July 7th, 2039
Lucky backed away from hearing the latters whisper. "R-really?"
Linka was serious with it, only giving a nod, having already planned on how and when they would execute their running away, if Lucky was all for it. Was he?
Linka drew out his phone that rested on his desk and immediately opened up to the notes on it. She began to type after silencing the sound of the phone. There was no way that Luna could hear the silenced tapping she performed on the phone. She finished and dropped the device on his lap.
He grabbed and started reading;
I've been thinking about this for awhile now, and maybe I've had enough with them and the senseless rules. Of course, I know you feel the same way, too. Come with me, and we can have it our own way. Hell, I'll spill everything you wish to know.
Lucky's eyes widened with content forming as a slow smile. There it was, the motivation to actually do something. He locked on to Linka's own blue eyes, and looked for the truth that sparkled in them. Yes, she wasn't at all lying, for she looked back into his and gave a simple nod with a confident smile. It was here, it was happening. A desperate form of learning about dearest mommy and daddy had begun to grow and expand, mixing with great joy and closure.
He held a thumbs up, agreeing to it. Whatever it took, whatever was gonna happen, the change would start now. Two members, exiting the main household. But, where to? Or... Did Linka already have something figured out? He trusted her with it, and left it at that, for the meantime.
Linka returned the hand gesture and exited the room after waving a lazy goodbye.
Night
Luna, Luan and Lana had gone out to do some shopping, and left the others home. Lily and the infant were left to be undisturbed, and the two defectors agreed to make no such racket.
The instant the three left, Linka ordered the brat to begin packing. At first, Lucky went around searching for luggage cases or something, but Linka merely pointed to his gray backpack, suggesting he wasn't going to need bigger carry-ons. He figured she didn't want any obstacles slowing them down.
Lucky guessed he was done with education once he emptied his backpack on his bed, dumping all journals, binders, and whatever else there was, and began stuffing it up like a turkey. He had already dressed up in a dark green jacket, mixed with dark blue jeans and his signature orange beanie.
He wasn't sure how he felt about it yet, for it was going too fast for clear processing. All that was in his mind were the answers, and nothing was going to get in the way of that.
Linka, on the other hand, was already set with a brown duffel bag, having already prepared this event for weeks. She, who sported her trademark orange and blue clothing attire, waited for him at the entrance, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Kid, hurry up or I'll leave you behind!" She yelled.
Lucky zipped up his backpack the second she screamed. "I'm coming!"
The screams were enough to wake Lily up. She rose from her sheets and softly tip-toed her way out as the redhead teen walked quickly past her. "Lucky?" She wiped the drowsiness from her eyes and studied him.
Lucky stood frozen in place. "Ah, aunt!"
The age gap between them still made him feel awkward to call Lily that. He made an effort to conceal his backpack behind him, but Lily wasn't a blonde like Leni. "Where are you off to?"
Linka's softer foosteps rung closer now. "We're just going to the library," she lied to Lily.
The youngest Loud sister made a skeptical face, and wasn't buying what Linka intended to sell. "That doesn't look empty to me, and you've never gone there before. What's really going on, Linka?"
"We're heading out, it's simple as that. The others will be back shortly. Can you tell them we went out?" Linka added a pretentious, gleeful smile to end the act. "Lucky, meet me outside."
"Coming," the teen scurried away, leaving Linka and Lily to their stare-off.
"How long are you taking?"
"An hour or two, but maybe-" Linka began.
"I know what you're really doing, you know. You're running away." Lily then crossed her arms, shaking her head a bit. "I don't approve. No, not one bit."
"Lily-"
"Don't even bother trying to explain. Luna's told me about what you two have been doing behind all of us. I also disapprove of that, too. What would Lincoln think?"
Linka looked away. "He's just a baby..."
"You know who I'm talking about," Lily countered.
"Stop."
"I can't stop. Not you from leaving, and not me from saying this. But, please stay. We can work something out that'll just satisfy your... Unconventional nature."
"Hmm, what a funny way to put that. But no, I'm taking off and I'm taking the kid." Linka had already made up her mind long ago. It wasn't for awhile until Lily would realize this.
"Of course he'd agree to it, but he's just a dumb teenager. You're tricking him into it, no doubt about it." Lily looked back down the stairs, seeing no sign of Lucky.
Linka just smiled and laughed. "That makes me sound like I'm playing him, and it's not at all like that. Anyways, take care, Lilster. I never had any issue with ya, so..." She did a salute to the blonde and strolled back down. Not once did Linka look back, despite knowing Lily's eyes were on her like sharp blades.
Even after they both lift, Lily maintained her daze into the bottom of the staircase. Of all things, she didn't want this. She didn't need this. Lily hoped they would come back, and things would resolve. And she waited for nothing.
"Where are we going?" Lucky was still left in the dark, getting curious about Linka's plan now.
"South. We're going as far as we can," she replied, carrying around her duffel bag. "We need to acquire a car."
"A car? We're not getting a cab or something?"
Linka laughed a bit. "Of course not. I don't carry cash on me, and I know you don't."
"Don't make it sound like I'm a loser," the redhead squeaked.
"Ha, remind me to answer that in days from now," Linka joked.
The two sped-walked as they left the house.
"Oh, turn off your phone. Mines is off already."
Lucky was confused. "Don't we need a map?" He had his phone out, ready to turn it off.
"No, not at all. Turn it off." She was certain and serious, it almost scared him. "We might have to dispose of them, cause they're traceable."
"What? Really?" He sounded disappointed, as it was a new phone as of yet, under three months of ownership. "Ugh, okay..." The two kept walking off into the night.
July 9th, 2039
The sunrise had woken them up. Linka murmured, clearly annoyed. She shielded her eyes while the sunlight shot through the windshield of the crappy gray Honda they had previously carjacked behind an alley around the rundown part of Los Angeles.
"Hey, kid, wake up," Linka croaked out. She wiped the crust away from her eyes, and slapped the driver by his leg. "It's past dawn!"
"Agh, just five more minutes, mom," he replied, still dozed off.
Linka grunted and reached into her duffel bag, taking out a bottle of water. She opened it and let Lucky have his unscheduled wake-up call. "AGH! WHAT-!" He squirmed in his seat, bumping his knees with the steering wheel. He took off his beanie and wiped his wet face. "COME ON, LINKA!"
"We gotta move, kiddo. We cross the border undected and start our new lives-"
"In Mexico? Is that really the-" He sighed, dropping the beanie easily. "It's... I think it's idiotic. Maybe, Canada, perhaps?"
Linka wheezed. "Hey, I've made up my mind. We're heading south until we can't understand what civilians are saying. I hope you learned Spanish, cause I sure didn't."
"Well, yeah, it was a class in my sophomore year, but that wasn't-" He gave in and sighed once more. "I don't like this plan, but if it means you telling me what I've been dying to know...-"
"I'll keep my word. But first, we've got to be on the other side."
Lucky was already awake enough to feel like he was able to start today's drive right now. He wired up two ripped cables that he had disconnected the sixth time or so. "Alright, then. As long as you will."
They pulled away from the empty parking lot they slept at, and Linka opened the window on her side. "Your mom... She didn't leave you, but-..." Linka accessed the memories of when Chandler made his choice to abandon baby Lucky. The unmistakable anger and pain was beginning to resurface through her. "It's not simple to understand, alright? There's alot to it."
"Oh..." Surprisingly, Lucky wasn't too distracted in the moment as he drove away. "I don't remember anything about her."
Linka bit on one of her fingernails, trying to surpress her anger and wanting to not speak further than this. She felt the cold air ravage her face. It didn't feel that cold, as she slept with only a blue jacket from Lana's closet, having liked it when she took only one glance at it.
February 2nd, 2027
Luna Loud was taking the brat up to the higher levels of the Agency, as requested by the mysterious director, whose name had never been declassified. She had no idea what the reason was for this, until the nervous kid was placed into a hospital stroller and strapped down.
"What's all this about?" The reptilian-human hybrid had reason to be afraid, until it was all explained to her.
They were to erase some of his memories; specifically ones that included those of the mysterious female speedster with white hair; the girls who were magically levitating the kid and other objects; and finally, the kidnapping and shouting of the white-haired menace Lucky had forcibly endured. This was deemed necessary as to avoid a serious case of trauma.
Luna understood it and was relieved that she, nor the others, wouldn't be the ones to have to explain what was going on in his childhood, for literally everything would have had to be shared. And, let's face it, it's nothing within the norm at all.
She watched the stroller, with the whimpering Lucky still strapped, get rolled underneath a huge piece of equipment that appeared to look like a kid-size tunnel, only metallic and fully detailed. One of the scrawny scientists there began to dial in buttons on a square panel on the right of this tunnel-shaped machinery.
"Ma'am, I'm going to need you out of the room for the next half hour," the scientist assigned to the procedure had told her.
"L-Luna?" Lucky lost sight of his aunt from under the machine, cries getting louder.
Luna grew a bit uneasy, concerned that there could easily be a fuck-up. She had trouble walking out, proceeding to perform a backwards walk while scanning her eyes to the kid and staff
"He will be okay, miss. I'm a professionally trained staff member. He will remember nothing horrifying once this is over, I guarantee," the lead labcoat told her.
She went on to share the debrief with the rest of the Louds, and Linka didn't know what exactly this signified, but she, at the time, was accepting of this necessary Agency move. And no one would actually believe that the truth would out within him. Of course, they would then go on to create a cover story, if dodging questions wasn't enough.
Now
If there was ever anyone who would eventually told a demanding Lucky about everything, it would've been Lily, with no price to pay. That was due because she lived through the same scenario with Luan. It was years ago, when Luan held back heartbreaking truths of the Loud family.
Of course, she didn't plan to reveal the classified sections while going through the backstories, if it ever came to that.
Linka didn't plan to hide anything. The thing was, she felt he might have at least known what happened to dear mommy and daddy, a cycle of tormenting truths to be kept going, and then some.
Apart from suspecting Linka, no one had anything to worry about in that department, seeing it impossible that Lucky could find out what was what via the internet. Absolutely no way he could find the right information by chance or his own name.
She was already thinking about how she goaded him into coming with her, and maybe that might've been a legitimate trick, even as he would be rewarded for it
Linka closed the window after taking too much of the cold air, cheeks getting moist that her teeth was chittering, much to her notice. "I'm a bit surprised, actually..."
"Oh? Why's that?"
"You're not really eager to find out right now. I figured you'd force it out of me, or something," she sneered.
"No, I am, but I can hold off until we get to the other side. And then, you'll share over tacos, right?"
An image of Ronnie Anne came into the clone's mind. "Tacos... Yeah."
"So, uhhh, we pass San Diego and that's it, right? Jeez, it's... Really long."
"We make a last stop before reaching the border."
"Uhhh, I need you to go into specific detail, you're losing me every now and-"
"Look, we just stop around there, alright. We have to make sure we have no tail..."
"Wait, what?" Lucky applied the brakes at halfway through an empty street. "What do you mean by tail? Who would follow us?"
There was no guarantee that the Agency guys would butt out if Luna had gone and told them of this situation. Then again, there had been no contact with them for years. At least, not openly. It was always a possibility that needed not to be thrown out the window.
"I mean, I'm not saying we could be, but-" Linka pondered if this really was the case.
"What's going on? Why would you say that?"
"I..." She eyed him, stuttering nervously. "I- Well, I don't think anyone would be. I'm sorry, I guess I just had a brain fart."
Lucky was skeptical, yet used logic to see reason that a tail was not at all likely, since they've disposed of their phones before reaching Los Angeles. "It's interesting you'd say that. So... Are we still stopping?"
Linka now grew quiet. She wiped the cold fog away from the window and eyed her clear reflection in it.
Her face. Of his face. Of his blood. Of his descent. That's what she was able to see. The curse, the burdens, they carried on to the lost girl, once innocent before the maelstrom of the Loud family. She sighed with a hint of pain and sadness, to which Lucky noticed.
"What's wrong?"
She shrugged her shoulders, yawning a bit. "Just a memory... You gonna drive off?"
Lucky widened his eyes. "Ah, right! Sorry... Alright, time to go."
As he placed his foot on the gas pedal, a thud came knocking hard into their ears, and Lucky became more visibly freaked out by the instant thunder cry than Linka. He halted and set the vehicle to park. "What the-?! Something fell!"
"Something? We're not underneath shit!" Linka stared out, and reassured herself this was the case. No trees, no streetlights, nothing hovered over the shitty car when whatever fell had stopped them dead.
Linka reached for her duffel bag, pulling out a hatchet. This put the rebellious teen even more afraid. "Why do you have that?!"
"Stay here," she warned, cautiously opening the passenger door. She tip-toed out, and it didn't help her that the damn door was creaking as she pushed with her pinkie. She held the hatchet, unstained and almost in perfect condition, in front of her.
She ducked down, moved one step to the side before turning quickly and swinging the hatchet onto the roof.
It was lucky that Lupa had telekinesis, or she'd be dead. The hatchet stopped right at her face, almost close enough for a cold kiss on the tip of her nose. She was bleeding from a small stab wound on her left side. "G- urgh... Good to see you again as well, Linka!"
It took awhile for her brain to recognize this particular party crasher was an old friend. Or, rather a sister, in a sense. Linka lightly gasped and let the hatchet fall to make the only sound within the next three seconds. "L-Lupa?!"
"Quit staring and help me-" She shrieked in agony when she tried to turn. "FUCK!"
"Lucky! Get out here!"
"What?! I'm hearing another voice! Who fell?!" The teen unbuckled and burst out of the car. He met the cold, blue eyes of the fourth clone, who seemed to be reaching out a hand to him.
"Don't just stand there! Get her inside the car!" Linka barked.
He did so, lifting Lupa with both arms. He noticed the flowing of a red liquid running down the skin of his arms before setting Lupa to the back seat. "Linka, who- Who is this?! Why is she bleeding?!"
Linka got into the back to attend to her sister's wound. "Get in and let's go!"
Lucky jumped back inside and sped away from the street, forgetting to buckle in.
AN: Lupa Loud enters the fray, and it's a hell of entrance if I do say so myself. Oh, yeah, we're at chapter two, but this fic is over mentally for me. All that's left is to type out what's going on. Piece of cake.