A/N: As I stated in the first chapter, this is a list of the onscreen survivors and victims of Thanos' fingersnap, but I probably shouldn't consider this the full list yet:
– "Survivors" (21 So Far):
• Lincoln Loud
• Lori Loud
• Luna Loud
• Lucy Loud
• Lola Loud
• Lily Loud
• Rita Loud
• Clyde McBride
• Harold McBride
• Ronnie Anne Santiago
• Bobby Santiago
• Carlota Casagrande
• Bumper Yates Sr.
• Belle Yates
• Beau Yates
• Cristina
• Tabby
• Carol Pingrey
• Bratty Kid ("Conner Pingrey")
• Bratty Kid's Sister ("Cassandra Pingrey")
• Nikki
– "Victims" (22 So Far):
• Leni Loud
• Luan Loud
• Lynn Loud
• Lana Loud
• Lisa Loud ("We're In The Endgame Now...")
• Lynn Loud Sr.
• Howard McBride
• Maria Santiago
• Frida Casagrande
• Rosa Casagrande
• Jancey Yates
• Beatrix Yates
• Bumper Yates Jr.
• Cristina's Parents
• Tabby's Parents
• Bratty Kid's Mom
• Casey
• Sameer
• Nikki's Parents
In total, that makes it 44 survivors and 55 victims. You can take guesses on who lives and who dies, but only I know both. With that...
Enjoy! If you can...
Nightfall began to fall upon Royal Woods. The citizens had resided in the park for some time now, with fear and uncertainty plaguing the atmosphere around them upon learning that this strange event had spread throughout the entire world. Chattering amongst themselves about the unexplainable phenomenon, the remaining adults of the Casagrandes consulted with Rita and Bumper Yates Sr. while their respective offspring exchanged small yet meaningful sentences of reassurance. All of them did...except Lincoln and Ronnie Anne. The former sat on a hill with his communication device still the center of the spotlight, while the latter watched her siblings talk with the others. Apprehension had been overwhelming her for the past hour, but concern was placed above said apprehension. Lincoln had been doing absolutely nothing but staring at the communication device given to him a few years ago.
Of course, given that Lana was one of the many casualties involved, it shouldn't come as a surprise in the slightest. After all, she was the one who tagged along with their previous adventure to a new world, one of many. He in turn couldn't find it within himself not to forgive her for any mistakes she may have made that was pinned on him.
That moment, Ronnie Anne decided to approach Lincoln, who was now in a standstill staring dramatically into the distance while still clutching the communication device.
"Lincoln...?"
"She didn't want to go, Ronnie Anne. Lana wasn't ready..."
Although his back turned toward her, Ronnie Anne could clearly pick up on Lincoln's intent to cry out of pressure. He had lost half of his family in the span of a few minutes (and in one day, no less), giving him good reason to do so. She in response hugged him from behind and buried her head into his shoulder. It took him a full moment for him to fully sink into the hug, but that full moment was better than nothing.
"It's not your fault."
"I should've done something."
"You weren't able to."
"That's the point."
. . .
"Did he call you?"
. . .
"No. I'm starting to think something happened to him...if he isn't already turned to dust like the rest of the world."
"We should go back there, then. Check up on him, do some recon."
"Not yet. Half of the world's population just disappeared, and my family has enough stress inflicted upon them already."
"You're right, sorry about that. So...what now?"
. . .
"I have to get back to my house and Lisa's room."
"Why?"
"Before she faded, she told this: 'We're in the endgame now...' Does that mean anything to you?"
"Should it? I mean...it sounds like a comic book purist would say if..."
"If what?"
. . .
"If they were talking to a superhero prepping them for a final showdown."
"Wait... You don't think...?"
Lincoln and Ronnie Anne's eyes widened at the realization before them...before they both took off running back towards the Loud House. Clyde, Cristina, Tabby, and Nikki saw take off and decided to follow them back. The both of them didn't seem to notice the banded quartet follow them back to the house until they all arrived at Lisa's room at the same time.
"Clyde! Cristina and Tabby?"
"Nikki? What are you guys doing here?"
"We saw you blokes run off and decided to follow you, of course!" Tabby crossed her arms.
"I, on the other hand, sorta heard what you two were talking about," Clyde hugged his arms by contrast.
"Wait a minute. What were you two talking about?" Nikki interjected before she somewhat confirmed Lincoln's words, "It sounded like something about us being in the endgame now."
"Okay, hold on!" Ronnie Anne flailed her hands in front of them to stop them from questioning her and Lincoln even further, "You're right, Nikki, but what you heard was completely out of context."
"Really? Because it sounds like something a superhero would say in a dire crisis," Clyde implied.
. . .
"Yeah, you got me beat," Ronnie Anne shrugged, "What's your opinion, Linc?"
By the time she turned to face him, Ronnie Anne had discovered that Lincoln had already entered Lisa's room. She entered inside next, followed by Clyde, Cristina, Tabby, and finally Nikki. Seeing that he was rummaging through every crack and crevice, they all began to mirror him.
"Where are we looking for, Lincoln?"
"Something that will shed some light on this whole endgame ordeal."
"What about this disc labeled 'Infinity Stones'?"
Everyone now turned to Cristina, who immediately blushed out of embarrassment for being the current center of the spotlight. She handed the DVD to a thanking Lincoln, who examined it from back to front before his eyes caught notice of the computer a few feet from where he stood. Walking over and turning it on, the first thing displayed on the screen was a passcode. Taking yet another moment to think it over, he took a wild guess that turned out to be a lucky one as well.
"What was the password?"
"Clyde!" Ronnie Anne chastised through gritted teeth.
"Taking that this is Lisa into consideration..." Lincoln began before her screen came to light. Inserting the disc, a mini-screen popped up and along with it a question: "Do You Wish To Start From The Beginning?" with the option of either 'Yes' or 'No'. Glancing down at the time bar which spread from 0:00 to 5:03 (with a yellow mark at the 4:27 point), he chose the former and not the latter. Everybody else in the room got situated for a full five minutes of exposition.
(~****~)
BZZZ!
BZZZ!
BZZZ!
A tired and disheveled Lisa flickered on screen with her hand reached out, possibly adjusting the webcam to the left. When she did, the scientist began to inhale and exhale deep breathes, a surefire signal that whatever she was going to say was not going to be good or great in the slightest. Lo and behold, that assumption made was proven to be correct.
"Ladies and gentlemen... What I'm about to display before you is strictly classified information reminiscent of the 1963 JFK Assassination and the myths surrounding Area 51."
She adjusted the camera again, this time to the right in order to capture a crystal clear image of a tan FBI-style profile folder, which was labelled with a "CLASSFIED" stamp. Opening it up, she pulled out a first set of stapled documents which listed the details of six multicolored gemstones. The first was blue, the second was yellow, the third was red, the fourth was purple, the fifth was green, and the sixth/final was orange; all of them were out of order in the list in which she described them as such.
"I am paraphrasing what a royal sorcerer informed me, so you may need to bear with me here. In the dawn of the universe, there was nothing. Then, boom! The Big Bang sent six elemental crystals hurtling across the virgin universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence. These aspects in question were Space, Reality, Power, Soul, Mind...and Time."
She flipped to the second page and skimmed through a list of objects that turned out to be the former housing compartments of these gemstones. The first was a wooden brown staff with a owl tip, its eyes glowing a midnight blue; next to it was a picture of the Space Stone.
"The Space Stone was first located in this staff which was forged in the Demon Realm. The stone itself is currently of unknown origin, but my suspicions that have yet to be confirmed have led me to believe that it could be traced back to a mystical empire known as Neverland. I am unsure of the reality of it all, but if my brother's dimension hopping are to be believed...my suspicions are to be confirmed."
The second was a red opal amulet that served as the pendant for a silver necklace; next to it was the Mind Stone.
"The Mind Stone was discovered in the Amulet of Avalor, which is currently in the possession of a young princess named Sofia Balthazar. The Amulet can, among other things, can choose its current bearer and bless him or her with a magical power in return of a good deed. Should the Amulet be stolen from the bearer, a deadly safeguard will befall upon the thief in question."
The third was a wand...a trio of them, to be exact. The first wand was light purple with white wings attached to the grip. The bell of the wand had a blue circle with a gold star and pink hearts surrounding the crystal star inside. There was a yellow crown on the tip of the wand, a blue butterfly between the bell and grip, and a yellow tip with a blue heart at the end of the grip. The second wand was also light purple with white wings, but said wings were more sharper and curved more toward the wand's tip. The faceplate consisted of a light blue circle with a pentagonal pattern, half of the gold star, and five pink hearts. The yellow crown on the tip of the wand was retained from its previous appearance, but the butterfly between the bell and grip and the heart at the grip's base were now gold in place of blue, with the butterfly taking on a new, larger shape and bluish-purple tape also wrapped around the grip. The third and final wand was now dark purple with white wings, but the wings were softer-edged and now resembled butterfly wings with Persian blue hearts. The faceplate consisted of a light-blue circle with a pentagonal pattern, a whole gold star, and five pink hearts while the grip had diagonal purple and dark purple stripes. The yellow crown on the wand's tip was replaced by two red horns, there was a red heart between the bell and grip, and the wand's base held a pink crystal.
"The Reality Stone was held in the Royal Magic Wand of the Butterfly Family, the presumably now former rulers of the Kingdom of Mewni. As a typical magical wand would, it can cast spells, produce attacks, and transform objects. However, most importantly, it can also bring into being whatever the user cogitates of a certain reality, hence the name."
The fourth was a purple spherical gemstone held in another wooden staff; next to it was the Power Stone.
"The Power Stone was dubbed with many titles over time, the most prominent of which being Selene's Orb, the Heart of Zamballa, and the Eye of Midnight. It can enlarge the user's physical capabilities and even manipulate energy strong enough to decimate an entire planet. A planet known as Xandar is currently in charge of keeping it locked away out of pure safety."
The fifth was a glowing green talisman and a gold scepter in which the talisman was previously housed within; next to it was the Time Stone.
"The Time Stone was conceived as the Talisman of Merlock, a diabolical sorcerer who lost it during a final encounter with an anthropomorphic duck. It then resurfaced in Agrabah as the Oracle's Scythe in the hands of Cassim, the leader of a ruthless band of thieves. It granted the power of harnessing the flow of time, either on a small or large scale, and lock its enemy in a continuous time loop."
The sixth and final was...a plain bold question mark; next to it was the Soul Stone.
"The Soul Stone was the only one I have not deduced as of this moment, and I fear I cannot. However, it has been stated that it may be the most dangerous out of all of the Infinity Stones. In order to acquire it...it requires a personal sacrifice..."
Closing up the folder, Lisa's somber expression transitioned into that of a concerned one.
"Unfortunately, the war these stones will inevitably bring...may be already here. Lincoln, if you're listening...I need you to do so carefully. The world is currently not the weight on your shoulders, but you may be one of the many keys to saving not just Earth...but the entire universe. My dearest apologies, older brother, but...there is no other way..."
The video ended not soon after...for a tearful Lisa had forgotten to turn off the webcam. Until she didn't.
(~****~)
A stunned silence akin to the earlier one in the park filled the room, but this time was as if the sense of uneasiness had increased tenfold. Lincoln slowly stood up and began to pace around like he did before. Ronnie Anne joined him, following him wherever he went.
"So...what do we do?" Cristina fiddled her fingers.
At that, Lincoln (and Ronnie Anne) abruptly stopped before turning toward Cristina. His hardened expression from thinking too much soon softened when he saw her terrified face, complemented by a solemn sigh.
"There's no we in it, Cristina. This isn't your fight."
"Try and stop us, you jumped-up little shit," Nikki protested as she stood up too, "By the looks of it, we're already involved."
"Pardoning the girl's foul mouth..." Tabby interjected, "She's right. We have to get to the bottom of this."
"I'm sorry, we?" Clyde began to panic. "I mean, I'm not arguing against this, but..."
"Clyde, you didn't complain when we dimension-hopped a total of 10 or more," Ronnie Anne pointed out, "Why are you complaining now?"
"Because that mission's brochure said nothing about saving the entire universe," Clyde retorted, "Plus, I was complaining before...mentally speaking."
"Speaking of which," Nikki interrupted again, "You three dimension-hopped?"
"Guys."
Everybody turned to an equally tired and disheveled Lincoln, who pinched his nose bridge and sighed again.
"Even if I wanted to include you guys, we still have to travel away from Royal Woods to Middleburg. And then we have to still find him and figure out what exactly is happening here."
"Well, who exactly do we have to find?"
"Penn Zero...Part-Time Hero."
Cristina, Tabby, and Nikki exchanged confused glance before asking in unison, "Who?"
"Oh, right," Lincoln nodded before apologized, "Sorry, you girls weren't there."
. . .
"Okay. I'm in."
Everybody turned to a shrugging Nikki in bewilderment, whose face eventually housed a growing smile. "I have absolutely no idea who Penn Zero is, but he sounds like a badass. Plus, if we're going to save the world, I can't have you take all the credit, Linc."
Lincoln turned to the rest of his friends and looked at them expectantly. Tabby nodded in agreement, "Color me pleased as punch, mate."
Cristina was the last to accept the offer, "Nobody's gonna get killed, right?"
"Of course not," Ronnie Anne placed a hand of reassurance on her shoulder, "But no promises when it comes to getting hurt."
She visibly winced at the mention of that, but she nodded at last.
"Wow, that was quick," Clyde remarked, "But how are we going to get to Middleburg without getting caught?"
"Just say please."
The six of them turned toward the doorway to find Luna with a pair of car keys.
Huh.