A/N Hey guys, I'm back again! And here is the beginning of the "Legacy" Arc! I hope you guys enjoy!
R&R!
Story Summary/Prompt: It's time for Lincoln and Linka's birthday, but things aren't as they seem!
Story Twenty-Eight: A Birthday To Remember!
"Ok… I have to carry the two, add the one…" Levi whispers as he scribbles down his calculations, "Then I have to divide by a dimensional matrix and differentiate the derivative of the resulting curve…" He throws his pencil away, jumps to his feet and starts scribbling on a nearby blackboard, "And remember to learn how to speak in a way a normal human could understand..." He quickly finishes and turns to the girl doing the same on the other side of an open portal, "Lisa, how are your calculations coming out?"
"I believe we almost have everything we will need to create a bridge between worlds capable of withstanding the dimensional anomalies present." The female scientist responds, hope filling her typical monotone voice. "That is… so long as nothing stops us before we are able to complete it…"
"My sister?" Levi looks at her with worry.
Lisa nods, "Yes, as it stands she is being pacified by my elder sisters, but I am unsure of just how long that will last." She steps back and motions at her basement lab, "Luckily, I highly doubt she'll come down here anytime soon."
"Good." Levi lets out a breath in relief, "We cannot allow this project to be revealed." He walks over and grabs a nearby pebble, "Now, ready to test this interdimensional portal?"
"Of course, we wouldn't like it to blow up right in our faces like our other inventions, right?" A chuckle rests under the girl's breath,
"I need to do this… for my sister…" Levi hesitates as he turns around and begins jotting more notes down, " Do you believe we will be able to finish this before the party is over tomorrow?"
Lisa nods, "If we stay awake all night working, I'm sure two four-year-old geniuses will be able to construct a Transuniversal Polydimensional Meta-Vortex bridge between two nearby dimensions, especially since most of the math is already done." She motions towards a pile of papers standing up at her waist.
"Good…" His voice trails off as he walks over to the nearby toychest and begins to pull out his building supplies, "Then let's get to work. After all, things like this aren't as easy to build as television would suggest!"
"You watch television?" Lisa raises an eyebrow in shock.
Levi holds up a small pile of tools in his little arms, "Yeah… I uhh, watch it with your brother sometimes… how about you?"
"I do not have time for such innate forms of entertainment." She crosses her arms in contempt, "Science is what I do!"
"But doesn't it, ya know, get boring doing the same thing every day?" Levi tilts his head in curiosity, "I mean… sometimes it feels good to just let go and let your mind imagine the possibilities."
For a moment, Lisa doesn't budge, her spirit is unwavering against the idea… the very notion that science could be boring! "I've had multiple breakthroughs in the past few months! I've made a device capable of travelling between dimensions… that resulted in my brother getting sent somewhere else… and then I made… other devices that do the same thing but don't work…" Her expression softens in defeat.
"How about, after the party tomorrow, I take you somewhere fun?" Levi smiles at his counterpart.
"Very well, I'll go along with you." Lisa lets out a breath in defeat, "Let's get this portal done first."
"You got it!" Levi gives a thumbs up, and with that, the duo get to work on their portal!
The next morning…
*Crash!* Lane kicks Linka's room door open and shouts, "Happy birthday, Linka!" With a beaming smile radiating from his face.
Luckily for him, Linka is already awake when he does this, allowing the young girl to turn to her brother and respond, "Thanks, Lane!"
"We're just here to start your morning with some smiles!" He holds up Mrs. Coconuts and speaks through the puppet, "After all, this might be one big, busy day!"
The young girl tilts her head in confusion, "What do you mean by that, Mrs. Lane's Girlfriend?"
"Hey!" Lane chuckles, "Just because I spend time with it, doesn't mean she's my girlfriend!" Lane throws his head back in laughter, while Mrs. Coconuts stares at him in annoyance. Lane rubs the back of his head in embarrassment. "There are a ton of people coming to spend time with Linka today! It's probably gonna get a bit crowded, especially if most of them are guys!" The doll turns and stares at the boy in contempt for a moment… only for Lane to counter, "Oh… I thought you were gonna make a joke!" He turns to his sister, "I guess we're out of punch lines, so how about we call a hotline to help us?"
And for some, odd reason, Linka can't help but chuckle at her brother's failed attempt at comedy, "Haha, thanks Lane."
"No problem, Linka!" He cheerfully responds… only for Mrs. Coconuts to speak up, "Anyways, Loni told us to tell you that he has your birthday dress ready! He mentioned asking a friend to add some stuff to it, hoping you'll like it."
"Got it." Linka raises a thumb in approval, before Lane walks out of the room, allowing the girl to close the door.
She lets out a deep breath, and smiles; "I can't believe I've been here for six months now. It feels like only yesterday that I was home, hating the idea of having ten brothers, and now I'm in a dimension where I'm the only girl have ten brothers!" she sits does and lies back on her bed, before chuckling. "At least these guys are not the jerks from the other dimension. I wonder what was up with them."
"Who knows? I suppose they were meant to just teach you a lesson of some kind." A familiar voice calls out, before William appears once again.
"Hey…" Linka turns to face the guardian. Though instead of greeting him with a smile, she can't help but feel... concerned, "So uhh… why are you here?"
"I just came to wish you a happy birthday." He smiles at her, giving off an uncertain air as he does so, "And to mark the occasion, I have decided to outright tell you where the next fragment is, my treat."
"And you couldn't tell me before, because?" Linka crosses her arms in annoyance.
"Simple, because what fun would your journey be if I simply told you where everything was?" William looks into her eyes and puts his hands behind his back, "The final fragment, known as the component, is currently in the possession of Lyle Loud, one of your sibling's counterparts working in the AEU. If you ever want to fix everything, I suggest you find a way to go there or get them to come back here."
"Got it." Linka sighs and rubs the back of her head, "That'll be easier said than done…"And idea comes to her, "By the way, why aren't you helping the hunters anyway? Given the fact that you, well, are the Guardian Of Dimensions and stuff... Or are you hiding something from me?"
William begins to count on his fingers, "One, because they regard me and any being outside their own authority as anomalies, ironic given the fact thatthey were started by the new Guardian of Order."
His voice fills with frustration and he throws his arms up annoyance, "No matter how many times I explain that it's my job to make sure dimensions don't fall apart all the time, they still try to do my job for me! And it always ends badly!"
"To be fair, you're not exactly a very trustworthy guy," Linka rolls her eyes.
He continues to count, "And secondly, their method is the equivalent of trying to treat the symptoms rather than get rid of the disease."
"What do you mean?" Linka tilts her head in confusion and curiosity.
William pinches the bridge of his nose, "What they do is more akin to trying to stick a Band-Aid on a gangrenous limb, it doesn't work and you'll end up forced to chop more off later." He turns around, "Their method is only able to stall dimensional collapse. My method prevents it. But refer to our current situation for why I wish there were another way."
"I see…" Linka rubs her chin, "Well, since it's my birthday, could you answer more questions?"
"Well, I-" William's gaze falls upon Linka's cute, begging eyes, "Ugh, all right then, what do you want to know?"
The girl rubs her chin again, before snapping her fingers, "Why did you choose me to find the fragments?" She asks, hope filling her tone.
The man doesn't hesitate to answer, "Simple, only someone who's anomalous in their existence is able to reveal a fragment's true nature, hence why your teacher and friend were around them and yet had no idea of their existence, as well as why it was easy for you to spot and why an anomaly hunter was easily able to take it."
"Get it?" He looks back at her.
"I think I understand." Linka responds with an unsure tone, "So uhh… what will you do once I get all the fragments anyway?" The young girl looks up at the man.
"Why, I'll use them to cleanse your reality of all that corrupts it." William nonchalantly responds, "My intentions have not changed since-"
"What about the evil Lincoln?" She continues leaning ever so slightly closer as she does so. "What will happen to him?"
For a moment William stares at her, as if considering his response carefully, "Once I used the fragments to repair the anomalies popping up, I will be able to find and erase the evil Lincoln from existence." He smiles, "Then peace will be restored… for now."
"Why is he doing what he is anyways?" The young girl continues, her interest beginning to peak. "It doesn't really make much sense to me."
"I never know the intentions of the anomalies I have to deal with… though, most likely he's just trying to increase his standing in the universe or something along those lines… it's cliché in my opinion." The man turns and looks away, "Though the mere idea of this darkness… haunts me."
"What do you mean?" Linka tilts her head in confusion once again.
For a moment, the old man turns away and pauses… as if trying to find the right words to answer the young girl. "Lincoln… if you could have a perfect world, would you take the chance?" William glances at the girl behind him. "Because I would."
Linka shrugs, "I still don't know, and I certainly don't want to think about it, thank you very much."
"Heh, of course." William smiles, "Anyways, I have business to attend to. Happy birthday, Lin-"
"Will, you're not leaving until you answer one last question." The girl cuts him off, "Please."
The being can only groan in exasperation, "Fine, what is your last question?"
"Why have the hunters only been hunting me? The Linka of this dimension is just as anomalous in nature, and she's been having a blast living my life! Well… besides whatever she and Pop Pop did." Linka throws her arms up in annoyance.
Suddenly, William's interest peaks, "That's a good question." He rubs his chin, "Though… I honestly don't know." He turns and looks the young girl in the eyes, "Then again, AEU members tend to be extremely incompetent. And someone of her nature would not be considered a top priority." He turns around again, "That is the best answer I can give you. Anyway, bye!"
And with that, William vanishes from existence, Leaving Linka alone in the room she had called her own for the past six months.
"What's going on?" She thinks, before taking a deep breath, "Whatever… it's probably nothing… I'm overthinking something as minor as details…" She then turns and opens her door, "Now, I got a party to attend!"
Meanwhile, in Dimension C-137
"Happy birthday, Lincoln!" Lori and Leni walk into a similar green-painted room carrying a small slice of cake.
"What did you call me?" Lincoln growls, staring at them in anger.
A moment passes, while the sisters think of how to respond.
"Oh right, we're supposed to call you something else." Lori responds, before both she and Leni exchange looks and continue, "Happy birthday, Liberty!"
"Thanks girls." Lincoln… err Liberty responds, before struggling to turn in the bed, and getting up on his feet- his broken leg having healed just enough to walk on again, while his broken arm no longer needed its sling, though the cast remained, "Today's gonna be great! I can just feel it!"
"You know it!" Lori puts on a fake smile to appease her "brother", "I hope Lisa finishes that dimensional bridge soon. I don't know how much of this I can take!"
Leni then cheers, "If you think this cake is good, you wouldn't believe the party we set up for you!" She shoves the slice in the young boy's hand, "It's like, totes awesome and stuff!"
"I can't wait to see it!" Lincoln cheerfully responds, "When is it though?"
"Later, that's the best I can tell you without spoiling the surprise." Lori responds, "We're just putting on the final touches and stuff." She then grabs Leni's arm and pulls her out of the room, "We'll call you when everything's ready, ok?"
"Fine, if you say so." The boy nonchalantly responds, before his two sisters rush out of the room.
"See, they're happy!" He chuckles, "Maybe I won't need to do much after all."
"Course you won't." A familiar man appears, slight anger filling his voice. "Those girls care for their brother too much to let anything happen to him… even though at this point the only thing of their brother you are is his body."
"A wild William has appeared!" Liberty throws his head back in laughter! "Hey Will, whatcha doin' here again?" he smiles at the man, "Come to give me good news or something? I'm not exactly in the mood for bad news, so if you have no good news, I advise you to leave."
William shakes his head, "No, you've annoyed me severely and have added a variable I did not want to deal with while I work on my plans." He lets out a deep breath, "I have come to just wish you a happy birthday. Happy, in this context, is sarcastic."
Liberty chuckles again, "Heh ok then." Her voice gains a sinister undertone, "Since it's my birthday, would you mind telling me what your big plan is and stuff, or at least why I'm involved at all?"
He sits down in front of his desk, and takes the device he had taken from Lisa in his hands. "Seeing as I'm the one who's making sure you can do your insignificant part after all."
William hesitates for a moment, and yet, he simply responds, "My plan is simple, to cleanse the multiverse of all that corrupts it. Good and evil, pain, dis-"
"Blah, blah, blah. Whatever." Lincoln leans back against his chair, "The 'cleanse' already gave me an idea of what it is." He turns to the old, white-haired man, "Might as well tell me why you needed me to make a distraction and stuff I guess. I'm pretty sure that'll be more interesting than your endgame."
The old man pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration before muttering, "Why the heck did I think it would be a good idea to talk to this girl?" He lets out a deep breath and looks up at her, "I needed you to act as a distraction to prevent those girls from compromising my plan. Soon it will come to fruition, finally."
"Huh, ok then. Sounds fun." Lincoln nonchalantly responds, "Well if you need me, I'll be headed off to do my stuff!" And with that, Lincoln gets up and walks out of the room, leaving William behind to contemplate his life's choices.
"What an annoying little brat." He mutters, before disappearing.
"Lisa?! How long until this dimensional bridge you've talking about is done?! I literally cannot stand acting as that… thing's slave any longer!" Lori rushes into the scientist's basement lab, anger filling her voice.
"Soon sister." Lisa nonchalantly responds, motioning towards her male counterpart as she does so.
"With two scientists working on it, from both ends, we should be done with this soon enough." Levi shouts from the other side, "We're just making sure that people can jump through without issue!"
Lori lets out a sigh of relief, "Good. Make sure to tell us when you're done, ok?"
Lisa nods, "Understood elder sibling."
And with that, Lori walks back upstairs, no doubt to join the party.
"You ready for the wet run Levi?" Lisa turns to her counterpart.
"Yeah, and once it works, you'll be able to come!" Levi cheerfuly goes.
"Yes, and we'll finally be able to bring our true brother home!" Lisa shouts, her typically monotone voice filling with excitement!
"Yeah…" Levi goes, his voice trailing off with an unknown fear, "And when he leaves here… they'll send back my 'sister'…" He shakes his head, "This is for the best… he has to go home."
"Are you all right Levi?" Lisa calmly asks, "Something seems to be bothering you."
The male scientist simply shakes his head, "Yeah, everything is just fine. I just feel fatigued from working all night, this is nothing we haven't felt before."
"This is most likely about the reverse swap. No matter, he is my counterpart in that reality, so he will no doubt go along with it anyway." The female scientist nods in affirmation, "Very well then. Let's do the test run."
Levi nods in agreement, and both scientists walk over and both grab a pebble. And in unison they declare, "Here goes nothing!" And they both throw them in.
Instantly the pebbles vanish for a moment, both reappearing on the opposite sides of the portal.
"We did it!" Lisa cheers, "I'll alert the sisters as soon as we finish stabilizing it!"
"Yeah… we did it." Levi remains emotionless, and with that, they get back to work.
Back in Dimension 63i'\
"Let's make this party great!" Linka's shouts in excitement as Loni puts the finishing touches on her birthday dress. "You ready Loni?"
"Almost…" The young man quickly stitches up a few more adjustments and pulls on the dress to straighten it out, "And… done" He stands up and goes, "There! What do ya think?!"
Linka quickly walks over to a nearby mere and smiles at her reflection. Her once simple dress had been modified not only to fit her better, but now has a set of angel wings attached to their back, oversized white shoulder puffs, an overblown skirt with white lace under the orange cover, white stockings, orange shoes, and a matching orange bonnet.
She smiles in happiness as she turns to her brother and declares, "I love them! Thanks! Where'd you get the idea for this stuff bro?"
"I got them from some anime, like usual." Loni nonchalantly shrugs, "The card girl kinda reminded me of you, so what better way to make your birthday dress look even nicer than to put wings on it and everything else! Everything looks better with wings!"
"Haha! I guess I can see what you mean," Linka chuckles, before turning and motioning her brother to follow, "Well, let's go!"
"Course not sis!" Loni cheerfully responds. And with that, the duo walks downstairs.
Immediately, the young girl is taken into the backyard- no doubt decorated by her brothers the night before- where the party catches her eye. From the door, she could see everyone she had met in the past six months is here! With her friends and acquaintances talking to each other without strife!
"Wow!" Linka watches in awe as Lane goes out of his way to put on an entertaining show for the crowd… by using his Trapeze Magician to fight one of Leif's robot birds. A few feet away, Luke rocks out on guitar, giving a soft rock vibe to go along with his more modest hairstyle.
"This party is amazing!" Linka quips, before a particular boy, holding a cup of fruit punch, catches her eye, "Ron Andy!" She runs over and throws her arms around him, "I can't believe you made it!"
"Haha, hey Linka!" The boy would return the girl's hug, but Linka has him held tightly in her grip, "It's been a while."
Linka immediately lets go and rubs the back of her head, "Heh, yeah, but can you blame me being busy and stuff for that." She chuckles and gazes into the young boy's eyes, "You didn't forget did you?"
"Forget what?" Ron Andy tilts his head in both confusion and curiosity.
"This!" And with that, Linka gives him a soft kiss on the cheek, "You didn't mind, did ya?"
Immediately, Ron Andy's face goes red in either embarrassment, or from the blood rushing to his head in joy! Luckily for him, that's all Linka needs as a response… though he does manage to stammer out, "Not that much... Actually, I didn't mind at all! I just wish I could to see my girl more often, ya know?!"
The girl chuckles, and gives him a playful punch on the arm. Though, of course, he can barely feel it. "Welp! I'm gonna be here if you need me!" He promptly turns around, internally leaping for joy as he does so."
"He's cute when he's flustered." Linka knowingly smiles and turns around, only for another girl to catch her eye, "Chandler?!"
"Yeah, who else?" The red-haired girl responds, before shoving a present in Linka's arms, "I'm doing this because my parents told me to."
Linka smiles, while chandler turns around and crosses her arms, as if trying to hide her true intentions.
"Thanks Chandler!" Linka chuckles, before clawing into the gift, revealing a set of boots with and attached note. "Boots?! I needed some of these for months! Thanks!"
"Don't mention it." Chandler goes with a stuck-up attitude.
Linka then reads the attached note, "Linka, look, I know we haven't been the best of friends, but after I saw what Ron Andy would do to protect you… well… I'm willing to not bully you anymore to make him happy. I hope this present makes us even." Linka smiles, "You've got a long way Chandler, but I think we could start!"
Chandler scoffs, "Whatever." Before walking away, a slight smile forming on her face.
"Today's goin' really good so far." Linka smiles as she puts Chandler's gifts with the rest of them.
"Hey, Linka!" A familiar voice calls out, causing the girl to turn to face the ex-hunters, with Alex continuing, "We've got something to show ya."
"Hey ya guys, what is it?" Linka tilts her head in confusion.
"Nothing much, we just thought we should show you this…" Nyla pulls out her holo-gear and shows her the flashing message, "Dimensional Stability Compromised! Evacuate immediately!"
Linka stares at the warning for a moment, before looking up at the hunters, and asking, "What does that mean?" She tilts her head as she awaits the response.
"It means that this dimension can't handle that many more anomalies coming in!" Nell responds, motioning towards the other hunters as she does so, "We've done our best to keep anomalies at bay, but I'm not sure how long this place will last before we have to add an 'x' somewhere around its already weird name!"
For a moment, Linka stands back, unsure of just how to react to the news, yet she eventually sighs in response, "You know what guys, how about we deal with that issue later? We're at a party after all!"
The ex-hunters look at each other for a moment, before glancing between each other just unsure of how to react.
Then, Nyla snaps, "Are you serious right now!?"
"Yeah, I've been doing so much stuff and I'm in need of a break-" Linka looks away.
"You don't need a break!" Nyla shouts, grabbing the birthday girl's shoulders as she does, "You need to get the last component right now!" She takes a moment to catch her breath and lets go, "I don't wanna leave this world, and I doubt these guys want to either. We need you to finish doing what you were asked to do."
Nell then adds, anger buried in her tone. "Otherwise, all these people you've been helping will-"
"Guys, shut up!" Linka snaps at the ex-hunters. "I got most of the fragments and I know where the final one is, but right now we're at a party! I mean seriously, I haven't seen a single anomaly since I got here! So please, let's just enjoy the party!"
Nell and Nyla, seeing the girl wouldn't be reasoned with, simply nod in response and go to "enjoy" the party... though, unbeknownst to everyone, a tree nearby has the hole of its trunk turn into an eye.
After that, Linka notices Lexx talking to a certain girl she's been dying to meet.
"So, anything I'm missing?" Linka walks over to her actor brother.
Immediately, Lexx stammers, "Hi Linka!" he motions toward the young girl dressed in a set of pink overalls, "This is Nala!"
The young girl looks at the younger girl for a moment, "Bout time I met this girl! She looks exactly like Lana!" She smiles, "It's nice to meet ya!"
"Thanks." She shyly goes, "It's nice to meet ya too."
Linka then chuckles, and walks away, only to find Luke and Nyla talking, simply having fun, "Those two look so cute together. I won't bother em."
"Hey, sis, come here," Loki walks over, with Bebe holding onto his arm, "How are ya feelin?"
"Great so far!" The girl responds, turning to Bebe as she does so, "How about you two? I heard you finally got ungrounded."
Bebe chuckles and awkwardly rubs her head, "Well I could only be grounded for a few months, so my parents did have to, ya know, unground me eventually." She chuckles, "I guess my meddling didn't help as much as I had hoped."
"Yeah…" She shrugs, "But hey, at least Ron Andy and I are together now!" She motions towards Claudia and Cristopher, the duo simply enjoying the party in silence, "As our friends are too."
"Good to know." Linka smiles.
Loki then motions towards Lane, "Now how about we watch Lane? I heard he's made a special act just for you!"
"Really?!" Linka goes in surprise, "Awesome!"
"Yeah, come on." Loki goes, taking his little sister's hand in his own, while Bebe holds on to his other arm. And with that, they walk over to the young man's show, as he prepares to give his sister the best one of her life!
And a few feet away, inside the house, Lynn Sr. simply stands next to his wife, watching as they do so. "Hey Rita."
"Yes dear?" The woman smiles in response.
"Linka's really grown up hasn't she?" Lynn Sr. looks at his wife with a nostalgic smile.
"What do you mean dear?" Rita looks back at him.
"You know… since the 'incident' all those years ago." He looks back at his only daughter, "Before she wouldn't leave your side… and now she's holding a steady job, spending time with boys, and well… being happy."
"That's great dear!" Rita's voice fills with excitement.
Lynn Sr.'s smile turns to a frown, "But I'm worried that something bad will happen to her-"
"Lynn Bertram Loud Junior!" Rita snaps at her husband, "This has gone on for long enough!" She holds her finger up to him, "Ever since the incident I've taken a back seat because you've done a good job keeping things orderly, but for crying out Loud, it's our daughter's birthday!"
She leans back, "Our daughter is happy now. She's grown up, and I don't think it's a good idea to keep pressuring the boys into protecting her anymore."
"But-" Lynn Sr. tries to counter, only for his wife to cut him off, "You remember when Leif was playing with her don't you?" She crosses her arms, "He let himself get injured in order to protect her. The others were legitimately surprised when she decided to spend time with them all! Heck, she had to beg to come along on the camping trip too!"
Lynn Sr. simply stands by, unable to counter his wife.
Rita lets a deep breath and softs her expression, "Lynn… it's time you let our daughter breathe more… After all… she's growing up, and from the time I spent with her, I learned she's more like the boys than you'd expect."
"What do you mean?" The man asks.
"Did you know she loves reading comics in her underwear?" Rita stares into his eyes with a determined gaze.
"She-She isn't-" Lynn Sr. begins to stammer.
"I know we meant well, but she doesn't want to be the perfect housewife." The woman finally declares, "She wants to be herself. And while I know the boys love their sister, I have a feeling they don't like their lives revolving around her."
Despite the noisy party roaring outside, silence is able to overtake the two adults.
"I was a horrible father…" He turns and looks at his daughter, the young girl smiling as she spins the air with her two brothers.
"And I should've been a better mother for them." Rita continues, grabbing her husband's hand as she does so.
"But we meant well didn't we?" Lynn Sr. looks at his wife with a begging gaze.
"We did…" She responds with a sigh. "But I think it's time we stopped worrying about her so much… she'll be fine."
Lynn Sr. smiles, "With the boys… I guess you're right." He looks at his daughter again, "After the party, I'll go take her somewhere… maybe fishing, I've taken the boys, but never her."
"You expect her to catch some fish with ya?" Rita chuckles.
"No." He flatly responds, "If I remember anything my dad told me about fishing, your dad never takes you fishing to actually catch fish." He turns to her.
"Ok then dear." Rita goes, "Now how about we join the party?"
"I'd love to." And with that, they step outside the home.
"Stabilizing Photon Accelerators…" Levi's voice trails off, as he types in the numerous codes required to correct any issues an inter-dimensional portal could possibly have. "Initializing data tracking… location of opposing bridge detected."
Lisa ignores the itching feeling crawling up her back as she completes the calculations required on her end, "Stabilizing Tachyon Generators… activating interdimensional bridge in dimension C-137." Without hesitation she slams her hand down a nearby blue button, causing her end of the portal to begin to spark with silver light. "Awaiting secondary input." The young girl turns to her counterpart, "Levi?"
Levi sits motionless in front of the button, his hand wavers mere inches above it, as if the young scientist is hesitating whether or not to complete the project he had spent the past week on completing.
"Levi?" Lisa hops to her feet, "Are you all right?" Slight concern fills her voice.
"If I hit this button… I'll lose the one sister I ever knew…" The young boy thinks, as the memories of his time with his current sister floods his mind, "She… she accepted me for who I am… she helped me with my experiments… she… she was a real sister to me…" he begins to space out even further, allowing the image of his sister hinder his sight.
"Levi!" Lisa shouts, pulling the young boy from his trance.
"Huh?" He quickly looks around in shock.
Lisa takes a deep breath, "What's going on? Hit the secondary input!"
Levi stares at the pink button resting in front of him, his hand not responding to his thoughts.
*Sigh* Lisa goes, "You're worried about what will happen next, huh?" She looks at her counterpart.
"Yes." Levi flatly responds, recoiling his arm as he does so, "Your Lincoln has been the best big sister I ever had! He's treated me like what I am, instead of a scientist all the time! And I don't want to lose that!" His typically monotone voice fills with despertion.
"Of course…" Lisa's voice trails off, "But you're not the only ones that need him." He looks at her, "Lincoln belongs home…"
"No he doesn't!" Levi snaps, "This is his home! He loves it here!"
Lisa nods, "I'm sure he does, if what you've been telling me is true he's made quite the reputation for himself there." She sighs, "But his sisters need him too."
A moment of silence overtakes the two rooms.
"Promise he'll be coming back after this bridge is made?" Levi finally asks, more fear filling his voice.
For a moment, Lisa considers complaining about the absurdity of a promise, and yet, she can't help but find herself nodding, "Yes. I'll make sure he goes back to visit."
"Ok…" The male scientist moves his trembling hand over the button, and slams it.
"Hey Clyde Bear!" Lincoln painfully limps over and hugs his friend and lover, "How are ya feeling?!"
"Um... Great, Liberty, I guess." He smiles and hands the boy a present, "I hope you enjoy it. I uhh, had a ton of trouble trying to pick it out!" His voice is filled with an awkward fear.
"Don't be scared Clyde!" He takes it in his hands, "No matter what you got, I'll probably love it!" And without another word, he tears into the box and pulls out a small dress. "Wow…" He holds it up to the light to admire it.
"Do you like it?" Clyde holds his hands together tightly, fearful of his partner's rejection.
Yet, despite his fears, Lincoln simply smiles, "I love it!" Then he throws his arms around his boyfriend, before looking around the simple party. "This party is amazing!"
Similarly to Linka's party, everyone the boy knew came in attendance, though Ronnie Anne does her best to stay away from the boy… while making sure Cristina doesn't even attempt to approach either. As for the other Loud Siblings… they choose not to live up to their family name, not that Lincoln notices.
"I can't wait for the entertainment!" He shouts, before pulling Clyde over to a nearby table.
A few feet away, Lori gathers up the rest of her sisters and goes, "Girls, I literally cannot deal with this girl anymore!"
"None of us can, Lori." Luna immediately responds, "But we gotta handle her or else the real Lincoln will be…" She motions towards her throat.
Leni tilts her head in confusion, "Thirsty?"
"You can water that!" Luan puns, throwing her head back as she does so.
"Well I-" Lori continues, only for her phone to go off, "Huh?" She quickly digs her hand inside her pocket and pulls the device out, "Lori, the bridge has been made, come up and we'll be able to bring Lincoln home!"
Lori's voice fills with a commanding excitement, "Girls, it's time!"
None of the girls need an explanation, before they all rush back into the home and up the stairs into the room of their youngest members.
Immediately, the cramped room is filled with the noise of ten siblings desperately trying to get an explaination out of the sceintists.
"Girls! Calm down!" Lisa stands back in fear, the pressure from being outnumbered quickly overtakes her. And immediately, Lori responds by ordering, "Girls! Stand down!" And her eight siblings comply.
"Thank you." Lisa lets out a sigh of relief, only for Lori to step forward.
"Lisa, is it ready yet?" Lori steps forward, her heart racing in anticipation. "I don't know how much longer I can deal with that Not-Lincoln!"
The young scientist turns towards her male counterpart, "Are you ready to open the portal again?"
"Yes Lisa. Everything is clear on this end." Levi begins to type on the nearby computer once more.
Lisa responds by doing the same thing. A fearful air overtakes the room, the translucent barrier dividing the two dimensions slowly solidifying as they go on.
GLaDOS then declares, "Dimensional Bridge Integration Initialized! Generating Connection!" And with that, the portal begins to glow, forcing all around to shut their eyes.
When it finally dies down, the portal Lisa had been using to communicate with Levi is now a perfect circle with a silver border.
"You ready to see Lincoln again?" Lisa turns to her sisters, "This portal will allow us to jump to the dimension he currently resides in, and hopefully bring him home… but we must be quick, now I know that you would want to-"
"I literally don't care about the risks, but if any of you are afraid, feel free to speak up." Lori looks at her sisters, and wordlessly, they unanimously agree; even Lily for that matter. "Then it looks like we're going to save Lincoln together. Let's go Lisa."
Lisa nods, and wordlessly, the ten sisters lock hands.
Determination fills the air, as all ten of the Loud Girls stand before the open portal.
"Last chance to run." Lucy goes, "If this doesn't work, we're dead."
"So?" Lola goes, glaring at Lucy as she does so, "We're saving Lincoln! Death is the least of our problems!"
"We've got to brother to save him!" Luan puns, illiciting groans from her sisters.
"Let's go." Lori declares, before running at the portal, with her sisters quickly following. And without another word, they jump through.
And for a split second, they pass through the interdimensional space, and in that, they see the countless possible realities that exist between them and their missing sibling. Though, luckily, this doesn't cause their minds to break.
After that, they land...
Back in Dimension 63i'\
Suddenly, the ex-hunter's Holo-Gear goes off, declaring, "Warning, warning, warning, warning! Dimensional Stability offset!"
"Uhh, what's going on?" Nyla looks at the error message in shock, while the others do the same. She continues by hitting her device, "This thing has be on the fritz, no way something-"
Immediately, a burst of light radiates from Levi's room, causing her eyes to go wide in shock, "What's Levi doing?!"
"I don't know, but…" Linka runs up to the group, "What's going on?!"
"We don't know!" Nell throws her arms up in surrender.
"Our Holo-Gear is going off." Alex continues, "Someone just pulled a big play, and now anomalies are flooding the dimension!"
"It can't be that bad-" Linka starts, only for Aeif to speak up.
"Link, the only reason why this place didn't fall apart sooner is because we've been sealing them as quickly as they've been popping up! This is faster than anything we're equipped to deal with, we have to plug it up!"
Linka nods, "Ok then, come on. Let's check out Levi's room." And with that, Linka rushes into the home, with the hunters following.
"What the?" Loki goes, before turning to Bebe, "Look, I know there's still some stuff we have to catch up on, but I gotta see what my sister's problem is, ok?"
"You got it Loki, I'll wait here for ya!" Bebe responds, and with that, her boyfriend gives chase. And once Loki starts running, the rest of the boys follow.
"Honey, something's up with the boys!" Rita declares.
"We have to check it out as well then." Lynn Sr. responds, causing the parents to come along too.
And without another word, everyone rushes back into the home and up to the young scientist's room.
"Levi, what's-" Linka kicks open her little brother's room, only to come face-to-face with ten familiar girls.
"G-girls?!" Linka looks at them in shock, "What- how?!"
"L-Lincoln?" Lori looks at the young girl, "Is that really you?" Linka doesn't hesitate to run over and throw her arms around the ten girls, "How'd you get here?!"
"Levi and I built a bridge to connect the two dimensions." Lisa answers, pride filling both of the sceintists. "You know, nothing out of the ordinary."
"This is my birthday present for ya 'sis'… your real siblings." Levi then steps forward, his voice filled with pain.
"What was it like here?!" Lola runs forward, while Lana comes to her side, "And what's it like having so many brothers?!"
"Girls, calm down." Linka chuckles, taking the girls in her arms as she does so, "Is now really the time to be asking this?"
Lucy immediately appears, "There might not even be a later. So we might as well ask now."
"Well I-" Linka starts.
"What the heck is going on?! Who are these girls?!" Lynn Sr. shouts as he angrily steps forward, "And why are they saying that you're their sibling?!"
"Oh right, just as stuff is barely making sense and we're trying to get our sibling back, you just have to pop up and ruin everything even further, other-Dad?!" Lori snaps before cracking her knuckles. "Looks like that's one of the things you and our dad share together: They can't get their noses away from business that's none of their concern, even if their lives depended on it!"
The rest of the sisters crack their knuckles as well, while Lori continues, "And trust me, if we don't get our brother back, your life will literally depend on it!"
Lynn Sr. just turns to Linka and glares at her.
"Girls calm down, he's our dad here." She motions for her sisters to relax, before turning to face the man, "Well dad… uhh…" Linka awkwardly rubs the back of her head, "I have a lot of explaining to do don't I?"
"Yes!" Everyone shouts in unison, while Lynn Sr. continues, "Let's start with who are these-"
"Warning… Anomaly burst inbound!"
"Uhh guys, I'd hate to break the moment, but take cover!" Nyla shouts, before the Ex-hunters hit the deck.
"What, why-" The male Lynn starts, only for an earthquake to shake the house for a moment, causing everyone who wasn't already down to fall, as well as causing the various trinkets and chemicals to fall from the shelves. Though, the portal remains active.
After that, everyone does their best to regain their bearing.
"What was that?!" Loki shouts in confusion.
"That was an anomaly burst!" Nell shouts, "A sudden increase in the amount of anomalies is taking its toll on this dimension!"
"We have to-" Alex shouts, only for an explosion to echo through the room.
"Dangit!" Nyla counters, as she types away at his holo-gear, "Guys, activate emergency teleport and grab whoever you can! Everyone else, run through that portal!"
"What the?!" Linka shouts as Nyla grabs her by the collar. "Emergency Transport activated! Returning to Base…"
And before she can even respond, everything goes dark.
9 23-15-14-4-5-18 23-8-5-18-5 20-8-5-25 23-5-14-20 9-14 20-8-5 13-21-12-20-9-22-5-18-19-5. 16-18-15-2-1-2-12-25 20-15 19-8-15-14-5-25-'19
A/N And that's the beginning of legacy! I hope you guys enjoyed! Though, I feel like this chapter could've been more exciting. What do you guys think?
As always, I thank Wolvenstrom and Exotos135 for all of their help and ideas!
