back to the intelligent elder, thinking he could at least keep it with him at the hospital and have a colleague take it somewhere for safekeeping.
"Boy, I don't think you understand… I didn't have much time in my life left. What that beast stole is unfortunately going to be the end of me," Vernan claimed. Lincoln had no clue what he meant, watching the older man rummage around his coat before pulling out a key.
"What's this for?" Lincoln questioned, wondering why the elder would not take his briefcase, but he doubted the elder was going to be dying from whatever that monster took from him.
"It's for my home… please go there and find this and take everything from the basement. The code for the briefcase is 358. Please, have Lisa finish my work… I beg of you boy, as kind hearted as you are I believe I can trust you and Lisa with this," Vernan explained his plight. Lincoln hoped his little sister knew where her rival lived, he could tell the old man was complimenting his kindness for at least saving his life from the monster.
"Finish your work…? You mean the Guardian Project? …Vernan?" Lincoln received no answer, just as he questioned him, Vernan lost consciousness again. Lincoln pocketed the key making a mental note about the code, guessing he had to keep the briefcase now and get it back to Lisa. Lincoln could hear the sounds of feet running down the steps. He hoped that everyone would be fine, now that help was here.
A few minutes later, Lincoln now found himself outside the airport, sitting on a small bench with two police officers standing before him. Vernan and the other victims of the monster were taken by ambulances.
"Little boy, repeat to us again what you supposedly saw…" The first officer requested.
"I saw a monster! It was taking some energy thing from Mister Otis… I tried to get it off him, but all it did was grab my face and punch me away," Lincoln repeated for the third time, but the report become less believable to the officers every time the supposed monster was brought up.
"Are there any security cameras for that area?" The second office quirked. His cohort shook his head.
"No. Unfortunately all security cameras down there are only focused on the stairwell and the luggage storage area to make sure no one steals anything. The stairwell security camera saw a security guard get thrown into it but nothing more," the office explained while reading over the report. Security was weak in this airport due to low fundings.
"You can't tell me that some normal person did this," Lincoln said. The police officers were not able to argue there. They certainly were not able to decipher who did do this. Their best guess was someone who got way too into their training had assaulted these people.
"Well, you go home kid. Thanks for helping these people out by getting them help," the officer insisted. Lincoln was done arguing anyway, but he certainly was sick of them referring to him as kid. It made him remember how he was still not allowed at the grownups table. It was irritating, but he tried to ignore it.
"I'd better tell Lisa what happened," Lincoln told himself while getting his sister's bicycle. This took a lot more time than he expected. The young boy put the briefcase back on the handle, making sure the key was in his pocket before he began to peddle away to get back home. He wondered if Lisa would even believe him about Vernan's request to complete the Guardian Project, and hoped she did not think he was crazy like the police officers did. The young boy sighed, aware he was not going to have much fun today, as he pulled the hood of his shirt up over his head to shield from the cold wind.
"All I wanted to do was play in the leaves…"