A/N Hey guys! I'm back, and this time I'm on spring break! This was extremely difficult to write because of 2 tests, but hey, I managed! This is slightly shorter though, given the circumstances. Also, I thank you guys for 40K views and 25 chapters! Also, My biggest fan, I hope this chapter is something more interesting for you.
R&R!
Story Summary/Prompt: The truth is revealed and Lyle returns (Planned)
Story Twenty-Five: Connecting the Pieces
A soft hush falls upon the three girls as they enter the room of their two youngest siblings… only to find their remaining seven sisters waiting for them.
"Uhh Lisa… what's going on?" Luna tilts her head in curiosity. "And why is everyone here?"
Lori glances at her phone and sighs, before typing away at it just as she had always done "Yeah… what's going on? We're supposed to be taking care of Lincoln ya know."
"Yeah! All you told us was to come here and be quiet." Lynn declares, flaring her arms up as she does so. "And you know how much I hate being quiet!"
"I want some beauty sleep!" Lola complains, while Lana counters, "You mean your ugly sleep?"
And with that, the crowd of young girls descends into typical, loud, anarchy.
"What am I going to do?!" Lisa nervously thinks, hesitating on her next words, "I have to tell them everything, but are they ready?" She looks at her sisters and sighs, "They deserve to know the truth about their brother… how he's not really who he says he is… I just hope things don't go too badly."
"Well?" Lynn stares at Lisa with angry eyes, "Why'd you call us here sis? It's late ya know!"
"Sisters…" Lisa adjusts her glasses and pulls out a small, watch-like device, "As you may know, a few months ago I began experimenting with inter-dimensional travel."
"Yeah, and?" Lori waves her hand at her and begins to text, "Get to the point."
"Lincoln was my first test subject for a prototype watch capable of creating rifts in space-time." Lisa continues, glancing at the small device resting in her hands, "And as you know, approximately six months ago, our male sibling began to act unusually… adopting more feminine behaviors and attire, as well choosing to be referred to as our 'sister'."
"Like, ok!" Leni tilts her head in confusion, a wide smile on her face "Like what's wrong with that?"
"Nothing really… I think…" Luna looks away. "I guess he's just weird or something…"
Leni continues, naivety filling her voice, "Like, I don't get it. Why is our brother so weird all of a sudden?"
Lisa takes another deep breath, "I believe I am to blame for that." The young girl lets her arms go limp while the sisters shout, "What?!"
She nods, "Yes, it's true. It's my fault our male sibling has started wearing dresses… but that is besides the point." She turns around and motions towards her computer, "When I began to notice his erratic behavior, I immediately got to work on a device capable of neutralizing the original dimensional watch because 'Lincoln' somehow lost the original."
"So that's what you used the parts we got you for?" Luan tilts her head in curiosity and gives a soft smile before finishing, "That's a great part! Lisa!"
Immediately, her sisters groan.
Lisa nods, "Precisely." Motioning towards her new device, "I needed the parts in order to create a device capable of travelling between dimensions, however- due to unexpected circumstances, I have been forced to hide that device."
"With us." Lana finishes, while Lola continues, "We made sure to put is somewhere no one would ever be able to find it!"
"What does this have to do with us, Lisa?" Lucy suddenly appears, though her siblings don't react to her sudden appearance.
"I was getting to that!" Lisa turns to face her sisters once more, "However, after his return, dimensional ies; things that just don't belong in this dimension; began popping up more and more frequently, causing any device capable of jumping between dimensions to have an added risk of… well, exploding like anti-matter."
"Get to the point already!" Lola complains, crossing her arms as she does so, "We just wanna know why you decided to call us here so late!"
Lisa takes another deep breath and hesitates, "I could just tell them about the device… I don't need to tell them about Lincoln." She looks up at her sisters, their faces filled with worry, confusion and impatience, "But… the person in his body doesn't care for him at all… especially given what they've done."
The young girl clenches her fists and looks up at them, staring into their waiting and nervous eyes as she does so, "Lincoln, isn't Lincoln."
Meanwhile…
"So… uhh…" Cristopher rubs the back of his head and looks away from his friend, "You sure it's a good idea to visit Chandler today? I mean, you know how Linka gets when you even remotely mention her name."
Ron Andy nods, "Yeah Cris, I'm sure." His expression breathes of an unbroken seriousness… as the duo walks passed a set of garbage cans blinking in and out of existence, not that they notice of course. "Besides, she's indifferent to Chandler from what I've seen, or more… Linka hates handler, but Chandler hates her more, I forget which." He looks at his friend, "I'm just goin' over to make sure she knows not to hurt Linka."
Cristopher shrugs, "Well… ok then I guess."
The duo then walks passed a mailbox that blinks from one, to two, and back to one, though again, they don't notice the strange sight.
"But why today?" Cristopher continues, "Couldn't you, ya know, talk to her after that tourney two weeks ago?" His pace increases as they approach the manor.
"Because I just got another invite for tea." The Latino boy raises a small, pink, heart-shaped envelop with his name written all over, "This is, like, the one hundred and fiftieth one she's sent me!"
"Ahh." He responds, "So, you're going to tell her to stop?" Cristopher tilts his head.
Ron nods, "Yeah, despite all of the bad relationship advice Bebe's given me, going and outright telling Chandler 'no' is the best idea she's had."
Cristopher smiles, "So why's your sis not comin' with us?"
"Because she's still grounded from that Valentine's Day fiasco two months ago." He coldly responds, "And I'd rather not take the one girl that could accidently burn the mansion down with me!"
The duo turn another block, coming face to face with the manor as they do so… while not noticing the poor man who keeps splitting into two, before reforming as one.
"You know, you can go home if you want." Ron Andy turns to his friend.
"Ever since my computer was scrubbed, I don't have to spend my time looking for computer experts." He shrugs, "So most of my time is free."
"Huh, ok then." Ron Chuckles, "Awesome."
"That reminds me." Cristopher continues, "How are you feelin' about the guy-turned-girl has a crush on you thing?"
Ron sighs, "I'm still not sure what to think bro, I'm still not sure what to think."
"And why's that?" They walk up to the large metal gate, not noticing the trashcans multiplying and disappearing behind them.
"Because on the one hand, I like her. She's nice… she's more interesting to be around than the real Linka, but…" He looks at his friend with begging eyes, "I'm having trouble getting passed the absurdity of our situation." He hits the buzzer, "What'll happen when she goes home and turns back into a dude?"
Cristopher hesitates for a moment, "How about…" He lets out a deep breath, "How about dealing with that when the time comes?"
"Agreed…" Ron's voice trails off, as the metal gates to the manor part ways, allowing the two boys entry to the mansion. "How about you talk about Claudia?"
His friend smiles, "She's nice. Confusing, but nice."
"What do you mean by that?" Ron the two boys walk passed several butlers, who seem to repeat the same movements, though they don't notice.
"She likes me, and I like her, but things are still a bit awkward, ya know." He continues, "After all, she did admit she's bi of all things." He shrugs, "Plus, she tends to be a bit… emotional."
"Howso?" Ron walks up to the mansion front door.
"I once mentioned she had some lint on her dress and she started crying uncontrollably." Cristopher follows, rubbing the back of his head as he does so. "But hey, I guess that just comes with that territory."
"Heh…" Ron chuckles, relieved that he wasn't the only one in a strange situation, "Well at least your girl was always a girl." He chuckles again, though this time more relieved, "Plus, it doesn't look like anyone's trying to fight for you."
Cristopher pats his friend's back, "You luck man! Having two girls fighting over you!"
"Well, anyways, I guess we'll talk about that later." He takes a deep breath, "Here we go."
And with that, he knocks on the door.
Back With The girls…
"What are you talking about?!" Lori shouts, her voice filling with confusion. "What do you mean 'Lincoln's not Lincoln'?!"
Lisa sighs, "I mean what I said." She looks out the window, into the calm moonlit night, "The person currently acting as our brother isn't really our brother." She looks to Lana and Lola, "The twins can support my claim. They were there when the real Lincoln appeared."
The remaining seven sisters turn to Lana and Lola, while Lori asks, "Is this true you two…"
The twins look at each other and sigh, before Lana speaks, "Well… a few weeks ago, some weird girl saying she was Lincoln just appeared and well…" Her voice trails off uncertainly.
"I'm not sure what to think about it." Lola finishes, "I mean, she made a good case, but… I'm not sure."
"Ok…" Luan chuckles, "By the sound of it you got a Ghostly encounter!"
"Yes, quite." Lisa nonchalantly responds, while her the sisters groan in annoyance, "I, on the other hand, remained skeptical despite the claim." She then walks over and picks up a small vial of light-blue liquid, "In order to prove that our male sibling wasn't really our male sibling, I posed a simple question to him, 'how did the glow-in-the-dark cookie taste'?"
Luan rubs her chin, "I remember that!" Her smile turns to a disgusted grimace, "It tasted like vinegar… but at least it wasn't too basic!"
"Noted." Lisa mentally groans while her sisters do so physically, "He responded with said flavor without hesitation." She turns to Luan, "Did you ever speak of the flavor before now?"
"Nope!" Luan shakes her head; "I'd rather forget ever having that mess in my mouth."
"Then I think it's safe to assume that our brother is not really our brother." Lisa pours some of the blue liquid into her device. "But that's not the only reason I have called you here tonight."
"Well then, why else are we here?!" Luna shouts, her voice filling with an annoyed anger, "You just told us our brother isn't our brother!"
Lynn takes a moment to allow the news to sink in, before grabbing Lisa by the shirt and holding her fist to her little sister's face threateningly, "Yeah? By the sound of it, this was all your fault too!"
Lisa then raises her watch, "I have completed a device capable of allowing us to talk to him." Her voice goes low, "I have all brought you here to learn the truth, and so we could talk to our real brother together." She begins to tap away at the device's screen, "Lana, is 'Lincoln' around?"
Lana quickly runs to the door, turns to her little sister and nods, "Nope, by the sound of it, he's asleep.
"Good." Lisa takes a deep breath, before declaring, "Opening inter-dimensional viewing portal in three… two… one…"
The four-year-old hits a button on the device's side, and immediately, a portal opens up, revealing the image of a young boy working at his desk, with his older, Gotic brother standing behind him.
"This, sisters, is a parallel universe." Lisa motions towards the portal with a pink-white border, before she steps closer to it.
Her sisters watch in awe as Lisa simply taps the vortex, attracting the attention of the two boys inside with, "Greetings."
Levi and Lars then turn to the source.
"What the…" Levi jumps to his feet and runs over to the barrier… only to run right into it. "Ouch!"
"I'll go get Loki and Luke." Lars immediately declares, before disappearing just as Lucy has.
Levi, on the other hand, hops to his feet and greets, "Hello there strangers!" He begins to touch the clear barrier, "What is this amazing thing?!"
"First, let me introduce myself, I am Lisa Loud." The scientist motions towards herself, than her sisters, "These young women behind me are my sisters, and we have important information to share with you."
"Wait… Loud?" Levi tilts his head, "Are you the four-year-old scientist of your family?"
"Yes." Lisa answers. "Yes I am."
"As am I. Here, there are ten male siblings and one female sibling." Levi nonchalantly responds, tapping at the barrier as he does so,
"Interesting." Lisa's voice remains monotone, despite her counterpart's more lively voice, "It seems that, that dimension contains versions of ourselves with our genders reversed."
Lori then walks over to the barrier, "Uhh Lisa, what's the point of this?"
"Amazing, you found a way to get passed the dimensional anomalies preventing inter-dimensional control from working?!" Levi continues to poke at the clear barrier in amazement.
Lisa nods, "Yes, I had to spend weeks creating a device capable of opening rifts in space-time, but I believe the results show themselves."
"Amazing!" Levi smiles, "Would you care to share this amazing discovery with me?"
"Yes, but later." the young girl goes… only for Lola to step in and push her aside… and right into Lori.
"Where's Lincoln?! We want our brother back!" The pageant queen shouts, her voice filling with annoyance.
Levi tilts his head in confusion, "What are you talking about? I don't have a brother named Lincoln!" he rubs his chin, "Only a sister named Linka…"
"Yes, of course." Lisa pushes Lola away, "But you do have a white-haired sister, correct?"
"Yes, I do." The boy calmly answers, "Did she do something when using my dimension viewing goggles?"
"You made goggles capable of viewing other dimensions?" Lisa tilts her head in curiosity, why not a watch of some kind?"
"Anomalies." The boy doesn't hesitate to answer.
Lori then steps forward, "Uhh guys, care to get to the point? This is literally starting to bore me."
Lisa nods, "Right…" Before she looks Levi in the eye, "I believe your sister is our brother."
Back with Ron Andy…
A few minutes of waiting pass, before the front door opens up, revealing Chandler- dressed in an elegant and elaborate dress, wearing a seductive smile "Why hello their Ron Andy."
"Hey Chandler." Ron nonchalantly responds, shoving his hands in his hoodie's pockets as he does so.
The young girl throws her arms around him, much to the boy's dismay, "I'm glad you came! You never come to visit after all!"
"Uhh… yeah, we're glad you decided to invite us over." Cristopher speaks up, rolling his eyes as he does so, "I mean, you really wanted us to come and stuff."
"Why of course darling! Things get pretty boring around here, especially when you don't know anyone who shares the same interests as you!" She lets go of Ron Andy and steps aside, before motioning the duo to come inside, "Why don't you come in for some tea? I'm sure you two would love to join me!"
Cristopher turns and whispers, "Do we seriously have to do this Ron?"
"If I'm gonna get this girl off my back and stop her from trying to hurt Linka, I'm kinda stuck doing this."
And so, Ron Andy complies, while motioning for his friend to join him, which he does.
Chandler then leads the duo to a small room hidden in the west wing of the mansion, it's decorated with pink walls and a small tea table, "Come in, come in! Make yourselves at home!"
Ron Andy and Cristopher comply by taking off their shoes and jackets.
"So uhh, besides the team, why'd you call me over?" Ron takes a seat across from the girl.
"What?" Chandler pours a small cup of tea for him, "A girl can't invite a guy over for tea without him thinking they have some ulterior motive?"
"Of course." He pulls out a small piece of paper, "But when the invite is covered in hearts, and my name, I think there's more to it than that." He lets the paper unfold, causing a small cloud of dusts and glitter to fall out.
"Uhh… how about I uhh…" Chandler stands up, "Show you my family's most valuable possessions?!" She raises her hands in excitement.
"Why?" Ron Andy raises an eyebrow.
"Cause I wanna show you!" She stands up and motions for the two boys to follow, "After all, no one comes around here that much!"
"Why do I have a feeling that she's just doing this in a vain attempt to convince me to dump Linka?" The boy calmly thinks, before Chandler pulls him into the next room.
Cristopher doesn't hesitate to shout, "Hey guys! Wait up!" While he follows the duo through the oversized hallways and up the mansion's winding stairs on their way to the home's private study.
A few moments later, they enter the cozy room with rows upon rows of bookcases lining the walls. There's a soft, red carpet covering the floor, while a small window rests against the wall opposite the door.
"Welcome to my dad's library!" Chandler declares, before pulling Ron Andy over to the chair by the fireplace and throwing him on it, "That's my dad's reading chair! How does it feel?!"
"Uhh… It's comfortable…" Ron Andy says, confusion filling his voice. He quickly looks around, "Why'd you bring us here?"
"I wanted to show you this room is all!" Chandler smiles.
"Uhh, Chandler, you really need to calm down." Cristopher speaks up, "I mean seriously, you're not giving us a chance to even catch our breath!"
"I just wanna make sure this visit counts!" The lone girl responds, her voice filling with desperation, "Ron Andy never comes over or responds to my letters and stuff anymore!" She fights the tears beginning to form under her eyes.
Ron Andy hops off the chair and shakes his head, "Chandler, you gotta calm down. I broke up with you months ago!"
"Yeah… but…" Chandler looks away, "Uhh… how about I show you my family's most prized heirloom!"
Ron Andy looks at her in confusion, "Why?"
"Cause I wanna!" She desperately shouts, before grabbing his arm again and pulling him over to a nearby glass case. Cristopher shrugs and follows.
Chandler motions towards the object resting inside, "Meet the Crown of Royal Woods! The most important thing my family owns!"
The crown consists of a silver ring, with two golden ornaments attaching purple crystals attached on both sides.
"What do you think?!" She desperately motions towards the item.
"I think it's fine…" Ron Andy tilts his head.
"Yeah, uhh, can we go now?" Cristopher tilts his head."
Chandler then removes the glass covering and picks it up, "Come on, don't ya wanna try it on? It'll make ya feel like royalty!" She then moves the crown closer to the two boys.
Ron Andy looks at Cristopher, the latter simply shrugging at the idea, "Ehh, sure, why not Chandler." Ron Andy then, simply touches the object.
Immediately, it begins to glow, and a bluish hue overtakes the room.
"What the?!" Chandler shouts, before she, too, is overtaking by the blue air, "What's going-" She doesn't finish.
Cristopher and Ron Andy look around in shock.
"What the?!" Cristopher frantically darts his head around the room, "What just happened here?!"
Ron Andy focuses on the crown for a moment, before pulling it from Chandler and holding it in his own hands, "The… the crown did this…"
"How do you know?" Cristopher tilts his head in curiosity.
"This happened when I touched it, that's why." Ron Andy stares at his friend in annoyance, "I mean come on! If you couldn't figure that out, you need to go back to third grade!"
"Well sorry!" Cristopher shouts, before pinching the bridge of his nose, "Whatever, do you at least know why we're not frozen like everything else around here?"
"I can answer that!" A voice calls out, before a young girl appears before the two boys, a big smile overtaking her face.
"Well then, why?" Cristopher puts his hand on his nips in annoyance.
"Because I smell my sister's scent all over you!" She teleports behind them, "But I don't see her anywhere! So you must've gotten her hidden somewhere or something!" She reappears in front of them and rubs her chin, "Hmm, though You haven't earned me yet…" She snaps her fingers, "I know! You earn me and you can take me to my sisters!"
The two boys look at each other in confusion, before turning back to the feminine figure.
"Uhh…" Ron Andy goes, "S-sure?"
Cristopher continues, "What's the challenge?"
Immediately, the begin snaps her fingers, causing a familiar young woman clad in a lavender shirt and blue jeans to appear in front of them, "It seems you're not the only one out to get me!" She floats in front of the young woman, she too is frozen in time. She snaps her fingers, causing the hunter to release from the grasps of time.
"Huh?! Where am I?!" She quickly looks around, her eyes falling upon the crown, "I'm in the target building?! I was just outside a few moments ago!"
"Hello Lyle Loud!" The being shouts, catching the hunter's attention, "I'm the Component! I noticed you were watching me yesterday, so I decided to give you a chance to earn me!"
Immediately, Lyle looks down at her holo-gear, "You're not an anomaly… but you have the powers of one!" She glares at the being, "What are you?!"
"I'm the Macguffin Fragment that control time itself!" The being responds, turning to the boys as she does so. "I noticed all of you want me right?"
"Ron Andy?" Cristopher turns to the boy, "It's one of those fragments Linka is lookin' for…"
"I know." Ron Andy grits his teeth in determination while nodding in affirmation.
"And since you all want me, I'll go to which one of you can win in a fight! You guys get to choose the challenge, so long as it's exciting." The being puts on a big, excited smile at the mere thought of having a show put on just for her!
"Command, permission to engage, in order to acquire the artifact?" Lyle whispers into her holo-gear, and immediately receives the response, "Do whatever you deem necessary in order to acquire the artifact. We cannot risk losing another to an anomaly." Lyle nods, "Understood command."
"So, do you accept these terms?!" The being finishes, her smile unwavering.
Ron Andy and Cristopher turn to each other.
"I'll do this for her…" Ron Andy's voice trails off.
"You sure bro?" Cristopher responds, "I'll do this if you are, but if you're unsure, I'll back away."
"If I remember correctly… that's the missing part… after that Linka leaves and goes home…" He shakes his head, "It's nothing Cris. Let's do this, ok?"
His friend shrugs, "Ok." Then, with determination filling their bodies, they turn back to Lyle.
"We'll fight you!" Ron Andy declares, "For the fragment!"
Lyle stares at them in disbelief, before shrugging, "Ok then." Then she taps away at the holo-gear for a moment, before the computer declares:
Generating Hunting Field: Sogen
And immediately, hardlight swords appear in the boys' hands.
"Uhh… what did we just get ourselves into?" Cristopher looks at his new weapon in surprise.
"I have no idea." Ron Andy nonchalantly responds, readying his weapon as he does so.
Lyle then continues, "My name is Lyle Loud of dimension ZX-289"
"I'm Ron Andy!" The Latino boy responds, holding the sword in front of him as he does so.
"And I'm Cristopher Cloud!" The red head holds his sword at his side.
"And, fight!" The being shouts, before jumping out of the way. "Go ahead and please me the way you see fit!"
And with that, the three people run at each other.
"Guys…" Nyla jumps to her feet and throws on her clothes, "A beacon's been lit!" Her voice fills with a soft panic.
The ex-hunters immediately hop to their feet in shock, "What?!"
"Check your holo-gear, they're going crazy." She continues, securing her own device to her wrist as she does so, "Apparently, someone has triggered a beacon, and command has warned everyone in the nearby dimensions to stay clear."
"We have to help whoever's there!" Nell shouts, securing her gear as well.
Nyla nods, "Yeah, we do." Before she sighs, "I have a feeling Lyle is going to be there too though…"
"Are you sure?" Alex speaks up. "I mean… if you're right, we don't stand a chance against class 3…"
Nyla sighs, "If I've learned anything from being here, nothing is what it seems." He hands the twins their gear, "Now come on, we have to make sure that beacon goes off as soon as possible."
And with that, they gear up and rush out of the apartment door.
Meanwhile…
"So you mean to tell me, that the girl I've been living with for the past six months isn't my real sister?" Levi repeats, trying to make sure he had heard the claim correctly.
Lisa nods, "Yes, that is the case."
"No…it's not true, it can't be true!" Levi clenches his fists, "And do you have any proof of this? I mean, I of all people should know my sister. I have known her since birth and have had to be prepared to drop everything for her!"
"What do you mean, 'drop everything for her'?" Luna steps into the frame, pushing the other girls aside as she does so.
"After a certain 'incident' we don't like to talk about, our family made Linka the center of our lives." He sighs, "But that's besides the point, what proof do you have that she's not really Linka?!"
Lynn pushes her way into the frame as well, "What about how she's been acting the past few months?"
Levi tilts his head, "What do you mean?"
"She's talking about more masculine behavior." Lisa pushes the other girls away and readjusts her glasses, "Liking things she didn't before, doing things differently, etcetera."
The young boy hesitates for a moment, as if all the pieces he had found suddenly started making sense, "Linka… isn't Linka…" His mind races passed the possibilities, "No, it's not true, it can't be true! Linka just decided that it was time for a change!" Then, the memories of all the times she refused to do anything with him, usually coupled by a door slam resonate in his mind.
"Hey Linka, could you-" He had asked, only for Linka to slam her room door in his face.
"But, Linka just wanted to help me! She came to the convention center because, because… she… didn't care for me before…" The realization slowly dawns on him. Tears begin to fill the typically stoic scientist's eyes, "No, it's not true! I, I showed her what I liked! We spent time at Comic-Con! We played card games on the ARC System! We… did things she used to hate…"
Tears begin to stream down his cheeks as he looks down in a desperate attempt to hide them, "She's… you're right… she has been acting strangely… she's… she's worked as a newspaper delivery girl. Gone out with friends and… bonded with us…"
"I'm not surprised…" Lisa sighs, "Before the mix-up, he was an amazing brother. No doubt that has translated to his behavior with you."
Lola puts her hands on her hips, "Dangit, he's our brother! Why'd he bond with those guys?"
"Don't be jealous sis." Lana nonchalantly responds.
Levi hesitates and clenches his fists, "No. I don't believe you!" He points at the girl, "You're lying!"
"I'm sorry Levi, but it's true." Luke walks into the room, followed by Loki and Lars. "Linka's not really Linka." He walks over to his little brother, before turning to face the portal, "Hey there."
"Hello there." Lisa calmly greets, "I believe it is safe to assume that you're Luna's counterpart, correct?"
Luke shrugs, "Not sure, who's Luna?"
"Uhh… hi there…" Luna steps forward with that, "Who are you?"
"I'm Luke." He tilts his head in curiosity, "Nyla?"
Luna shakes her head, "No, I'm Luna… who's Nyla"
"Sorry, I'm dating one of my counterparts…" Luke chuckles, before he continues, "Or by the looks of it, our counterparts. Her name's Nyla."
"I see…" Luna responds, before her eyes go wide in realization, "Wait, what?!"
Luan the chuckles, "I guess that you incest your relationship remain platonic, right?!"
"Uhh… Luke, who's Nyla really?" Loki looks at his slightly younger brother in confusion.
"She explained that's not how it works. We're not related..." Luke awkwardly rubs the back of his head, "And well… she's really an inter-dimensional traveller, and whose tech allows travel between realities those she hasn't done it in a while."
"Wait… what?!" Lisa pounds against the invisible barrier. "You mean there's been a way for Lincoln to come home this whole time and he hasn't used it?!"
The young man sighs, "Not really." He looks the young scientist in the eyes, "She's told me that the anomalies prevent her from going home as much as she'd like to."
"The anomalies…" both Levi and Lisa turn to each other in a knowing realization. "They're messing with everything we're trying to do."
"Were you trying to find a way to fix the anomalies too?" Lisa asks, tilting her head in curiosity.
"Yes and no." Levi shakes his head, "I was asked to build devices capable of inter-dimensional communication and viewing… I found attempting to repair the dimensional anomalies too arduous of a task to complete without outside intervention. So I've just been working around them instead of trying to fix them." Levi thinks for a moment, "My sister has been using the goggles I gave her a lot."
"So… Lincoln's been watching us this whole time?" Luan speaks up, a soft smile beginning to form on her face, "Heh, I guess Everything Stays!"
"You're definitely Lane's counterpart." Loki groans, pinching the bridge of his nose as he does so. "So, now that you've got this portal thing set up, what are you going to do?"
"We want to talk to Lincoln again." Lisa calmly answers, before motioning towards her sisters "I built this so we can work on dealing with your sister together..."
"How is she?" Lars suddenly reappears, his voice filling with a pained hope. "We haven't heard from her since..."
Lisa turns to her sisters and sighs, "She's… not doing too well here…"
"What do you mean?" Loki pushes the young boy aside, his voice filling with surprise. "What happened to her! And what's she doing over there?!"
"She loves it here I guess… but if Lincoln's really been watching us, he already knows." Lisa lets her body go limp. "She's basically ruined his life…"
"What do you mean?" Lars tilts his head.
Lori then pushes Lisa aside, "Look, I don't know who you are, but I guess you," She points at Loki, "Are my counterpart. And I wanna know how your only sister is doing first! Come on, spill!"
"Lincoln's doing fine." Loki calmly responds, his voice filling with a soft professionalism. "Because of events we'd rather not talk about, our family dynamic has revolved around our only sister for years, so we have been taking good care of him... though currently some of us..." He glances at his brothers, "Are unsure of what to do with him."
"What do you mean by that?" Lori tilts her head.
"He means that everything we do is done to protect her." Levi answers, "Until recent events changed some things, Linka used to be unable to even go outside without one of us present to make sure she was safe."
"After learning the truth, we have been doing our best to keep his secret safe." Loki then steps closer to the device, his voice filling with anger, "But enough of him, how's Linka doing?"
The girls look at each other and let out a deep breath, before Lori answers, "Our Linka… is in bad shape. She somehow fell down the stairs one night and, well, now she's in a cast."
The boys push back the soft pain they feel for a moment, before shaking their heads in affirmation, "Ok…"
"Will you guys be all right?" Lynn speaks up, "You look a bit… hurt."
"We'll be fine." Loki clenches his fists, "We have some unfinished business with our Linka and we wanna make sure she can handle it."
"Why's that?" Lisa asks, leaning closer to the portal as she does so.
Loki doesn't hesitate his answer, "Because our Linka, the one I assume you have living with you, is a selfish, cruel and manipulative arsehole who took everything we did for granted, only to abandon us the first chance she got!"
"Is… is this true Loki?" Levi meekly asks, stepping closer to his elder brother as he does so.
"Yes." The cadet nods, before looking at Lori, "I believe it's safe to assume that, as the leader, you've done your best to take care of the situation."
Lori recoils for a moment, before nodding, "Yes, I've done my best to make sure our current brother's needs were taken care of…" Her voice trails off.
"You should stop it then." Loki crosses his arms, "She doesn't deserve any care after what she's said to us."
"And what was that?" Lynn pushes her way into view.
Lars then steps forward, "She told us that we were horrible brothers and that everything we did for her just made her feel like a prisoner! We made our whole lives revolve around her!"
Lucy then appears in front of him, "So you're my counterpart, huh?"
"Yeah." Lars calmly responds, the heat of his answer all but faded."
"Why are you so gloomy?" Lucy continues, "I prefer the dark because it's comfortable to me."
Lars doesn't hesitate to respond, "I like the dark because one of my earliest memories was of Lane cradling me in a dark room, telling me that everything was going to be all right."
"Interesting…" Levi and Lisa both go, before turning back to each other, with Lisa continuing, "I have more questions to ask you."
"As do I." Levi responds.
Loki then steps forward, "Why are you here?"
"We wanna talk to Lincoln again!" Lola runs into the portal frame, pushing the other girls aside as she does so.
Luke shakes his head in response, "Sorry, she can't. She's out doing something with Loni."
"Dangit." Lisa goes in response. "Thanks anyway."
"No problem." Levi sighs, " There is still much I have to ask. I'll begin developing a device like that on my end."
"Good, remember you need to-"
*Yawn* Lincoln goes as he limps into the room, "Hey girls, I need to use the bathroom, but I need some help." He looks around the room for a moment, "What's going on?"
The girls look at the young boy in horror for a moment, unsure of just how to respond to his sudden appearance.
"Uhh guys, why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" He carefully looks around the room, causing his eyes to fall upon the open portal and the device that fuels it, "Oh great, Lisa! You've completed the device!"
"L-Linka?!" Levi's mouth opens in shock, "Is that really you?!"
"What?" The boy leans back and stares at the young scientist in contempt, "No! I'm Lincoln!" He turns to the girls surrounding him, "You tell him girls! I'm your transgender brother!"
The girls whisper amongst themselves in response.
"What the?!" He then walks over to Lisa, and motions towards the device, "Whatever, give me the device Lisa, I need it."
Lisa hesitates for a moment, and shakes her head, "No, I won't give it to you!" She stares at the young boy, "We know you're not Lincoln!"
"What do you mean?" Lincoln puts on a joking tone, "Of course I'm your brother!"
"They know the truth Linka!" Loki shouts, hardening his stance as he does so, "We all know the truth!"
"You're not really Lincoln… are you?" Lucy appears in front of the boy in a dress, "You stopped helping me with my poems because you said they were too gloomy."
Lincoln steps back in shock, "L-Lucy! I am you brother!"
The other girls don't respond, choosing instead to step back and watch.
"We know the truth." Luke declares, "And so do they! You can't keep lying forever!"
"Whatever. I'll never go home and you can't make me!" Lincoln points at the portal, before jumping at Lisa, "You'll give me that device or else!"
Luna speaks up, rushing to aid her four-year-old sister as she does so, "Or else what?"
"Looks like there's no use in hiding it anymore." A devious smile overtakes his face, "Give me it, or I'll make sure Lincoln suffers if he ever tries to come back."
Lori speaks up, her voice filling with anger, "And how do you intend to do that?"
The injured boy rubs his chin, "Oh I don't know… maybe I'll throw myself down a set of stairs again!"
That's when Lynn speaks up, "But won't you be suffering in the meantime? Broken bones heal you know."
Yet, the young boy doesn't hesitate to answer, "But can he heal from a broken back? Or a missing leg?"
Lucy then counters, "Are you sure you can get those things without killing yourself instantly?"
"Yes." Her voice remains unwavering against the girls standing behind her.
"You're crazier than the Joker and Harley Quinn combined!" Luan shouts, flaring her arms up as she does so.
"You have to leave!" Lola shouts, while Lana finishes, "We want our Lincoln back!"
Linka responds, "No, I don't wanna go!"
"This isn't your life Linka!" Luna shouts. "It's-"
"My life!" Lincoln cuts her off, "'It's not my life.' 'It's not my life.' 'It's not my life.' I'm so sick and tired of hearing that from everyone! Back there wasn't my life either! Your brother seems to be living my life more than I got to! Well, if I can't have his life, then it doesn't get to be anyone's life!"
"Dangit… if she's implying what I think she's implying, I have to think fast… I got it!" Lisa then takes a deep breath, "Fine, we'll let you stay."
Immediately, the sisters, as well as Levi, Luke, Lars and Loki shout, "What?!" In unison.
Lisa continues, "We'll... we'll learn to live with you. Start fresh… with you as our sister."
For a moment, the girl looks on in confusion, before nodding, "Great! Just give me the device!"
Lisa looks at her sisters and begrudgingly complies, closing the portal as she does so. And with that, Lincoln limps out of the room.
"What are we gonna do now?" Leni finally asks.
"I don't know." Lori responds, before the girls all turn to Lisa.
Lynn grabs her, "You have so much to explain, right now!"
"I can't believe I opened up to a girl just pretending to be my sister…" Levi stares at the space where the portal was for a moment, before turning to his brothers and declaring, "You have so much explaining to do now."
Meanwhile…
"Man, this is too easy for me." Lyle quips as she easily forces Ron Andy to the ground, "I mean seriously!"
Cristopher tries ambush her from behind, yet Lyle easily sees the attack incoming and steps out of the way, "Come on! You two gotta try to beat me better than that!"
Ron Andy grits his teeth before jumping to his feet, "I'm not going to give this up!" He charges at her, sword first.
"Dude, just give up, you're not an anomaly and you probably have absolutely no training with a sword." Lyle calmly raises her weapon to block, easily parrying the attack when it comes.
"Yeah, but I've got this girl, and she's lookin' for this thing so she can go home."
Cristopher then comes up from the side, with Nyla too busy keeping Ron Andy in place, she wouldn't be able to block this attack!
So she steps out of the way, while chuckling, "Heh, nice try, but you can't beat a class three hunter that easily!"
The two boys then attack her simultaneously, driving her backwards in an attempt to overpower her.
Yet, Lyle doesn't back down, choosing instead to block each attack with relative ease, "Guys, I don't wanna hurt you. My job is to get this artifact and leave no lasting marks on this universe." She watches as the two boys begin to sweat and take deeper breaths as they are pushed to exhaustion.
"I mean seriously, you really think you can defeat years worth of swords training?!" Lyle then easily pushes the two boys down, causing them to fall in exhaustion.
"You did it! You win!" The being reappears, before taking the form of the crown once more.
"Now, if you need me, I'll be taking this artifact." And with that, she grabs the crown of Royal Woods causing the blue hue to leave the room, allowing time to restart once more.
"What the?!" Chandler looks at the young woman holding her family's most prized heirloom, "Who are you?!"
"I'm a hunter." Lyle calmly responds.
"Lyle!" Nyla and the other ex-hunters rush into the room, their holo-gear raised.
Nyla continues, "What's going on here?!"
Chandler immediately looks around, "I don't know!"
Lyle smiles, "I was just finishing a mission." She raises the crown, "I need to get this to a safe place."
"That's my family's most prized heirloom!" Chandler shouts, before looking passed the class three hunter, causing her to spot two unconscious boys, "Ron Andy!"
Lyle glances back, "Oh, those two? I had to knock them out because they were too busy trying to fight me for this thing." She chuckles, "Don't worry, I won't turn them into cards."
Nyla Raises her holo-gear, "Lyle, drop it and go home. We don't want to hurt you. We need that to save this universe.""
"Now Nyla, Nell, you both know that isn't happening." She raises her own, "And no class two is able to beat me.
Alex speaks up, "Yeah, but we have to try!"
Lyle looks at the twin hunters in contempt for a moment, before muttering, "I used to be in charge of some of your counterparts. By what I remember, you had PTSD from your older brother beating on you." She looks into his light brown eyes, "Am I correct?"
"No!" Aeif immediately speaks up, "Now fight! Why do you want that thing anyways?!"
"Simple, a class three anomaly seems to be after it." She chuckles, "But for now, I don't think that's too important, after all, I have four disavowed units to turn into cards now.
"Yeah, as if we'd let you do that!" Nyla declares, before Lyle hits the screen of her device, causing the fragment to disappear into the device, before the computer continues:
Generating Hunting field: Sogen… Warning! Anomaly influx detected! Warning: Evacuate dimension as soon as possible!
"A shame." Lyle shakes her head, "I was looking forward to turning you into cards." She then turns around, "Until next time." And with that, she quickly opens a portal and jumps through.
The gate closing behind her as it does so.
"Wha… what just happened?!" Chandler shouts, grabbing onto her head as she does so, "My mom is gonna be so mad about the crown!"
"It was probably insured." Nyla responds, before turning to the others, "Come on guys, we gotta warn Linka, if what Lyle said was true, that must've been a Macguffin fragment."
The ex-hunters nod, before all four run out the door.
"What the heck is going on here?!" Chandler shouts, flaring her arms up as she does so.
*Groan* Ron Andy goes, before pulling himself up, "What happened?"
"Someone broke into my house and you got knocked out!" Chandler shouts, "What's going on here?!"
"I have no idea." Ron Andy declares, before helping Cristopher to his feet.
Chandler begins to pace around the room and panic, "What am I gonna do?!"
Ron Andy pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Now Chandler, just stay calm." Cristopher grabs hold of her shoulders, and looks into her eyes, "Just remember, this isn't your fault, just tell your parents that someone broke in and the guards didn't help you, ok?"
Chandler nervously nods.
"Good." Cristopher then hugs her, "You're all right."
"Thanks… Cristopher was it?"
"Yeah." The red-haired boy responds. "I'm Cristopher Cloud."
Ron Andy stretches, "I think we should get out of here."
Cristopher nods in agreement.
"Come back soon…" Chandler goes, "My parents are gonna be so mad…"
And with that, the two boys walk out of the mansion, not noticing the random weirdness happening around them.
20-8-5 2-5-7-9-14-14-9-14-7 9-19 14-9-7-8! 23-9-20-8 6-15-21-18 6-18-1-7-13-5-14-20-19 6-15-21-14-4, 9-20 9-19 15-14-12-25 1 13-1-20-20-5-18 15-6 20-9-13-5 2-5-6-15-18-5 20-8-5 5-12-5-13-5-14-20 15-16-5-14-19!
A/N I hope you guys enjoyed! I apologize if this wasn't whammy enough for a wham chapter. Also, I feel like I just missed the mark drama-wise here. Please, tell me what you guys think! And as always, feel free to send in ideas!
Also, "Unwavering Bonds" returns this Friday!