Hey guys, here's chapter 10 of Neon Flash.
It was nice Saturday morning in Royal Woods. The kind of day where you could either hangout with your friends or sleep in until god knows when. Lincoln Loud definitely fell into the latter category. It was around 10 AM and the white-haired teen was sleeping peacefully in bed. That is, until his bedroom door was open, revealing his younger sister, Lana.
"Wake up, Lincoln!" the 11-year-old girl shouted as she leapt into the air.
"Oof!" Lincoln woke up instantly, groaning in slight pain due to his sister landing on his abdomen. "Lana, what the hell?!" he glared at the young girl that was straddling him.
"It's time wake up. It's Saturday and you said you'd take me to the indoor ice park" Lana said, crossing her arms.
"Ugh! Lana, just let me sleep in a little longer. When I wake up we can go to the ice park, ok?" Lincoln offered.
"Alright, just don't sleep for too long" Lana said, hopping off her older brother.
"No promises" Lincoln turned to his side, Lana closing the door behind herself as he returned to sleep.
Royal Woods Mall…
"Lily's going to love her birthday present. I know it's months away, but it's good to plan ahead" Lori said, carrying several different shopping bags, one of which was her youngest sister's future birthday present.
Within a few moments though, the young woman began to fell a little chilly. Sure, the mall was normal colder than it was outside, but it wasn't usually cold enough to where she'd feel like she'd need a jacket. It was then that she noticed something: specs of white falling from the sky. Holding out her hand, she allowed one of the specs to fall into it. She soon realized these white specs were snow.
"That's odd. It shouldn't be snowing this time of year" Lori looked at the pieces of snow in her hand with confusion.
It wasn't winter time and even then, it wouldn't be snowing indoors… unless it was the indoor ice park, but that was on the other side of town. At that moment Lori felt a gust of wind, causing her to narrow her eyes. What had really caught her off guard though was how everything around her was beginning to get covered in ice.
"What's going on here?" Lori asked.
"Hello Lori" a voice greeted her. She saw a shadowy figure in the direction that the strange weather was coming from. "Long time no see…"
8 hours later…
The Loud House…
Lincoln was lying asleep in bed. When he felt rested enough, he sat up and stretched his arms with a light groan. When he became more aware, he instantly remembered something.
"Oh crap, Lana!" he said with slight worry.
Moving as fast as he could, Lincoln removed his sleepwear and put on his daily attire before exiting his room. That was when he saw his sister Lucy exiting her and Lynn's room, poetry book in hand.
"Hey Lucy, have you seen Lana? I was supposed to go somewhere with her today" Lincoln asked the goth girl.
"She must've forgotten because she went to go spend the day with her friends hours ago" Lucy told him.
"Well, at least I don't have to keep my promise to her. For now, at least…" Lincoln thought to himself.
"You know, it's six in the afternoon. Where've you been all this time?" Lucy asked.
"Asleep" Lincoln told her.
"All day?" Lucy tilted.
"I was up all-night playing video games; can you blame me?" the older boy replied with a shrug.
Lucy gave a shrug of her own before leaving to use the bathroom. With his schedule now cleared, Lincoln was free to do as he pleased. Placing his hands in his jacket pockets, he headed downstairs to get a snack from the fridge. However, upon reaching the base of the stairs, he saw Leni looking at her phone, a somewhat worried look on her face.
"You ok, Leni? You look like there's something wrong" Lincoln asked, waking up to her, a hint of concern for his second oldest sister.
"Nothing, it's just… Lori went to the mall this morning and she hasn't come back. She hasn't even answered her phone and I'm worried…" Leni told him, her pupils dilating in sadness.
"Lori not answering her phone at the mall? That's strange…" Lincoln thought, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. Taking the remote from the arm of the couch, he turned on the tv. What was on was a news report.
Katherine Mulligan: This Katherine Mulligan, coming at you with breaking news. I'm here at the Royal Woods Mall, where it as been frozen completely solid!
"What?!" Lincoln and Leni shouted in surprised unison.
Katherine Mulligan: Not only that, but a slew of strange weather patterns have assaulted anyone that comes near. Civilians have been advised to stay away until matters have been sorted.
"That's where Lori went this morning. I hope she's ok" Leni said. "Where are you going?" she asked, noticing her brother heading for the front door.
"Out. I'll be back soon…" Lincoln replied in a serious tone with an expression to match, not bothering to look at her.
"Be careful, Linky" Leni told him with understandable worry.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Lori should be here by the time I get back" Lincoln said, and then exited the house, shutting the door behind him. As he walked down the sidewalk, he pulled out his phone and called one of his contacts. "Hey, Clyde, I'm going to need your help with something…"
Royal Woods Mall…
Looking around the corner of a nearby building, Lincoln and Clyde saw the frozen solid mall in sight, several cops blocking the entrance.
"Alright, here's the plan. You distract the cops while sneak in, kick the ass of whatever douchebag is in there, save Lori and get the hell out of there" Lincoln told his friend.
"Got it" Clyde nodded.
"Better make it quick, it looks like an ice park" Lincoln commented.
"What is an ice park anyway?" Clyde raised an eyebrow.
"Like a water park except it's indoors and extremely frozen" Lincoln replied. "Now, go. We probably don't have much time"
Clyde nodded and ran towards the wall of cops. It didn't take long for the police officers to notice the nerdy teen.
"Sir, you need to stay back" one of the cops told him.
"You don't understand, my relatives are in there!" Clyde lied, trying to get passed them.
"Sir…" another cop tried to hold him back.
With the cops distracted, Lincoln ran to the side of the mall. Looking towards the roof, he saw a way in. An airduct. "Don't worry, Lori, I'm coming to save you…" Lincoln muttered under his breath.
Pressing the button on his watch, the white-haired teen changed from his normal attire into his superhero uniform. Closing an eye, Neon aimed his right arm at the airduct. With his target in sight, he shot the chain spear from his bracer, the spear embedding itself into the metal. Neon then flew through the air, being pulled towards the roof of the building. Once on top, he removed the spear, retracting it back into the bracer. Walking around the vent, he saw that the opening was sealed by a vent.
"This'll be easy to take care of" Neon spoke before aiming his hand at the vent, blasting the screws off the corners of the metal seal, causing the vent to fall off. "Well, here goes nothing" he shrugged before entering the airduct.
Near the ceiling of the mall, a vent was blasted off, falling to the floor. Crawling out of the airducts, Neon fell from the second floor. Within the seconds of falling, he shot the spear into a nearby pillar.
"Yeah-hoo!" Neon shouted in excitement as he swung through the air. Retracting the spear, he performed a series of flips before landing safely on the ground of the first floor. Getting a look at the area, he noticed it looked like a winter wonderland. "Yeah, definitely like an indoor ice park…" he commented.
In the silence of the mall, he heard something, like someone trudging through the ice and snow. Looking over his shoulder, he saw several snowmen, sentient ones capable of fighting.
"Living snowmen? Alright, let's hope I don't end up fighting Elsa" Neon joked as he turned to face the men made of snow. "Eat this!"
Neon held out his arms to the sides, creating balls of neon light within them. Pumping his arms, he fired a barrage of blasts that hit the snowmen dead on, causing a cloud of icy fog to build up. It took a while, but after several blasts, Neon ceased his fire. When the fog dissipated, the snowmen where all gone. In their place though, lied the bodies people that had most likely been shopping in the mall before it had been frozen.
Approaching one of the bodies, Neon knelt in front of it and placed two fingers on the jugular of the throat. A pulse. They were still alive. Unconscious, but alive. It was in this moment that he heard more trudging footsteps. Looking over his shoulder, he saw more snowmen. Standing up, he turned to face them. Just as before, he fired a barrage of neon blasts which melted the snowmen, revealing the now unconscious people that were inside of them.
"Just what the hell is going on here?" Neon asked himself, raising an eyebrow.
"Simple. The snow turns their unconscious bodies into snowmen and controls them…" a voice said.
Looking up, he saw someone descending towards him out of nowhere. It was a person wearing outfit that appeared to be the cross between a hazmat suit and a tuxedo, black rubber gloves and boots and a helmet that concealed his face.
"Who are you? Are you the one behind all of this?" Neon asked as the bad guy landed on the ground in front of him.
"I am. The name's Stormbuster. And who are you?" Stormbuster asked.
"Neon Flash, and I'm here to save someone" Neon told him.
It was then that he noticed something behind the villain. Behind Stormbuster was a cage made of ice and within it was a person. But it wasn't just any person, it was a woman with short, blonde hair. It was his sister, Lori. This bastard was keeping his eldest sister hostage. Well, Neon wasn't going to stand for it!
"That woman behind you, the one in the cage…" Neon began, gesturing to the cage with his head.
"What about her?" Stormbuster crossed his arms.
"She's the one I'm supposed to save. Let her go!" Neon said in a demanding tone, pointing a finger at the villain.
"Not a chance…" Stormbuster replied coldly.
The two glared at each other, a moment of silence between them. The silence was soon broken as Stormbuster shot an ice beam from his hand. Bending over backwards, Neon managed to get out of the beam's way, barely feeling its icy breeze. Stormbuster pressed a button on his wrist. This made his arms change from green to blue. He created small tornadoes in each hand and launched him and the neon powered hero.
Thinking fast, Neon shot a beam towards the ground, launching him into the air which allowed him to dodge the mini tornadoes. Stormbuster pressed another button on his wrist, this one turning his arms yellow. Stormbuster charged his hands with golden lightning before firing bolts at the descending hero. Neon pulled out his sword hilt and used his powers to transform it into the neon blade, spinning like a fan, deflecting each of the lightning bolts before landing on the ground. Returning the blade to its normal, hilted state, Neon placed it back into its sheath. Some of the bolts had hit parts of the cage that Lori was in, weakening it a bit.
"So, this guy's got weather powers. This might not be as easy as I thought…" Neon thought to himself.
Staring each other down, the two of them energized a fist with their respective power, Neon with his right and Stormbuster with his left. They then formed balls of energy in their hand, and then fired at each other. When they two energy balls collided, a huge flash of white light formed before blowing up in a small explosion that released a sonic boom, the shockwave so powerful, it shook the ground a little and releasing a small gust of wind. This in turn also shattered the ice cage that contained Lori.
Taking advantage of the fact that she was free as well as the fact the two superpowered humans would be fighting each other for a while, Lori quietly began to slowly back away. She didn't get far however, for when she looked down, she saw her legs had been frozen.
"Not so fast. You won't be going anywhere" Stormbuster told her, lowing his arm after freezing her, not even needing to look over his shoulder.
"Dude, what's your problem? What's she ever done to you?" Neon asked.
"She ruined my entire life!" Stormbuster replied with irritation, his fists clenched in anger.
"What? How?" Neon raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I literally don't even know you!" Lori chimed in.
"Oh, I think you do…" Stormbuster looked over his shoulder at the blond woman. Lori gave a confused expression. "Does the name Marcus Wurno mean anything to you?" he asked.
Lori's eyes widened in surprise, "No… can't be…"
"Yes. It is I…" Stormbuster removed his helmet, "Marcus Wurno!" he revealed his face, a white man with black hair and green eyes.
"So, what do you have against her?" Neon asked.
"You really want to know? Fine, I'll tell you" Marcus turned to face Neon, "It all started in high school…" he began.
[Flashback]
Marcus: I was just an average kid, one with a dream.
A young, teenage Marcus Wurno stood in front of his class, reading his paper. The class assignment was to right an essay about what they wanted to be in the future. His outfit consisted of a red shirt and a pair of jeans.
"And that's why, when I grow up, I'm going to be a weatherman!" Marcus said, finishing his speech with a smile. The whole class clapped at the end. That's when a preteen Lori made a rude comment.
"A weatherman? What a dork!" Lori said, her and the rest of the class joining in mocking laughter.
Marcus: And it wasn't just Lori that picked on me…
Marcus sat in the cafeteria at lunch, calmly eating his sandwich, pudding and drinking grape juice. It was a nice, quite lunch. That is, until Lori and a few of her friends, one of them being named Michelle, gathered around him.
"Hey girls, our friend Marcus here wants to be a weatherman when he grows up" Lori said to her friends, an arm around the boy's shoulder. "How's about we literally help him out?"
"I agree, Lori" Michelle said. "This just in: …" she grabbed his chocolate pudding and dumped it on his head, "Mudslide at widow's peak!" she said mockingly, she and Lori chuckling.
"Warning…" one of the other girls pulled out a super soaker and blasted him with water, "Rainstorm ahead"
"Aw, come on!" Marcus stood up, looking at his now soaked clothes.
"Hey people, we're here to bring you a tornado warning" Lori spun Marcus around before pushing him into Michelle, who then pushed him into one of the other girls and so on, spinning him like an actual tornado.
Marcus: Things got worse as the months went on. But the worst day was when the money from the donation box was stolen…
"Marcus, Lori and her friends tell that you were the one that stole the 25 thousand dollars from the donation box" the high school principal asked, Lori and her friends as well a couple of cops standing beside him, all in front of the young man's locker.
"What?! No, they're lying!" he glared at the girls that smiled rather evilly at him.
"Well, would you mind opening your locker then?" the principal asked.
"Fine, but I already told you that I—" Marcus cut his sentence short.
Upon opening his locker, there lied a ton of cash, cash that had not been there before. The principal scooped the money into his arms, shooting Marcus and angered and disappointed glare.
"See? We told you it was him!" Lori crossed her arms.
"Take him away, boys" the principal told the cops, who then grabbed the boy by the arms.
"No, I was framed! They framed me!" Marcus shouted, struggling in the cops' grip as they dragged him away.
"What a shame. The boy had such promise, too" the principal shook his head.
Marcus: I was sent to military school that day. Stationed somewhere on the other side of the country. I ended up being there for 5 YEARS! By the time I had got back, I had learned that my parents had moved away and abandoned me, leaving me alone in this world.
Marcus: I then built a weather tracker to locate weather patterns that gave off strange energy readings. With it, I built a suit that allowed to harness the forces of nature, allowing me to control the weather itself! And to take revenge upon the very person that ruined my life. Lori Loud…
[End of Flashback]
"So, that's what I have against Lori. She ruined my life, made it miserable!" Marcus said with an angry glare.
"Wow. I knew Lori was a total bitch as teenager, but picking on a guy, framing him and getting him sent to military school? That's just cruel. Huh, this is probably the first time I've sympathized with the bad guy" Neon thought to himself.
"Marcus, I'm so sorry about what happened to you…" Lori began. "I was hoping that they'd send you to jail or at least juvie because I had saved up enough money for your bail, I didn't think they'd send you to military school…" she said, "And it turns out Michelle ended up stealing the money soon afterwards. After that, I literally never saw her again"
"Wow, some friend" Neon sarcastically said with a roll of his eyes.
"I know, right?" Lori replied. "I never meant to hurt you, Marcus. Truth is, I only did those things to you because I was upset and jealous. I envied you because you were one of the smart kids and my grades sucked…" she told him. "I wanted to ask you for help, but I was dating Bobby and I didn't want rumors to spread about me cheating on him and—"
"I don't care!" Marcus yelled angrily, interrupting Lori, "I don't care about that. All I care about is freezing your blood so fast, your heart shatters on the first thaw" he said in a threatening tone as he put his helmet back on.
"Yeah…" Neon placed a grip on Stormbuster's arm, "Not gonna let that happen" he shot his chained spear into the top of a column, the two then flying towards it. When the spear was released they landed on the second floor.
"You're starting to annoy me. Why do you care if someone gets hurt?" Stormbuster asked.
"Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't, but she's an exception and I'm not leaving here without her" Neon told him.
"Well then, looks like I'll have to kill you before I kill Lori" Stormbuster said, narrowing his eyes under his helmet.
"I'd like to see you try…" Neon narrowed his eyes.
Like earlier, there was a pause between the two. This silence was broken as the two charged at each other with Neon kneeing Stormbuster in the stomach. Neon threw a punch, but it was caught in Stormbuster's hand and he was kicked in the chest, tumbling backwards, but he quickly got back up and charged at his opponent. Stormbuster charged an ice ball in his hands, which would've hit had Neon leapt into the air and rebounded of a nearby column, kicking him in the face, making him skid across the icy floor.
Stormbuster got back up and switched to his wind power. He cuffed his hands together, pointed them at Neon and blew a miniature tornado at him, lifting him up, the strong winds combined with the shards of ice leaving small tears in his costume. Neon once again took out his sword hilt and transformed it into the neon blade. The anti-hero then spun in the opposite direction of the tornado, his blade helping him to dissipate the thing. Seeing that he was going to land, Neon shot at the ground, the blasts helping him break his fall.
"Seems we're at an impasse" Stormbuster commented.
"Yeah, I guess so" Neon replied.
"Well then, looks like you've left me with no other choice…" Stormbuster began, making Neon raise an eyebrow. He then pulled out a small, metal sphere, "This thing has the intensity of a category 12 hurricane! I didn't think I'd ever get to use one of these, but if it'll kill both you and Lori, so be it" he looked down at the blonde woman whose legs were still trapped in ice.
"Oh, no!" Neon's eyes widened, realizing what his opponent had planned.
The anti-hero leapt from the second floor and shot his spear into yet another column, allowing him to swing down to the first floor. However, he swung to far and ended up landing past Lori. This allowed Stormbuster to toss the weather bomb at the blonde woman. Neon ran to Lori's side and lunged himself at the weapon, catching it in midair, doing a flip and landing on his knee, having caught the metal ball just before it hit the ground.
"Phew! That was close" Neon exhaled a breath of relief. It was then that his hands glowed with energy, a bubble-like barrier forming around the bomb, "Ok, that's new…" he added, taken back a bit by his new power. Apparently, the barrier had weakened force of the bomb. "This new ability might come handy in the future. But for now…" Neon thought before tossing the bomb back at its owner like a football.
"No!" Stormbuster shouted as the bomb hit him and exploded upon impact, releasing the hurricane, capturing Stormbuster within it. Although, thanks to Neon's barrier, the strength of said hurricane had weakened. Still, it was strong enough to blow a hole in the ceiling.
It was in this moment that the ice and snow around them began to melt. After several seconds, the hurricane began to dissipate. When the winds finally died down, Neon saw that there was no longer anyone there.
"Son of bitch, he got away!" Neon narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Oh well, I can always get him next time" he said to himself, shrugging the incident off. Neon the turned and walked up to Lori, "You ok?" he asked as he approached her.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks" Lori smiled as Neon lightly blasted her legs, freeing them of their icy imprisonment.
"No problem… Lori, right?" Neon asked, pretending as if he didn't know who she was.
"Yeah" Lori nodded in confirmation, "So, you're the mysterious hero I've heard so much about. And you literally came to rescue me? Why?" Lori tilted her head.
"Your siblings grew concerned when you did come home for several hours. Your brother contacted me and asked that I rescue you" he told her. Well, it wasn't a total lie at least.
"That's sweet of him" She said, knowing how much her brother cared for her, "Thanks for saving me. Although, I'm sorry Marcus got away" she added. It was a good thing she was stationed in the east coast when she went to Military school, otherwise Marcus might've killed her long ago.
"Don't worry about it. Guys like that always come back for a rematch sooner or later" Neon replied.
"And your costume's ruined" Lori said, taking notice of the tears on the anti-hero's costume.
"It's fine, I know a guy that can help me fix it" Neon said, referring to Clyde. "So, now that you're safe, I can take you back home if you'd like" he offered.
"Nah, I've literally got my own ride. Thanks for the offer though" Lori replied. Neon shrugged.
"Well, my work here's done. See you around, Lori" Neon said blasting the ground and propelling himself upward, exiting out of the hole in the ceiling.
"See you around, Neon" Lori said under her breath before choosing to leave the area herself.
The Loud House…
"Aaand…" Lincoln entered a combo that defeated his opponent, "Yes! Another victory for Lincoln Loud!" the white-haired teen said with a fist pump, "Man, I love the Soul Calibur series" he added. It was in that moment that his bedroom door opened, revealing his eldest sister, Lori.
"Hey twerp, dinner's going to be ready in half an hour" Lori told him.
"Ok, thanks. Just let me finish this next match and I'll go wash up" he said without looking away from the screen.
"Ok" Lori nodded. She then decided to bring something up, "Hey, Lincoln…" she began.
"Hm?" Lincoln asked. The eldest Loud sister walked up to her younger brother, sat next to him and planted an affectionate kiss upon his cheek. "What was that for?" Lincoln looked at her quizzically.
"For sending Neon Flash to rescue me. You really are an amazing brother" Lori told him.
"Yeah, tell me something I don't know" Lincoln smirked with a light chuckle. Lori released a chuckle of her own.
"Finish your match and wash up. We're having pizza" she said, playfully rubbing his head and ruffling his hair before getting up and exiting his room, soon closing the door behind her. Lori released a sigh of content.
[Flashback]
"Your siblings grew concerned when you did come home for several hours. Your brother contacted me and asked that I rescue you" he told her. Well, it wasn't a total lie at least.
"That's sweet of him" She said, knowing how much her brother cared for her, "Thanks for saving me. Although, I'm sorry Marcus got away" she added.
"Don't worry about it. Guys like that always come back for a rematch sooner or later" Neon replied.
"And your costume's ruined" Lori said, taking notice of the tears on the anti-hero's costume.
Looking closely, she saw that his hood had been lowered and that parts of the mask that he used to cover his head had been ripped. One tear had shown bits of his hair, which was white. Wait, white hair? There was only one boy Lori knew that had white hair. The eldest Loud siblings smiled lightly.
"So, now that you're safe, I can take you back home if you'd like" Neon offered.
"Nah, I've literally got my own ride. Thanks for the offer though" Lori replied. Neon shrugged.
"Well, my work here's done. See you around, Lori" Neon said blasting the ground and propelling himself upward, exiting out of the hole in the ceiling.
"See you around, Neon" Lori said under her breath before choosing to leave the area herself.
[End of Flashback]
"He can tell me when he's ready" Lori said to herself with a shrug before heading downstairs for dinner.
To think, her little brother, the unofficial protector of Royal Woods, as well as their family. She could keep his secret. It was as she said, he could tell her when he's ready.
The Santiago Residence…
At the home of the Santiagos, Ronnie was sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels on the TV, when she came across the news.
Katherine Mulligan: This is Katherine Mulligan, here with another report. I'm here at the Royal Woods Mall, where earlier today it had been frozen solid in ice and snow.
Ronnie Anne had remembered hearing something about that earlier. Apparently, everything normal, and then, out of nowhere the whole place had been frozen like an indoor ice park. It was weird.
Katherine Mulligan: Several people were found unconscious within the mall. Their bodies were cold and near death, but doctors say that they'll make full recovery. No one knows how all of this happened or who caused it, but we are grateful that no one was harmed. Despite being nowhere to be seen, we believe that the day was saved once again by the mysterious hero, Neon Flash. This had been Katherine Mulligan, Royal Woods News.
The news then switched to another segment in its program. After the news report, this left Ronnie Anne with one question:
Who could Neon Flash be?
And that's the end of this chapter. Wow, 10 chapters, that's kind of a milestone. Never thought I'd make it this far, but I guess I did. And it looks like Lincoln/Neon got a new power, too!
This chapter's villain, Stormbuster, was thought of by my good friend Geo Soul. This villain has the honor of being the first villain being defeated by Neon, but managing to get away in the end, so expect a rematch in the future. And it looks like Lori's the first sister to learn Neon's identity. That'll be interesting, trying to see her keep Lincoln's secret from the others, Luna especially.
What do you think should happen in the upcoming chapters? If you have any ideas, say them in a review or feel free to PM me.
Oh, and if any of you wish to draw a cover for the story or draw what you think Neon Flash looks like, feel free to do so, just message me when said cover is finished. My Tumblr and DeviantArt accounts both have the same name as my Fanfiction account (Sunblast X). I look forward to see what you guys come up with.
Remember to Read, Review and Favorite/Follow.