The Loud Awakening

Chapter 13: First Blood

That Engineer: And once again….I make references that I wasn't even trying to make. -_-

WordFighter: What do you think this is, Doom? Goblin Slayer?

He23t: Don't you mean….upMOUNTAIN? *Dodges several thrown shoes* Oh, so Luan can dish'em out, but I can't!?

Gamelover41592: Yes, they are. If they want to be truly free, however, they're gonna have to fight for it.

Keeper of Worlds: Remember a few chapters ago when I said how most of the Loud sisters were now more in tune with their bestial side? Well, your question is about to be answered right now.

Recommended Battle Music: Faint - Linkin Park

World War 3 could've started and plunged the world into a nuclear winter and the Loud children still wouldn't have noticed due to how overjoyed they were to finally see each other. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and this was certainly no exception. The reunited group hug lasted for a whole a ten minutes before they broke it up. As they happily wiped away their tears, Lincoln took a moment to finally, for the first time since he last saw them a year ago, get a good look at his altered sisters.

The girls' attire was similar to his, with the older girls wearing white tank tops and sweats while the younger girls wore plain white t-shirts and sweats. In terms of height, the older sisters were the most radically changed, ranging from Lynn being almost a head taller than him to Lori, literally and metaphorically, towering over them. As for the younger half, there was no forced growth spurt that the boy could discern from his little sisters, other than the fact that they naturally gained an inch or two due to them now being one year older. Another changed physical aspect he noticed in his big siblings, with a growing blush, were their...chests. Lori and Leni were quite endowed, their white tank tops showing a bit of a strain. Luna's were a bit on the ample side as well, in contrast to Luan's smaller but perkier assests and Lynn's were now noticeable. The sporty Loud also now had a slightly darker skin tone, something akin to a healthy tan.

Other that that, the most obvious physical changes were those that Lincoln was already aware of: Lori and Lynn had reptilian scales on their arms, legs and various part of their bodies, the elder blonde having sky blue scales and large wings while the brunette gaining dark red scales a flaming tail. Leni had scales as well, but aquamarine in color and more akin to a fish than a reptile, as well a sleek tail with a flipper on the end. Luna's arms and legs were covered with brown fur, along with a fluffy tail. Luan had large wings for arms, consisting of light brown feathers, with bird-like legs and a long tail feather. Lucy was still as he last saw her a year ago, right down to her long spiky tail. Lola and Lana both had their arms and legs covered in blonde fur, each having feline and canine features respectively. Lisa, aside from himself, was the most seemingly unchanged out of all of them and would've fooled Lincoln if it wasn't for the fact that her eyes had no pupils and her irises had a solid bright emerald glow, the whites of her eyes having numerous faintly glowing lines that looked like circuits and wires if one were to look more closely.

The girls, for their part, had come to similar conclusions about each other, as well as getting a good once-over of their only brother. He grew slightly, gaining an two inches or so. He also lost some baby fat as his arms were a tad more defined, showing a bit of his lean muscles. His snow white hair had become shaggy, though his iconic turkey tail was still ever present, much to the girls' delight.

"You…*sniff*...you guys have literally no idea how glad I am to see you all again.", spoke Lori, relief and joy evident in her voice as she wiped away her tears with a scaly finger.

"Feeling's mutual, dude." said Luna, her emotions much like Lori's. "Though, like Ziggy Stardust, we all went through some changes."

"That's putting it way too mildly, Luna.", Lucy stated in monotone.

"Aye to that. Some of us were changed more drastically than the others, I'm afraid.", concurred Lincoln. Now that the emotional high of their reunion was subsiding, the girls quickly noticed one of Lincoln's most altered aspects.

"Ummm, Linky?", Leni began, confusion in her voice. "Your voice is, like, different."

"Yeah, you sound like you're on the set of Hamlet.", Lynn inputted.

"Hark? What matter of mine vo-...Oh, right. Most of ye aren't even aware of this.", replied Lincoln, facepalming himself before giving an explanation. "Yes, this be my new way of speech. And before ye ask, no, I cannot turn it off and I only began speaking like this after the Orb ordeal."

"Wait, you said most of us. Who else knew?", queried Lori with a raised eyebrow.

"Besides that mad scientist, Singed? Lucy.", the white-haired boy answered. All eyes turned to the young goth, who nodded in confirmation.

"It's true. It was during one of their 'tests' a month after they captured us when I heard Lincoln speak.", Lucy spoke before showing a small smile. "I found it quite fitting for him."

"As do I!", cheered Lola as she hugged her brother by the waist. "As if being back together didn't make this the best day ever, Linky speaking like a proper knight is just icing on the chocolate cake!"

Lincoln almost flinched by how close to home her innocent comment had been, but he hid his reaction well and chuckled as he affectionately rubbed Lola's head.

"I shall always be thine knight, milady.", he played along, to which the two-tailed blonde squealed with delight and hugged him all the more tighter.

"Oddly enough, I'm quickly growing fond of that voice, too. Quite the riveting Shakespearence, no?, quipped Luan. Usually, a Luan-delivered pun like that would earn the usual collective groan, but after going so long without hearing one of her crummy jokes and wordplays, the siblings responded with snickers and even giggles. All of which almost made the comedian cry with happiness again. "*sniff*...I missed you guys, so much."

"We all have, dear elder sibling of mine. And Lincoln is not the only one who went through a change in vocals."

The siblings jumped slightly at the very cybernetic voice, the source of which coming from…

"Lisa?", began Lana, surprised and in awe. "Whoa! Your voice sounds totally different, too! "

"I am very well aware of the fact, Lana.", Lisa replied as she adjusted her glasses. "Much like our brother, I, too, did not gained this unique...accent, per say, until after they implanted those Orbs within us."

"I think it's safe to assume that none of us gained any….", Lynn began before raising her hand, her clawed pointer finger extended. From the tip of her claw, a small flame flickered into existence. "...perks 'til after they did that."

Seeing the jock's demonstration, the girls looked at each other for a moment before each of them deciding to show their own examples of their powers. Lisa, to the astonishment of her siblings, mechanically transformed her right arm into what appeared to be a blaster, the end of which giving off a green glow. Lola formed a small ice ball between her paws. Lana, thinking of no better way to show it, sprung forth a stool-size slab of stone, destroying part of the floor as she sat on it. Lucy simply stood there as swirling clouds of darkness orbited her body. Luan's hair blew lightly as weak wind currents enveloped around her. Purple sparks of electricity could seen arching throughout Luna. A tendril of water slithered down Leni's left arm, weaving through her fingers like sewing needle. Last but not least, Lori's clawed hand gave off an almost ethereal blue hue, the carved runes on her her scaly arm glowing the same color.

"To no one's surprise, great. Literally almost all of us look like the missing cast from Monster Mash and we all have weird powers.", sighed Lori, ending her demonstration as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Where do I even begin with all of this?"

As she made that statement, Lincoln looked off to the side, eyes narrowed in contemplation. Should he tell them about Krieg? About the dreams that he has seen? Confessing them would make it seem like he's gone mad, but seeing as how the entire situation was already insane as it is…

"Girls, may I ask thee something?", announced the male Loud, gaining his sisters' attention.

"State your query, brother.", Lisa acknowledged.

"Hath any….", he hesitated before taking deep breath and continuing. "Hath any of thee, by chance, encountered-"

Lincoln's question would go unfinished as he noticed Lola and Lana's ears immediately perk up and their heads snapping toward the corridor behind them.

"Lola? Lana? What-"

"SHHH!", urged Lola, silencing him as she spoke in a whisper. "We heard something."

"Heard what, dudes? I don't hear a- Wait a sec….", Luna began to counter, but then her own ears perked up and she toward the direction the twins were facing, her eyes narrowing. "Hey, I...I hear it, too."

Now on high alert, the siblings gathered around Luna and the twins, the trio almost as if trying to see through the walls to get picture of what they were hearing.

"Like, what are you guys hearing?", asked Leni, feeling anxious.

"Not sure, but I think it's rumbling. A lot of rumbling.", Lana answered as her ears twitched, Lola and Luna nodding in confirmation.

In response, Lisa stepping in between the twins, her irises dilating to take up her entire eye sockets and glowing green. The sight before her vision turned into a world of transparent, holographic images, allowing the genius to see the layout of the entire floor and through the walls of the various corridors. After a few seconds of scanning, her gaze stopped on a peculiar dead end. Peculiar because this dead end had wide vertical column that reached beyond the floor's layout, almost as if it was a…!

"Lana, this rumbling wouldn't happen to sound like some large mechanical apparatus moving, would it?", inquired Lisa, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, it actually does sound like that. Why'd you ask?"

"Because I may have just found the elevators.", the prodigy answered.

"You found the elevators!? Awesome, that means we can get out of here!", exclaimed Lynn, the flames on her tail rising with her mood.

"I strongly doubt it's that simple. Lisa, what else do you see?", said Lori, suspicious and not at all believing in an easy escape.

"You are correct to be weary, eldest sibling, because I do see three separate elevators making their way down as we speak.", Lisa replied.

"Do you see what's inside of them?"

"Soldiers. I count 30 in total."

The siblings felt a cold pit of foreboding form in the base of their stomachs upon hearing those words. The feeling only became more prevalent when Lisa turned back toward them, eyes returning to their original state as she gave a serious glare.

"...and they're armed."

'Man, I got a really bad feeling about this.'

This was the particular thought that ran through the mind of one Blake Garza, a Private ranked grunt of Tetherby's established army of freelanced soldiers and mercs. Honestly, this career was very much not up his alley, but, at the time, he was dire straits and in desperate need of of a job so he had no other choice. Quite frankly, he didn't think he would see any kind of action around these parts, seeing as how the T.W.D.D was an isolated research base located at the foot of the highest mountain in the Rocky Mountain range. Yet, here he was, standing amongst others of his rank, decked in state of the art military armor while armed with stun batons and tranq rifles, packed in elevators like sardines as they made their way to the bottom floor. Soon enough, the elevator stopped and its doors opened, allowing the soldiers to step out. More men poured out of the other two elevators as well, until all 30 troops stood or kneeled in the area, their captain standing in front of them to debrief them.

"Alright, fellas, listen up.", he began firmly. "Thirty minutes ago, Security put out an alert throughout the T.W.D.D facility that the project assets of the Evo Program have, somehow, been freed. As some of you are aware, our boss was NOT happy."

Some of the soldiers, Blake included, visibly cringed at that statement. The wealthy businessman was in the middle of cutting his cake when the news reached his ears. The fact that today was his birthday only worsened his later reaction. Later because, when he initially received the word, he was among esteemed guests, one of which being General Esker who had come to see the progress of Tetherby's prized projects. He, with barely an ounce of calm dignity, had excused himself before retreating to his office. What he did when he got there, no one knows but there was a rumor going around that he had thrown two armchairs out of his office suite window, though this was never confirmed.

"Thankfully, that was the bad news.", the captain continued. "The good news is that, according to recent reports, the assets haven't attempted to escape yet, which is where we come in. Our mission is to locate, incapacitate and return the projects back to their original holding cells. Obviously, this is easier said than done. The assets are powerful and extremely dangerous, so don't drop your guard for a second down and stay near each other. As soon as you see one, DO NOT hesitate and take them down."

"Err, captain? What happens if we're unable to tranq'em and they start to overwhelm us?", a grunt kneeling beside Blake asked.

"I highly doubt that seeing as how we outnumber them three to one, but if it does come down to that….", the captain replied with sigh. "...I don't care how valuable these projects are to Tetherby, if we're unable to control them….then just kill'em. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir!", his troops responded, seeing no fault in that logic.

"Alright. Now, I want five-"

The captain's statement was interrupted when the lights suddenly cut off, plunging the entire floor into darkness. Unsettled murmurs spread throughout the soldiers in reaction to this abrupt development.

"Settle down, men. I'll see what's going on.", ordered the captain as he pressed two fingers to his right ear. "Control, this is Captain Davidson of the Asset Retrieval Squad. All the lights just went out down here. Was that you?"

"Negative, Captain.", a female voice responded into his ear. "We had nothing to do with it. According to our scans, something down there caused a blackout in the 50th floor. We're guessing R.A.I.J.U. had a hand in that, but you're going to have to begin the mission in the dark, unfortunately."

"Fuck…", Davidson cursed under his breath before turning back toward his men. "Night goggles on, boys. We're doing this in the dark. Once you're set, I want five teams of six. Team Alpha and Bravo, you'll check the left hallways. Charlie and Delta, you'll take the right. I'll lead Echo up the middle. Let's get this done, gentlemen!"

A minute later, once they were all equipped and in their correct positions, Davidson gave the order and the five teams began to slowly make their way through the darkened corridors, checking from floor to ceiling for any sign of their mission objectives. After ten minutes of tense searching, Davidson held up and closed fist, signaling to Blake and the others to halt.

"Something's not right. Ten minutes and we still haven't found these damn freaks.", growled the captain, now feeling a tad paranoid as he pressed his earpiece. "All teams, check in."

"Alpha Team, all present and accounted for.", responded the team's leader over the radio.

"Bravo Team, same here."

"Charlie Team, ditto."

…..

"Delta Team, check in."

…..

"Team Delta, do you read me?"

…..

"Oh, for fuck's sake...Charlie, go over to Delta and find what the hell is up with their comms!", growled Davidson, now frustrated. Meanwhile, the bad feeling Blake had at the start of this mission had only gotten stronger at this point and he couldn't help but feel like they were being watched…..

Actually, it didn't feel like they were being watched. No, it felt more like being….stalked.

"Roger that. Heading over to- whoa, hold on a sec.", spoke Team Charlie's leader. "Sir, I...I think we found one of them."

"You think? Describe.", barked the captain.

"It's a boy. White hair, about twelve years old from the looks of it. And….wait…..what the hell, is he holding a poleaxe!?"

Davidson felt his heart drop into his stomach as a giant red flag blared through his brain.

"That's Project D.A.W.N! Take him down!"

"Holy shit, where did he go!? The kid was right-GAACK!", the leader of Charlie began before the sound of flesh being cut into interrupted him. Soon after that, the sound of gunfire and men screaming could be heard, not just from the captain's earpiece, but all around the members of Team Echo. Ringing through the darkness that now filled the entire floor, more screams and gunfire could be heard from the surrounding corridors, along with strange noises such as gushing water, roaring flames and tumbling rocks.

"And we are officially now in a clusterfuck.", Blake commented to himself, filled with fright as he and the other three soldiers looked toward their captain for any hope to get out of this alive.

"God dammit, they must've set up an ambush! I don't know how these freaks knew we were coming, but it really doesn't matter now! Men, we need to…..", Davidson began as turned toward his troops, but trailed off as he noticed someone standing behind them a few yards away. Blake and the others, confused by their leader's actions, turned around as well….and was promptly flabbergasted. There, standing at the intersection where they had just past….

….stood Lori.

"Freaks, are we?", she growled, baring her sharp teeth as the runes on her scales and slitted eyes glowed an eerie blue.

"PUT HER DOWN!", hollered Davidson as he raised his tranq rifle and opened fire, Blake and other men following suit.

Unfazed, Lori brought her right wing forward, shielding herself as the bullets deflected off of her scales without leaving a scratch. Soon, to the men's horror, their rifles clicked empty. Hearing this, the young woman leapt forward, her right wing still in front. Davidson and Blake had enough foresight to hit the deck, but the other three weren't so fortunate. One grunt was on the unlucky side of Lori swinging her wing in a horizontal sweep with enough force to send him flying into a wall, the impact breaking his neck and killing him instantly. In that same second, Lori swung the back of her fist into the temple of another ill-fated soldier's head, knocking him completely off of his feet and onto the ground. Not breaking her motion, she then lifted her right foot and stomped on the center of the downed man's chest, shattering his ribcage and crushing his vital organs. Blood erupted from the grunt's mouth as he quickly expired to his injuries. The third soldier, seeing this, was in the process of pulling out his pistol when Lori's serrated tipped tail surged forward and sliced the man's throat, severing the jugular. A fountain of blood painted the hallway walls as the grunt futilely tried to stem the bleeding with his hands, but soon fell to the ground and weakly flailed about before ceasing all struggle and joining his teammates in death.

Blake, at this point, had pissed himself in terror as this scaled monster of a woman single handedly took out three soldiers without breaking a sweat. And they were suppose to recapture all ten of these!?

'Fuck that!', the Private thought to himself, now fully intent on getting the hell out of there. His captain, on the other hand…

"You monstrous she-bitch!", Davidson yelled as he drew his pistol, but before he could fire off a shot, Lori raised her right hand in front of her, her runes glowing brightly. The captain shot every bullet he had at the young woman, but none of them found their. Instead, they merely floated still in midair, inches away from the palm of Lori's hand. The captain was stunned by this unnatural feat.

"After everything you people have done to me and my siblings, you still have the gall to call me monstrous? Now that's funny.", the eldest Loud sister spoke, venomous sarcasm ripe in her voice as she, with a wave and flick of her clawed finger, turned the bullets around and fired them back at Davidson.

'Shit…', was the captain's last thought before a bullet bore into his skull. Two more nestled into his heart while the rest pierced through his chest as he fell to ground, dead. Giving a slight growl, Lori then turned to deal with the last soldier of Team Echo, but found that he was no longer there.

Indeed, while she was busy taking out members of his team, Blake had managed to slip away and was now running for his life back toward the elevators. As the last sounds of conflict died down, the grunt began seeing what had happened to the other soldiers and the sight of their bodies only made him run faster. Electrocuted, burned, limbs sliced off, frozen in blocks of ice, impaled by spires of stone. All of this and more were what greeted Blake's night vision goggles as he turned the final corner and was now only a few yards away from salvation when he felt something sharp slice through both his right and left achilles tendons.

"GAH!", the grunt yelped in pain as fell to ground, breaking his goggles in the process. Crippled and in pain, Blake threw away his now useless vision equipment and began crawling toward the elevators. He didn't get far before he heard a pair of growls and two barely visible shapes in the darkness jumped in front of him, blocking his chance of escape. Then, suddenly, the floor's electricity was restored, the hallway lights dimly illuminated the area….and causing Blake to freeze in fear when he looked up.

For Lana and Lola now stood on all fours before him, their ears flattened against their heads as they bared their teeth and growled at the downed soldier.

"Going somewhere?", hissed Lola, patches of frost emanating from beneath her paws.

"Yeah, where's the rush?", concurred Lana with a snarl.

Before he could even think to respond, Blake was then kicked onto his back and greeted by the sharp tip of a short sword merely an inch from his neck, Lincoln glaring down on him as the white-haired boy was flanked by the rest of his sisters.

"So, what do we do with this one?", Luna asked with a glare of her own.

"We can always send him along with his friends.", suggested Lynn as she showed her flame-engulfed right hand, terrifying Blake.

"Or we don't.", Leni firmly stated as she snuffed Lynn's fiery hand with her own watery one, causing the brunette to yelp and glare at her sister as she shook her stinging hand. "Like, I know we did all this to defend ourselves, but I think we've done enough. It's bad enough that had to…..had to-"

"Kill them?", said Lucy, the bluntness causing the altered fashionista to flinch slightly. "I understand your plea for mercy, Leni. But as long as we're down here, Tetherby will certainly not offer us that same courtesy. Do you want to go back into your cage?"

"...No.", the now seventeen year old muttered, looking down at the floor in sad resignation. Feeling a scaly hand rest on her shoulder, Leni looked up to see Lori giving her a sympathetic gaze.

"If there any other way to get through without bloodshed, we would've definitely taken it.", the eldest sister spoke in reassurance. "But it's as Lucy just said: It's us or them, Leni. We do what we must."

"Amen to that, sister.", Luan concurred. "It doesn't need to be said, but I think there's gonna be a lot more bad blood on the pavement when all of this is said and done…..Heh."

"Too soon, my comedic sibling unit.", criticised Lisa as she hovered near her sister. "Back on topic, I do agree with Leni. What we have done is more than sufficient and there's no need to continue such methods. Instead, I propose a more effective tactic that would be beneficial our short term goal of escaping this dreadful establishment."

"Really? What may that be?", queried Lincoln, taking his eyes off of Blake to focus on the prodigy's words, the rest of his sisters doing the same.

"Sending a physical representation of our intentions to undermine Tetherby's confidence and sown discontent among his ranks."

"..."

Blank stares and silence were what Lisa received, to which she sighed.

"We send a message to Tetherby and his forces in order to scare them."

"Oooooh!", the siblings responded upon finally realizing what the now five year old genius was saying.

"How do we do that?", the twins said in unison, tilting their heads in a cute manner.

"It's quite simple, really.", Lisa answered before turning her gaze to the subsided soldier. "Observe our hostage here. Note his helmet. Notice anything in particular?"

All eyes turned to Blake, who flinched under the children's glowing and scrutinizing glares. It was Lincoln who noticed something on the grunt's helmet. A tennis ball sized device with a contracting lense and a small blinking red light.

"Is...is that a camera?"

Main Control Room, 5th Floor, T.W.D.D, 6:00 P.M.

"...And so, I'll end it on this, villain: There be no mountain high enough, no valley low enough, no sky big enough and no ocean far enough where we won't find thee! Every day, down to the last second, that ye hath spent tormenting us! Changing us! Laughing at our suffering! For each and every such instance, ye will pay for in pain! And for those who art foolish enough to follow you….will be given the same courtesy as well! Count thy days now, Tetherby, for they art numbered! Ye and this wretched hellhole that thou so preciously hold and cherish will fall before reckoning that is now upon thee! The bell tolls, Lord Tetherby….and it tolls for thee!,Lincoln decreed in the video recording that Private Blake, traumatized but alive, brought back with him before stomping on the camera, destroying it.

A blanket of unease fell upon the room, everyone, whether they were a soldier, scientist, guard or just mere civilian employee, looked away from the giant monitor where the recording played and toward each other with worried glances before they all turned to the back of the room, where their boss stood, hands on the railing and his head lowered.

By all means, the Louds tactic worked…..on all but a few. Tetherby was one of the few.

Was he scared? A little, but a more powerful emotion put the feeling of fear on the backburner.

For he wasn't angry. He wasn't mad. He wasn't even furious.

No…..He. Was. LIVID.

How could this happen? How did this happen? Who's responsible? These questions and more raced inside his brain, all of which he didn't have an answer for at the present time. The fact that all of this occured on his birthday, no less, did not help at all. Right now, though, none of it mattered right now. The businessman now had top secret living weapons on the loose and he was gonna make sure those brats don't even get a chance on see a speck of daylight. And if they do, well…..they won't live long enough to appreciate it.

As Tetherby went on raving and ordering his commanders, Dr. Singed stood off to the side, his narrowed eyes still on the monitor as he was deep in contemplation.

'Hmmm...Perhaps the time has come for sever my ties with Mr. Tetherby. If this plays out how I think it will, then the coming spectacle is one best seen from afar.'

Author's Notes: And done! The Louds' journey for freedom has begun, but Tetherby won't make easy! What dangers and challenges await the the siblings? Stay tuned for more!

As always, be sure to leave a review!

Catch ya later!