Story #10: "The Civil War Begins" [Loud House / MCU Crossover]
Synopsis: Lincoln, ashamed of himself during the events of "Making the Case", is recruited by a mysterious woman to survey the opposing teams led by Captain America and Iron Man, respectively. He eventually gets caught up in the crossfire. (A slight AU of what happened after "Making the Case")
"Part 1"
(Tuesday, May 3th 2016)
(12 N)
|LAGOS|
The city of Lagos, Nigeria was like every other city in Africa and even the entire world for that matter: hustling and bustling with animated activity. Particular people who were packed with poverty were woefully working to their daytime jobs in order to make a living. The others were quite enjoying their living as it was now rather than as it was then. Of course, there were also the in-betweens.
"Alright, what do you see?"
"Standard beat cops. Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target."
"There's an ATM in the south corner, which means..."
"Cameras."
"Both cross streets in one way?"
"So compromised escape routes."
"Means our guy doesn't care about being seen; he isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out. You see that ranger over half way up the block?"
"You mean the red one? It's cute."
"It's also bulletproof, which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody, probably us."
"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?"
"Looking over your shoulder needs to become a second nature."
"Anybody ever tell you, you're a little paranoid?"
"Not to my face. Why, did you hear something?"
"Eyes on target, folks. It's the best lead we have on Rumlow in 6 months; I don't want to lose him."
"If he sees us coming, there won't be a problem; he kind of hates us."
The New Avengers were presently pursuing former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and S.T.R.I.K.E. leader Brock Rumlow, who was last seen in Lagos...which is exactly where we were now. Last year (November 5th), Steve, having trailed his adversary following his escape from the hospital he was being held in (said escape involved punching a nurse), learned from breadcrumbs that Rumlow was robbing police stations from all over numerous countries. The year after, he set up an arms race as a means to draw out HYDRA, whom he opened fire on. Needless to say, the resulting carnage was some nasty unpleasantness. Following the massacre, Rumlow took up the alias "Crossbones" and began recruiting soldiers/mercenaries, planning to draw out the team (specifically, the leader) who made him what he was in the first place.
So far, so bad... His plan was working.
Steve's thoughts on the matter were interrupted by a caused commotion outside. A red garage truck was making its way through the clamoring crowd, paying them inattention as it drove on.
"Sam, see that garbage truck? Take it."
Sam in response launched his personal drone, which took flight after it was deployed. "Redwing" flew above buildings, below crowds, and eventually underneath the aforementioned garbage truck. "Give me X-ray."
After a few seconds, the screen displayed the full results: "The truck's loaded for max weight, and the driver's armed."
"It's a battering ram," Natasha raised her head in realization.
"Go now."
"What?" Wanda mimicked Natasha's actions just as Sam ran and leaped off the building he was on,
"He's not hitting the police." Steve exited the apartment and ran down to head outside, Sam deploying his wings to fly to the truck's destination.
The garbage truck was a few miles away from the Institute For Infectious Diseases when the armed driver opened the door and jumped out. The guards at the front gate noticed this and ran to contact back-up. The garbage truck/battering ram flipped on its head and smashed the armored gate to bits, just as a delivery truck drove in through the decimated front entrance. A total of 15 mercenaries exited each van and opened fire on approaching security guards, their leader - a heavily-armored individual - leading the remnants of his team to storm the main building. They fired smoke grenades inside, the poisonous gas slowly flooding the building and suffocating the poor people unfortunate enough to remain inside. The leader meticulously made his way to the third floor and located the object he was searching for: a biological weapon.
"Pack it up."
WHOOSH!
Outside, one of the soldiers patrolling the front noticed the approaching 'Whoosh' and turned a little too late to aim his Galil MAR at the source. Steve had dropped in (quite literally, courtesy of Sam) and slammed the man into a truck, before using said truck to kick an advancing soldier away as he blocked numerous gunshots. Throwing his shield at another soldier and disorienting him, Steve retrieved his shield and ran on top another truck, drop-kicking the soldier on top of it.
"Body armor, AR-15s. I make 7 hostiles."
Sam flew and disarmed two other soldiers, quick-drawing his Steyr SPPs and opening fire on a third soldier, who fell and landed on a conveniently placed truck, "I make four." (1)
Wanda glided past him and a few feet in front of a mercenary, who - despite opening fire on the witch - found his muscles tightening up, "Sam," She called out and threw him backward, where Sam was waiting to knock him out with his wing, "Three." He drew one of his Steyr SPPs and his wings morphed into a shield,
"Rumlow's on the third floor."
Steve leaped off the truck's roof and made his way to Wanda, "Wanda. Just like we practiced."
"What about the gas?" was Wanda's question as she backed up.
"Get it out," was Steve's answer as he broke into a sprint. Wanda nodded and levitated him upward, sending him crashing inside. The first soldier who approached him found his gas mask ripped off and his throat clenching up. Kicking him into the wall, he then ducked for cover behind a pillar as two more soldiers opened fire on his position. Using the corner of his right eye, he threw his shield and hit the first soldier, kicking him into the glass windows of the test rooms. He then blocked close-quarters gunfire before performing a leg swipe and dropping him off his feet, dragging and slamming him into the pillar behind him.
Outside, the garbage truck driver outside drew and attempted to use his SIG-Sauer P226R, "attempted to" being a dead ringer. He was knocked out by a boot kick to the face before he could use it. A woman with vivid crimson hair picked up the handgun and took up the two extra cartridges; checking the first load, she reloaded it and checked the safety before slipping it in the Galco Royal Guard holster (also commandeered).
"Rumlow has a biological weapon."
"I'm on it."
She turned to see Romanoff speed past her and intentionally crash the motorcycle to take out an incoming henchman. Leaping into a soldier's arms as support when she kicked another, she kneed the same soldier and punched him before disarming the incoming others. She decided out of the pure heck of it to help because these soldiers needed help. They needed help getting their asses kicked. Charging into battle head first, the crimson-headed woman roundhouse-kicked the first soldier she saw and jumped up to perform a chokehold on another; rolling and leaping up, the woman opened fire with the P226R and took down seven soldiers. Disarming one of his KA-BAR Knife, she dual-wielded it and her handgun as melee weapons. All of this in five minutes. All by herself.
BOOM!
Just not in time to aid the others.
The woman turned to find an explosion occurred not far off. From a distance, she watched as Falcon flew down towards the scene. While her outward expression was nonchalant, her inward expression was clearly that of dismay.
Shit. What did you do, Sunset?
What did you do?
(Wednesday, May 4th 2016)
(7:00 PM)
| ROYAL WOODS |
What have I done? This question kept racing through Lincoln's mind as guilt and sadness conquered his mind and heart. Looking back from a more realistic perspective, a trophy was only desired to feel somewhat adequate compared to his sisters. Speaking of whom, they had enough of his absolute accountability and absolutely abandoned him for it.
"I deserve it though," he whispered, tears slowly forming in his eyes as they dropped to the sutured sidewalks. It was better for him to run away and provide something to his family that they deserved: happiness. It was better off this way, anyways. His parents really were constantly busy with work and his sisters to pay him any attention. In a strange way, he felt distanced from everyone. He was the only boy for instance with oddly different hair and characteristics. It didn't matter any longer.
After everything that's happened for the first five months as a vigilante, Lincoln felt extremely empty. Yes, even after avenging Cristina's rape. He saw things...things that would normally go unnoticed by some. He saw action, he saw blood, he saw gore, he saw guts; he trusted his conscience way too much. It made no difference. It would be wise to remember it.
Lincoln pushed himself up and began walking away from the comfort of his two-story house. He wasn't welcome there anymore; his elder sisters had thrown him to the curb. He didn't know where to go. He didn't know where to start.
"You lost, kid?"
Lincoln turned to his right and found a woman leaning against a tree. She had vivid crimson with brilliant yellow-striped hair, moderate cyan eyes, and a black leather jacket complimenting her necklace of a red and yellow shimmering sun. She was evidently ecstatic, but for whatever reason was anyone's guess,
"What?"
"Most kids on the streets I meet, they tend to be runaways. You, on the other hand, seem like you're just a normal trying to find your way back home."
Lincoln was painfully reminded why he was walking off, "I don't have a home. Not anymore, at least."
The girl could relate, "You lost someone?"
"No. Something. I made a mistake and now my sisters hate me for it. All I wanted was to be like them: special. I guess uploading their most embarrassing moments for the school to see wasn't the smartest idea."
The girl could really relate, "No, it wasn't. I won't hold it against you, however."
Lincoln scoffed, "You would be mad, too, if – "
"No, I wouldn't."
Lincoln stopped himself after she did, "You wouldn't?"
"I would be angry."
Lincoln gulped after that Bait and Switch statement, "Oh."
"Now, if it were a kid like you, it'd be an entirely different thing. It doesn't mean I won't be disappointed in you."
Lincoln nodded in assurance, "Okay then."
"Listen, kid, we all make mistakes. It's important that we learn our lessons from them."
Lincoln took in the sentences she said and nodded in understanding. He couldn't help but feel the urge to hug her. A hug indeed is what she got, much to her defying discomfort.
"Yeah, yeah. You're welcome, kid."
Lincoln, to the girl's relief, noticed her uneasiness when it came to the hug and released her. The girl's easiness eventually came back, "So, you've no home, huh?"
Lincoln shook his head and hung it in shame. When it was up, he saw the girl a few feet from him now, gesturing him to follow the leader. Lincoln ran up to her and took her side,
"What's your name?"
The girl was ashamed of her actual name, so she shamelessly lied, "Becky. Becky Barnes."
Four hours into their eight hour flight, Lincoln drifted away into sleep and Becky glanced out the window, taking in the wide open ocean view. The world seemed small to her, but then again...it was to everybody else. What made it different than it was when she was a little mare (or kid, when taking into consideration the first years as Celestia's apprentice, she wasn't yet banished to the human world) was the fact that the world she thought knew...was bigger than she thought.
Well, she did come into contact with a Crystal Gem. That in of itself was strange.
Or was it...?
|BEACH CITY|
Logan didn't like this. Logan didn't like this at all.
Logan had outwardly objected to staying – or, in Steven's saying, "sleepovering" – with the Crystal Gems for the time being, considering that he lived off the grid. However, it was because of the persistence and insistence of young Steven and his friend Connie that persuaded him to stay for the time being. He didn't think he would enjoy it, though.
Boy, how wrong was he.
Logan had spent the last year with the presumed people responsible for his sister's shatter, learning more about the Crystal Gems' history and reasons for freedom in the universe. He stayed in a still-standing barn with a new member of the Crystal Gems, a Peridot gem. Peridot was a nice enough nuisance, but not nice enough to be that big of a nuisance; she was ultimately useful when she wasn't "babbling bout", in Logan's words.
This was and wasn't one of those times.
Logan had been trying desperately to drone out Peridot's speech concerning the television show Camp Pining Hearts. The Gem believed that Percy and Pierre were the "superior couple" for reasonable reasons,
"Again, you got all this from one episode?"
"Again, it's subtext, Steven."
Logan bitterly blew out a puff of wind and stood up from his desk. He walked outside the barn and onto the nearby Warp Pad. He warped to Rose's Secret Armory and activated the broken pedestal, which he used to select a sword symbol. A section of swords emerged from the floor and Logan took up a trio. He then walked back to the Warp Pad to warp to his next destination.
An old friend was waiting for him there.
|Equestria|
Canterlot City. A city that continues to spectacularly shine through even the most darkest of atrocious ages. Yes, it was so small, yet so significant. In the olden days, it was an old mining town that was later innovatively industrialized by Samuel Sapphire aka "Star Swirl the Bearded", due to his prime and precious penchant for relentless reinvigorating collapsing companies. Canterlot City was no exception. 200 hundred years later, Canterlot City is still the prominent pinnacle of star-studded success. Its cultural diversity has immensely increased, fantastically fusing new-aged styles with old-fashioned ones. In fact, the town has quite balanced the line between fantasy and reality. It was a diamond in the rough.
However, a diamond was exactly what it was: A damaged diamond.
Like all great things, that fantasy must revert back to reality.
Her name was Sunset Shimmer...
"Was" being the keyword.
"Part 2"
(Thursday, May 5th 2016)
(7:00 AM)
|ROYAL WOODS|
What have I done? This question kept racing through Lori's mind as guilt and sadness conquered her mind and heart. Looking back from a more realistic perspective, a trophy was only desired by Lincoln to feel somewhere near adequate compared to the rest of his sisters. Speaking of whom, they – herself included – had enough of his absolute accountability and absolutely abandoned him for it.
"Did he deserve it, though?" She whispered, tears threatening to drop down her cheeks as she laid down in her bed. It wasn't better for her to object her overblown rage towards Lincoln and not admit it to him directly. It wasn't better this way, anyways. He was thrown out of the house following the confrontation, basically barred from entering ever again. It didn't matter any longer.
Everything that's happened in the past five months since Cristina's rape, Lincoln had been uncommonly unusual than usual. Sleeping out early, waking up early, and working up and out lately were some of the central changes contributed to him. There was a fever, a rage, a feeling of powerlessness...that was beginning to convert him...cruel.
Lori gradually got out of bed and in Lincoln's bedroom, which was strangely empty. Did Lincoln not try to get back into the house? Lori was beginning to worry, believing that her and the others' outburst yesterday was taking its toll on them now. Glancing around, his bed was still neatly folded and nothing else was touched. She exited the room and headed downstairs to the front door; walking outside, the spring sun hadn't shone through the convenient clouds just yet. She frowned upon this and walked further outside, her straightforward stress considerably climbing higher and higher. If Lincoln was missing and they were ultimately unaware of this fact, she would be substantially shot down by her own parents. She had to find him.
Lori didn't know where to go. Lori didn't know where to start.
Lori knew that she had to find Lincoln.
Lori headed back inside the house and into her room, a snoring Leni sounding throughout. She cleansed her closet in search of comfy clothes for the search for her brother. After placing spares into a luggage spinner, Lori was dressed in a brown leather jacket, a light blue long-sleeved collared shirt, a pair of midnight blue jeans, and brown shoes. Taking a page from Lincoln's book, she wrote and placed on the refrigerator door a note explaining her disappearance for the next two days.
Lori walked outside and, after sparing the house one more glance, walked away in substantial shame. She didn't get far, however, as a mystery man stood in her way. A mystery man with a black-and-white suit, jet-black hair, and...lapis lazuli eyes.
Lapis Lazuli...
"Logan."
"Lori."
|BERLIN|
Well... I stand corrected, Lincoln mused.
Lincoln and Becky entered the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre through an armored vehicle, followed by two more. The duo arrived first and exited out, finding Becky's boss standing beside a blonde woman with a plain white long-sleeved collared shirt and a black leather vest,
"Kate. I heard about your Aunt Peggy; I'm sorry for your loss."
"Thank you, Agent Barnes. Any signs of the Winter Solider?"
"Not that I've heard of, yet."
The Winter Soldier? Lincoln scratched his head. Whoever this Winter Soldier was, he seemed like a superhero like himself...or a supervillain unlike himself.
"What will happen to him? The Winter Solider?"
Kate was clearly completely confused as to why a kid was in a government facility, but Becky's boss curtly cut her off, "Same thing that ought to happen to the rest of them: Physical evaluation and extradition."
"Hopefully enough, it won't come down to that. I wish to prevent any further bloodshed."
"Oh, don't worry, Miss Barnes. Nobody will be killed during this mission... I hope."
He walked off and motioned Lincoln to follow, while Becky stood behind and motioned Kate to follow,
"Who's the kid, Becky?"
"He's my asset, Kate. Didn't you get the memo?"
"No, Mr. Ross never sent any memo. Are you sure this is the best idea?"
"No. That's why it's will work."
Becky and Kate ceased their chatter after that. The former was confident, the latter was conflicted. Both knew one thing, however: That kid was very vital to the mission beforehand.
Lincoln, Becky, Mr. Ross, and Kate traveled upstairs and found nearly one hundred government agents hustling and bustling around the available rooms. The latter two oversaw the operation and ordered the agents around, the former two headed to another room for Lincoln to oversee. It was a room full of contemporary clothes with two types: practical and tactical.
Lincoln turned towards Becky for an explanation; "Don't come out until you're ready," was her only response close to an explanation. She closed the door and Lincoln was immediately inundated with an abundance of abounding attire. Well, better get dressed, Lincoln cracked his knuckles and commenced his dress up session.
A few minutes later, and Lincoln emerged from the closet donning a divine combination of practical and tactical clothes. The set included a black leather jacket above a plain white long-sleeved collared shirt / a solid black bulletproof vest, a pair of black uniform pants, and a pair of black dress shoes with matching leather fingerless gloves. He looked like an agent, but didn't feel like an agent.
Not yet, at least.
Six Years Ago. . .
(Friday, May 7th 2010)
(7:00 PM)
'So, Krav Maga, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Taekwondo, Kali-Eskrima-Silat, Jeet Kune Do, Wing Chun, Muay Thai, Wushu, Parkour, and Tricking? That's an awful lot of self-defense martial arts.'
Logan watched as Lori practiced with Eskrima sticks. Sunset was nearby practicing her Wing Chun skills on a training dummy. Out of the two, Sunset seemed to be most prone to spontaneous combustion, a given since she was a redhead. He lightly laughed at the irony. In all seriousness, however, he really was worried for the both of them. They were both chosen were greatness and destined to change the world forever...which was the primary reason for his worry. They were practically risking their lives and braving the face of death just to ensure the world's safe and sound security.
'Security... Was there even such a thing?'
Logan glanced at the two.
'We shall see...in time.'
Four Years Ago. . .
(Sunday, November 4th 2012)
(7:00 AM)
Darkness.
Darkness was the one word to describe everything absolutely around him, with the excellent exception of the stars. The stars were aligned accurately but fantastically flawed. The stars were bombarded with beauty and blindness. The stars were dazzling with deadly deserving. However, they are what they are. Significant stars that serve a purpose in the universe, a sententious symbol of hope in the world.
That's how Logan singularly saw them.
Logan landed on the surface of the Warp Pad and found himself in an usual uniform: a mid-waist black coat above a white long-sleeved collared shirt / a white undershirt with a basic black tie, a pair of black dress pants with matching dress shoes / a leather belt with a silver buckle, and a pair of matching leather gloves. He glanced around him and remotely recognized his surroundings as the Galaxy Warp. He slowly stepped off the Pad and continued his glancing, a frown upon his face as he did so.
Everything has changed... Was Logan's tentative thought.
Everything has all changed. For better or worse, I don't know. If anything, it all just changed. So, why am I, without warning, worried? I shouldn't be worried. I should be...well, anything but worried. And yet... I am.
Logan sped up his stepping and browsed through for a little longer. His oceanic overcast was the first thing he notably noticed; the humans called this the Atlantic Ocean, one of four more on Earth. So, basically, he was on Earth.
Logan Lazuli was on Earth.
Just not in the place he needed/wanted to be momentarily.
Logan ran back to the Warp Pad and attempted an activation of his gemstone. It wasn't necessarily no problem: the first few times were also the hardest. One of those times, he had help; this time, he hadn't. Needless to say, this utilization was useless. It didn't hurt to try, however. He vented his vision and cleared his consciousness of nugatory negativity, focusing only on his will within. The gemstone embedded in his back began to glow its lapis lazuli blue color before flickering a little bit and reverting back to its gradual growing glow. His eyes exposed, his revealed reflective eyes were purposely pupiless. The Warp Pad glowed along with him and he was jettisoned back to the darkness that engulfed him before.
Darkness.
Darkness was the one word to describe everything absolutely around him, with the excellent exception of the stars. The stars were aligned accurately but fantastically flawed. The stars were bombarded with beauty and blindness. The stars were dazzling with deadly deserving. However, they are what they are. Significant stars that serve a purpose in the universe, a sententious symbol of hope in the world.
That's how Logan singularly saw them.
Logan found himself in a clouded cave surrounded by sharp stalagmites and whirled water. Judging by the broken pedestal in the center of the circular platform, he knew where he was now and why he shouldn't be here.
This was Rose Quartz's Secret Armory.
Two Years Ago. . .
(Wednesday, December 17th 2014)
(7:00 PM)
Sunset wanted to cry. Sunset wanted to sob. Sunset wanted to scream out in amazing anguish. She couldn't, however. She could do nothing, she couldn't do anything. Nothing except / anything but...scarcely stare into her fabricated fireplace and softly sigh in sadness; she could subject herself to suicide and that would've been the end of this madness. She was still strong enough to dismiss those dismal thoughts from her head before any more could come of it.
Sunset sauntered over to her laptop and tentatively typed three words: 'Places to Move'. Out of all the ream of results that popped up, only one completely caught her attention. It was another small city in Michigan called Royal Woods; the school, which had a pithy percentage of bullying and violence, was a silver lining at best. This had to be the correct choice; otherwise, she would facing one final year of horrendous humiliation at the hands of her former friends.
Sunset, while speaking of former friends, attempted one final time two days ago to three talk down their temper towards her, but to no avail. Needless to say, her shocked surprise to find that Rainbow Dash had ratted her out to Gilda and the rest of the 30-person student board was an underrated understatement. To be fair, she figured this sort of thing would occur sooner or later – more sooner than later. She didn't think they'd go this far, however.
Sunset had just gotten back from the abandoned warehouse she was held captive in for two days straight two hours ago. She waited until the exact day (or days in this case) came where everybody had to be at school – final exam testing, running from Wednesday to Friday. It was highly hard to locate the lock, but it was worth it; she ultimately unlocked it and made her way back to her place. Then...well, we all know where she ended up as of now.
Sunset packed everything in her two backpacks / satchels, everything included the journal used to communicate with Twilight. It somewhat saddened her to leave the old place behind, but she had to. She had to be free of this. Sunset threw everything in the backseat of her black second generation 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS before entering into the driver's side. Turning over the engine, she drove off, intending to never look back and never go back.
Sunset kept her word.