Chapter 21.
"Alright, that should be the last thing!" Lincoln huffed as he loaded in the last item into the trunk of Vanzilla.
"Great! Now we're ready to go!" Lori said, getting ready to get in the van and take off. However, they were visited by Zed, who stopped by just outside the driveway.
"Good morning, Louds! So, how's it going?" He greeted them like he usually would.
"It's great! I've just finished loading up the last things we need for our little outing." Lincoln lightly tapped on the side of Vanzilla.
"Mr. Zed, we're very thankful that you really care about us and that you're taking your time with us and even invite us to this." Lori expressed her gratitude, followed by her siblings who all share the same thoughts as her.
"It's alright girls, anything I could do to help ease your minds and hearts. And uh, I would invite some more of your classmates, but I don't think even I can handle that much people in this little posse." He pointed to his side and at the back where Julius and two of Lincoln's friends, who had been with him more frequently lately, were seated at.
"That's okay Mr. Zed, as long as it makes you happy, we'll be happy as well!" Luan chimes in to help brighten the mood even more.
Zed couldn't help but smile at her, at them all. It really does warms his heart that they are happy, and there's nothing better for him than to protect those smiles. If he could.
Then, they all took off for their current destination. Surely, the beautiful water with the sun's light shimmering off of its' surface, the tiny countless pieces of golden particles we call sand and just generally the tone and mood that the beach is known for should be the perfect place for the Loud family and their acquaintances to have a break at, right?
Along the way, the excitement they initially had since they've woken up suddenly disappeared. Everyone fell silent, it wasn't clear for the Louds and Zed's group to actually see, but they knew that they were under the company of nothing but silence. Save for the sound of the engine, and occasionally other cars passing by.
This moment of silence actually gave Zed a sense of dread that he cannot shake off. So, his solution to that was to do what he does best: Talk with the people around him.
"So, after today, have you guys got anything planned? If so, I'd like to hear it so I don't make a schedule that clashes with yours." Zed broke the ice, glancing at his passengers, side, and behind via the rear-view mirror.
"Well, I am planning to finish up Oswald's weapon as soon as possible." Julius simply said as he leans towards the door, holding up his head with his arm. His answer received looks of confusion from the two kids at the backseat.
"…Oswald's what?" Ronnie Anne voiced out their confusion.
"Oh right, you don't really know what I do yet. Yeah, I'm kind of the, nutjob of the group here. I spend my time going off alone to make some weird machines and stuff and a lot of other things that I didn't know was able to build." Julius explains, before adding, "At least, until Zed showed up and becomes a black hole, sucking us all in his adventures."
Zed simply laughed at his statement and continued driving, which prompted a smile on his two other passengers. The Louds on the other hand, were moving just in front of them.
Meanwhile in Vanzilla, her passengers were still silent, it doesn't look like they're about to find a topic to talk about anytime soon.
Lincoln took his time to just gaze outside the windows and think about some things that he may need to be worried about. His eyes kept darting to whatever caught his attention and his mind began to wander off. Without knowing it, his expression too seemed to have turned a bit, somber. Lynn, who was sitting next to him, noticed this.
It seems that Lincoln would find out what his adventures feels like from the perspective of other people.
"Hey Lincoln?"
"Wha-?" Lincoln was finally snapped from his mind and turned to his sporty sister.
"Are you okay? You look like you've got something on your mind, you wanna talk about it?"
"No, no… It's not, something you should be worried about." Lincoln waved away at Lynn's suggestion.
The two went quiet afterwards. Lincoln went back to wallowing in his mind while Lynn sighed at the thought of not being able to help her brother.
Lori, along with the others who had been listening, thought it might be a good time to talk about it. About the recent events. Should be a perfect time now, isn't it? Besides, there is something else they might all need to talk about.
"It's about those creatures isn't it, Lincoln?" Lori asked.
"What? No… That's… Not it…" Lied the buck-toothed boy, however, his sisters know when he does that.
"Please don't lie to us." Lori bluntly responded to Lincoln's lie, which got him quiet, and everyone else has their eyes on him, "And you can start talking, by telling us where exactly you were and what were you thinking when you're getting yourself caught between those things?"
Hearing that had Lincoln at a loss for words, he looked down to search his brain for answers but couldn't find anything.
"Yeah, we were really worried about you, Lincoln." Luan, who was behind him said, "Really, to think that I was to be entertaining troubled patients a couple of days ago, I would've ended up being an emotional wreck if something happened to you! Mr. Zed believed that you'd survive, it was hard, but I chose to believe in that as well."
"I-I…" Lincoln began stuttering.
"Not only did he survive that, but the entire block was devastated!" Lynn exclaimed, though there seemed to be a slight hint of excitement in her voice, "How did you even survive that?"
"And to top it off, you even made a new friend!" Leni said, seeing the positive part of all that, which got the others laughing.
"I know!" Lori said between laughs, "You are one mysterious boy, Lincoln Loud."
"Well, bro, looks like we're not gonna lose you anytime soon." Luna, who was on the other end of the seat he was at, ruffled her younger brother's hair.
"As much as I would've loved to see someone die, I can't have you go first," Lucy said in her usual monotonous voice, before adding with a smile more genuine than Lisa's, "So it's good that you've managed to live through all that. Maybe the spirits too decided that it wasn't your time yet."
"Indeed, it is of great relief that you, are safe despite having the odds against you." Lisa stated, just so she could join in with the others.
"Yeah, just try not to get yourself in trouble again." The twins spoke in unison.
Lincoln, having gotten an insight as to how his sisters feel about what he's been doing all this time, felt like tearing up. He never quite got a chance to talk to his sisters about these recent events due to the fact that he didn't want to get them involved directly in the battles he's in. He smiled and finally said something.
"Thanks, you guys. For showing how much you guys truly care about me, I'm sorry for worrying you all like that."
Then, as if on cue, they had all arrived at the beach. Lori and Zed parked their rides and from there on, everyone else happily got out of their respective vehicles.
"Alright!" Lynn excitedly ran towards the beach with her belongings.
"Come on dudes! Let's have ourselves a beach party!" Luna followed, her hand making the usual rock on gesture.
"Yeah! 'Water' you're waiting for guys!" Luan laughed as she ran off with her sisters.
The other sisters too had ran off to the beach. Clyde and Ronnie Anne decided that they would join in with them as well.
"Well, Lincoln," Zed spoke up as he walked to the boy, "Now that we're here, why don't we have ourselves some fun?"
"If only it was that easy, Zed." Julius, in a rather worried tone, said to the man. His worries were quite rational, they are situated at a place where there are people, in great numbers too. Ever since they started the trip, he had been carrying a bag with him all the time. It was only something that Lincoln noticed, but didn't really seem too noteworthy.
Then, from behind them, the sound of a running motor was heard. It got louder as it got closer to them. The green coloration of the grasshopper-themed bike was the first thing that caught their attention, more so in Lincoln's case. Eventually the person riding it came to a stop right in front of them.
Taking off his helmet, the man reveals himself to be none other than Oswald.
"You had better called me out here for a good reason, Zed." Oswald said to the man who had planned the day for them.
"Ey come on, Ozzy boy, you gotta know when to take it easy."
Oswald groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose before looking back to Zed, "I know this is supposedly for something good, but Zed, I can't risk going out while those bastards start scheming!" He pointed his arms towards the city, frustration audible in his voice.
Zed didn't say anything to that, but he did walk up to Oswald and tapped on his shoulders with a smile that only further agitated the Englishman.
"Fine." Oswald gave in and got off his bike and took out his bag from the back of the bike. He walked to the nearby changing room while mumbling angrily under his breath.
"He's just a big baby once you get to his good side." Zed told Lincoln before he gestures the two to come along with him and get with the day.
Then, all the boys came out, now ready in their beach apparel consisting only of boxers.
Meanwhile, back at the beach, the Loud sisters, including Clyde and Ronnie Anne, were off having fun. Lori, Leni, Luna and Lynn were playing beach volleyball, Luan was off entertaining some children with jokes. The twins were building a sandcastle. Lucy hid under the shade while writing down poems and Lisa was, well, Lisa.
Lynn had accidentally hit a ball hard, and the two eldest Loud siblings failed to catch it. The ball hit hard on the ground and bounced off, in its' way was the twins and their sandcastle. Right before it made contact, a hand caught it and was brought up to the person's face.
"Be careful. Always be aware of how much strength you're putting into these things." Oswald said, his face straight as ever.
"Ah I- I- I'm sorry!" Lynn apologized.
Oswald simply nodded and got into a throwing stance, "Catch." He said before throwing the ball into the air and jumped up to slap it back towards the young athlete. The height of his jump and the force he gave to the ball further cements the fact that he is no longer an ordinary human.
The ball struck Lynn and dazed her. She had a look of confusion due to how hard she was hit and her eyes looked as if they were swirling around. She's seeing stars.
"Or maybe it's me that should've done that. Huh." Oswald said as he walked away.
The other players quickly ran up to their sister who was now mumbling strange things, they shouted her name but Lynn simply shouted more nonsense.
"Nice going Ozz boss." Zed said to the man.
"Is- Is she going to be alright?" Lincoln worriedly asked about Lynn.
"Don't worry, she should be able to come out ok from that. Just a bit weird. Only for a moment at least." Julius tried to calm Lincoln down.
Oswald crouched down near the water and began waving his hand around in it. When he pulled his hand out from it, he let out a sigh that indicates disappointment.
"Anything yet?" Asked Zed.
"Clearly not. But it should be back soon enough."
"What is it?" Lincoln curiously asked them.
"Oswald told me that he once had the ability to manipulate the elements, apparently." Julius explained.
"What?"
"It's just an extension of my ability. Since I can't directly project my powers, as I said before, I can infuse it into other materials which I can then use as conduit for my powers."
"Wow."
Then, Zed found himself clutching hard on his stomach again. Julius felt a sense of dread like Zed had before, Lincoln was looking around, he was clearly alarmed when his belt had alerted him of his surroundings. When the two younger members of the quartet turned to see Oswald, he wasn't there.
In fact, he had already ran off. He felt this strange presence long before any of them and had set out to warn everyone, "Everybody run! Get out of the beach!"
Just as he finished, the entire area was covered in purple smoke.
"Oh bollocks." Was all Oswald could mutter before Hexons came running towards every single person who were lost in the mist.
Lincoln, Julius and Zed split to look for the others and get them to safety.
Oswald had been defending himself and without knowing it, other people from the Hexons. He wrestled with one of them and easily dispatched the small group. He then ran off to look for other people in the mist. He heard the voice of two young girls on one side and was headed there. He knew which of Lincoln's sisters these two were.
"Dang it! Guys! Where are you!" Lana shouted for the others.
"Pipe down Lana! You're gonna attract those things' attention!" Lola told her twin.
From behind them, two Hexons jumped out and were prepared to strike them down using their spine-like staff weapon. Fortunately for them, Oswald too emerged from the smokescreen and held their weapons in place.
"Stay back you two!" Oswald said, grunting as he pushed back the two Hexons and broke their stance by giving one last shove.
He quickly leaped forward and performed a leg sweep on the two. He then picked up one of their weapon and brought down the spherical end of the weapon on the Hexons, knocking them out.
Clyde and Ronnie Anne were both running from a Hexon before the two came together in a rather problematic situation. They bumped right into each other and fell on the ground, leaving them vulnerable.
Before their pursuers could do anything to them, Julius jumped forward and pushed the two out of the way, risking a hit on his back in the process. Julius quickly recovered and rolled forward to avoid another hit and got up, ready to fight against the two.
Meanwhile, Zed had miraculously made his way outside the mist and back at the parking lot. He coughed and waved away the smoke and opened his eyes to see that quite a good number of those people had gotten out. But his relief didn't last long as fate had something else for him to do.
He saw a larger group of Hexons running towards the fleeing crowds in the same manner that they usually appear in, from the mist. Before any damage could be done to the people, the Hexons were run down by a police car which stopped right in front of him.
Zed was glad to see a familiar face when the window rolled down, "Oh, Lawrence, thank goodness."
"No time! Get in!" Ordered the officer, Zed obliged by quickly running to the passenger seat at the back and getting in.
"You good with guns?" Asked one of the officers, whom he only knows by his first name.
"I can manage, Corporal Jameson." Zed nodded and was handed out a magnum pistol.
"It's the best we got now, shoot as much as possible!" Lawrence told him, "Alright, Ned, drive!"
With that, the officers, including Zed, drove off. Along the way, Zed managed to blast quite a few Hexons who had all came close to ending the life of the unfortunate people they got to.
"You guys are awfully trusting of me, what's going on?" Zed asked.
"Well it helps when you've apparently rolled with the military before."
"Who told you that?"
"A representative came to our base last week and told us of your history with them. They've also provided us with some improved bullets that should be able to pierce their armors!"
"Oh, they've finally finished it huh? Seriously though, what's going on?"
"We're the only units available left, the others are off to other sections of the city and I know your friends are back there too! So, after a bit of snooping around, we've found the source!"
"Where?"
"The hospital!"
Chapter End.
There we go, another big event.
A lot of things will escalate from here on now, so you could say we're sorta nearing the 15-22% of the story.
A-nee-wayy, Chapter 22, coming out soon.