July 21st, 2039

Linka had to drive the "borrowed" pick-up truck through the rampaging phenos, the dying civilians, and the tiny shootouts through town, while heading to the precinct. Pretty sure the cops would have sealed themselves in, fending off the freaks that had overrun the peaceful town of Royal Woods. She had to drive carefully, even with the secret weapon taking space of the passenger seat, rattling away. The shotgun wasn't anymore comfortably placed, standing butt-side up, leaning from the edge of the passenger seat and against the EMP.

People got in the way. Bloody, screaming townsfolk were hitting against the truck, trying to hail Linka down. A few of them attempted to jump and climb on the back, and some had succeeded to do so. Linka pulled down the window, deciding to help those she was able to. "Get in, get in if you can!"

As she let some many of the scared lives onboard, she figured she would have to face to the edge of town so that they could escape. A risky drive from here to there, barely a miracle that she hadn't encountered any hostile as of yet. She drove off again when the back was crowded with too many people already, and left behind those unfortunate souls who wandered about fearfully and hopelessly. She only prayed no one would die, even though it was just an impossibility to avoid. Still... Someone had to. Someone had to keep it alive. Someone.

Linka took her head out of the window. "Do any of you have guns?! Weapons or something?!"

Three men had indeed showed off some Glocks at Linka's indirect request, taking position of overwatch. "We're covered! Drive us to the gun store! We need to fight back!"

Linka thought about that idea. The gun shop could have been raided already, but there was no way of knowing. Maybe Samaritans were already holding it down, guarding it as she thought. She planned to avoid it, as it was the center of town where the phenos were striking. All the public places, with a few of them just scattered around the homes. Guessed why she hadn't seen of here yet. "Hold on tight, then!"

She went off course and decided to bet all her cards into it. Linka would supply them with the ride to the armory and instruct them to head out of town. Then, she'd quickly return, and with more and better weapons, as well.

Radio Station

Liberty had gotten away clean, and Lupa had to warn Linka and company about the traitorous albino. She quickly got back into the car, and Laika took position in the trunk again, reloading her weapon when her magazine was empty. "We're going to the armory, girl. I think you need more than a pistol at this point."

"I good with AK! You Americans sell AK?" Laika wondered.

"Get good with military grade, not a peasant's weapon," Lupa insulted.

"AK is Motherland weapon!" Laika protested.

"We're not in Motherland, girl! Now buckle up and make your shots count!" Lupa stepped on the gas pedal, rushing down the steep hills. Laika felt odd when she was forced backwards, having to stretch her body straight to stop her from folding into the trunk. The con of being back cover. Never again.

"Careful, you not be!" Laika angrily retorted.

"I SAID BUCKLE UP FOR A REASON!"

"NO SEATBELT, STUPID GIRL!"

"TAKE ENGLISH CLASSES TO LEARN EXPRESSIONS!"

"I LEARN EXECUTIONS!"

Lupa didn't slow down at all. "OKAY!"

Their only speedster had switched to the other side, had been all along. Then, was there no hope in winning without the proper skill and abilities to match not one, but now two of them? Lupa seethed her teeth with anger, stressing over the odds that were against them. Hopefully, just hopefully, they would get additional support from any and all fighters in the area. Lucky for her she had Laika, but there needed to be more of them.

Coming into town, she witnessed countless people already evacuating, and groups of armed civilians were running back and forth through the streets, watching out for the super-powered hostiles still in control. Lupa had pushed on the brakes aggressively, forcing Laika right inside the trunk, making her curse in her language.

"Hey, you! You with the weapons, what are you planning to do with those?!" Lupa thought they had gotten the memo when she sent out her message through the airwaves, but it didn't seem like everyone received it.

"We're gonna kill all the freaks in town!" One said.

"They declared war on our very way of life!" Another added with rage. "It's just like the news says about them!"

"Get out of here, girl! This is a war zone!"

Lupa yanked out their guns and rifles, dumping them right over Laika. "You're right, now get out of here before the real soldiers turn this place into a blast zone!" She went further into town, hoping that she solved that little issue. They'd have gone off and killed as many phenos as they could, with no concern or worry about targeting the kids among them. Lemy was still around, and the twin pals of his were part of this as well. They didn't need to be killed like this. They were just young innocent buckaroos.

As she drove, she remembered that Lemy could go invisible, which meant that he would be unseen. But he could not make himself completely invisible without removing his clothes. Nor the headband he had. Wait... Was there a chance he escaped? He could have gone invisible when Nnyl had gotten to the training grounds and broke them all out. Maybe she had freed him, only for him to successfully elude her grasp. Maybe, but what did Lupa know in the now?

Laika flashed a thumbs up from behind. "We no need go to armory! Go where?"

Lupa had an idea and stopped when they found themselves along in the streets. She set the car to park and ordered Laika to get out. "Shoot off some guns!"

"Why, what we doing?" Laika dug herself out from the stash of guns and got out of the trunk. "No AK here."

Lupa snatched a pistol and aimed at the air, firing away at the sky. "Let's get most of their attention! I can take them down easily, so we don't have to kill them! I hope the ones we've subdued will wake to be our allies soon enough!"

They attracted five phenos, and Laika had fired away at their legs, while Lupa flicked off the devices on their heads. "You say no kill, so I hurt!"

"Yeah, but...-" Lupa inhaled deeply, groaning. "We need allies who can walk!"

Hoverboard girl had followed the gunshots, riding right over a building and regrouping with Laika. "Oh, hey! So this is where the distortions brought you!"

"Girl clone of the Lincoln Loud!" Laika greeted with a smirk. "Is good to see you again, comrade Lina!"

Lina hugged Laika emotionally, but the redhead pushed the albino off of her, denying the mush. "As, you went missing for awhile! We thought we'd never see you again!"

"Was here for weeks, following Linka and Lupa from distance."

"H-hold on, what was that?" Lupa was trying to add two plus two together, but this was one math equation that she couldn't solve by her own. "What do you mean you've been following me? And who the hell is this girl?"

"Easy there, Lupa! We've come to do something here, but we'll lend you our help while we do our thing."

"Uh..." Lupa drooled.

"Did comrade Lynn Three solve problems?" Laika wondered.

"Uhh..." She drooled again.

"It's being reversed! The distortions sent me here a few hours ago..."

"Uhhh..." Lupa wasn't going to get anywhere with the two weirdos, so she abandoned the Russian girl and entered the car again, and left them to fend for themselves. "I don't get paid enough for this."

South End of Royal Woods

Linka stopped just before the way out of Royal Woods, having outrun a pheno who only damaged the passenger's side mirror on the way. "This is your stop! Get off and get the fuck out!"

They followed her orders, only because there was really no other thing to do, but to run away or get killed if they decided to fight back. Two guesses what they'd choose. Even less people were alive by then, and Linka was already returning, running over the many bodies of dead people that she hadn't time to move. Gunfire still filled the air, but less screams made it a dark sound of silence. Not too many people to rescue now, meaning the inevitable fight with no limits was soon coming.

No time to take people out of the equation now. The EMP set-up mattered, and Linka was rushing speeding away now.

She and Lupa crashed into each other at an intersection, and Lupa took more of the damage, face planting right into the steering wheel, causing the airbag to go off. "Hey, you stupid! Watch where you're-" Linka then recognized the "stupid" when Lupa tore the airbag out, revealing her bloody face.

"You're supposed to stop at red!"

"In case you haven't noticed, it's all turned to shit!" Linka looked back at their secret weapon. Still fine, undamaged. "Get out of that crappy car! And why is the trunk even open?"

"Long story! What's with the pick-up?"

"Long story! Get in the back, not in the front!"

"What? I'm calling shotgun!" Lupa exclaimed.

"I've got a shotgun calling shotgun! Mord importantly, the EMP is here with me, as well. Come on, uo you go!"

Lupa jumped and flew down onto the back like a feather floating down. "Where are we going?"

"Gun shop, I might need more for later!"

Lupa leaned her head back and sighed miserably. "You fucking nut..." Lupa swerved the car around snd loaded the guns from the trunk into the back. "We've got what you need, now keep driving around! We can lure the phenos to us by revealing our own position!"

"Oh, and how can we call-" Linka was interrupted by the gunfire Lupa started again. "You're using us as bait?"

"Remember the Black Ops games Lincoln, Clyde and Ronnie Anne would often play? The zombies mode? Well, floor it so we can make the zombie train! Only, you know, with the phenos!"

"Ugh... I have to play those again one day..." Linka began speeding away again, with Lupa double tapping on the handguns.

"If we live, I'll fucking buy them for you!" Lupa promised impulsively.

"And shoot off slowly! Those aren't enough for the Agency!"

"Nonsense, we'll come up with something!" Lupa continued to shoot, and was happy to see the results. Three adult phenos and a young pheno appeared in unique ways, starting their chase after the two. Lupa formed a gun with her fingers and aimed it at them. "Bang, bang, bang!" Those three had fallen right away, thanks to her. No Lemy yet, but she had her eyes in close watch. No way he could've been killed yet... Right? But inside, she had some concern towards his safety. "Linka...?"

But Linka had an idea of what Lupa was thinking about. The Lucy clone didn't think about Nnyl, nor the many poeple dying around them. Her mind had to belong to that kid she talked about, mentioned. Linka didn't blame her for wondering that far ahead. "We don't know if he's dead, Lupa. We really don't. Have some hope or faith or something."

"Yeah..." Lupa just let her head fall with saddening brood at the thought of it. Even then, even when, if, he was still alive, she failed him already. Once, which would be either fatal or not at all. And by the way things looked right now, the path had set Lemy to a dangerous, deathly destiny. All Lupa's fault in her own eyes.

Linka braked hard, making Lupa's head strike against the back window. "HEY!"

"Lupa, keep your head in it or not at all!"

"I won't have a head if you keep this up!" Just like that, Lupa was out of her head, fuming at Linka's recklessness. "I'm gonna- Hey, look out!"

"What?" Linka swerved the truck to the right when the road up ahead crumbled about. "What powers don't they have?!"

"Got a bead on them?" Lupa stepped onto the roof, looking in the wrong place. "I got-"

The attack came from right beneath them, strong enough to flip the truck over on its back. Lupa went flying forward, screaming with a rare high-pitched tone. The guns struck her after she had hit the ground, slowing her down from rolling away from the falling truck. Her left hand was caught, painfully pinned down by the weight of the vehicle. "G-God-! Linka!"

"Hold on, I'm coming!" Linka punched her way out through the windshield, crawling out to Lupa. "Hey- Oh, my God!"

"Yeah! I'm stuck!"

"No! These guns went all over the place!" Linka lifted the truck high enough to free her sister.

Lupa dragged her hand out, and rolled to the side. "My arm! I can't feel my arm!" She wailed, flopping the hand around.

"Well, at least you have one good hand left," Linka coldly stated.

"A-are you kidding me?! This hurts-" Lupa received a slap before being picked up by the first clone.

"Then you've never gotten used to having your hands go through endless pain, right? You'll heal, but don't be a wimp!" Linka looked back inside the truck. "Fucking great, the EMP will be damaged at this rate!"

Linka was in the midst of pulling the cylinder out carefully, hoping it wasn't damaged at all. "Ah, keep an eye out on that-"

The underground pheno had come up again, right behind Lupa. "Linka! Prioritize me, you asshole!" Lupa spun around to push the foe off of her, but she was too close to gain the advantage, being only pushed back down on her back. "Why, you-!" Lupa threw an air punch, striking the dirt-covered opponent back.

Linka turned to the guns, aiming to make short work of this one. "How old is what's-his-name?"

"Lemy is like twelve! Why are you asking now?!" Lupa then knew after asking, turning to Linka seconds too late. She ultimately fired, but Lupa yelled afterwards. "LINKA!"

Three shots dropped the poor, dirty fellow, but Linka was not about to mourn or give a moment of silence. If she didn't know them, she didn't care. Lupa, on the other hand... "What, this isn't your brat, is it?"

"Stop the pissing contest and do what it takes, sister."

"I have, and we don't need to kill them! I was just going to remove their silly devices to break the control! Don't you think we could earn potential allies?!"

"If they could so easily be beaten by us, then they're not worth having to have them back us," Linka thought. "We don't need them."

"Linka, please! I'm not fucking joking!" Lupa rubbed on her broken arm, hissing lightly.

"Neither am I," Linka finalized, taking off with the EMP, leaving Lupa by herself.

"Hey, hey, where are you going? Linka!" Lupa followed pursuit, having no choice. "You need me!"

"Exactly, now cover me with your one good arm!"

"Wait, where are we going?!"

Elsewhere

Lucky was mindlessly walking about, already returning back to his original state. The whole trippy sensation was just like the dang weed that would get him high, but he hadn't smoked any of that for weeks. And not at all recently.

He came across bodies and wreckage wherever he went. Houses were destroyed, buildings unevenly broke away, and more destruction was still going on while faint gunshots rang out in the distance. Frankly, the boy was scared of being in the area, alone and lost as no one was with him when he had woken up.

Were the others dead? Did they die... Around Royal Woods? Couldn't have... Lupa was a tough cookie to crack. Linka was fairly the same as well. But... She died once at the hands of Nnyl, so maybe it was possible-

No, they couldn't have died. Not them, and not Lynn, not Lana, not even the new girl.

Where was it he needed to to? Could he do something? Was he to do something?

The lost redhead avoided clearings, sticking to the sides, and constantly taking cover behind what he could. He hadn't seen people yet, but when that happened, he only wished it was the right people.

The second he did hear a cluster of folk shouting away in strict but panic tones, he redirected into the backyard of the house he was just passing by, jumping right over the wooden gate, drastically trying to force himself to reach the other side. The gate was taller than him, so all it did was get him stuck, folding him over by his stomach. "Ow!"

He heard a multiple pairs of footsteps dramatically running closer to him. He wiggled his feet, trying desperately to climb his feet against the gate. No use in trying to escape now. He whimpered like a pansy, hoping that these passing individuals were not hostiles. He remained still, despite the position he was in having hurt his frontal waistline. What a bad situation this was.

He covered his mouth as it sounded he's been seen. "Hey, look over there! Someone tried to run for it! Poor soul died embarrassingly."

You try having to run for your life! Lucky exhaled with grief.

"Come on, we've got some freaks to kill!"

Lucky let moments pass before he flipped himself backwards, finally freeing himself. "Dang it- Ugh!"

As soon as he moved back into the street, a quick firefight had started just down the block. The boy took cover behind a hedge. "Please, please-"

A head went flying through the street, making him shiver with fright. He turned away from the sight of the graphic scenery, hiding his face down on his knees. "Oh, my G-God..."

Screaming replaced the loud gunshots, up until nothing could be heard. Just like that, he believed the persons he heard have died just like that. And soon, it would be him next. No one would save him. Hyperventilating, he squealed out and manned up, coming out from the hiding spot to get it over with. This was all he could do at the very moment, rather than a simple nothing. "I'm over here-"

What he saw that had slaughtered the group of men was not at all human, but its own physique was humanoid in nature. What was more, it seemed to be vividly devouring the fleshy limbs of its own victims. The horrid teeth were revealed when the thing, that hideous monster, opened its jaws eidely. He recognized this creature as the same one he had briefly seen before, from their destroyed house. "Y-you!"

The thing sank into the ground, as if it were made of shadow. It terrified the redhead further, getting the feeling that he was about to be the main course. Body too tensed up to even shake. Hands had overcome the irregular shaking. "Hi..." The thing rasped from behind.

He peed his gray sweatpants, stuttering away uncontrollably. "P-please don't eat me!"

Rather than being a snack, Lucky received a better role for the big battle when the ravenous demon took a new form, modifying and applying himself to act as a suit for Lucky. "On behalf of our mutual acquaintance Lupa Loud, I hereby surrender my physical body and the supernatural powers that come with it."

"S-supernatural-" Lucky for him, he wasn't claustrophobic, but this was still bone-chilling already. The thing was freezing, even through the baggy sweater and sweatpants. He shivered away, not knowing what to make of this. "What are-? A-are you going to eat me?"

"I've already had my meal," the demon-suit said. "I will be your fighting armor for the entirety of the battlefront!"

"A-armor? I- You- Lupa-" Lucky pointed around, trying to make sense of whatever the fuck was going on. "What?"

"And don't worry, Lupa is still alive! Although..."

South End of Royal Woods

The units had begun to pour into town. It started with a convoy of five M1 Abrams tanks, and in between them, six foot-mobiles with anti-pheno machine guns, magazines all laced with dampening properties to nullify the odd quirks of the many targets they've been sent to neutralize. In total, that made thirty of them entering hell.

More of them had been quickly setting up a temporary base a mile from town, right on a clearing in the nice grassy plateau. The Agency's director, with the rest of his own soldiers, had teamed up with the general who had made all this possible. Tents were up, tables and communications systems went here and there, and humvees with machine gun turrets were lined up, waiting to be used. So far, none of the heavier ordinance was due on the frontlines. Not yet at least.

"You spooks and your plans to weaponize these so-called freaks! Quite a shitfest my men have to clean up, wouldn't you say?" The blame had panned at them, but the Agency, notably the elderly director, would get away with what he truly sought out to realize. As far as it went, the Louds and Nnyl were the conspirators of this massacre. He send in his men just to ensure Nnyl died, or she'd ve the loose end of this scheme. Lynn was a potential issue, however, as she had somehow and unexpectedly knew of what was going on. Not only that, but she had taken and EMP, and then the rest of the Louds vanished from the Agency. That's what he got for not installing cameras in their living quarters. They countered it perfectly just the one time, when Lily freaked out about her being watched by him. The pervert card could even bring down a higher-up like the director, and it was left at that ever since.

By it all, the Louds hsd known, and went into hiding. This was both good and bad, considering he could make them look guilty this way. Bad because if they really did know, then they'd have something on him. But, what could they gain that would be evident against him? First in the elder man's agenda was to exterminate the phenos, Nnyl, and anyone who got in their way. Surely Lynn was somewhere among the many phenos here, trying to play heroine. Linka and Lupa were a possibility, but he didn't know for sure until he would get the reports.

"Quite, indeed," he casually replied. "I apologize for the inconvenience this should bring about for you and your brave men, but I am very grateful for the assistance."

"Oh, you don't need to thank me," the chubby general replied. "My country is always in need of saving. That and, I'm going to show how all the other forces how it's done."

"Ah, I see. Well, the best of luck to your men. Debrief me when we receive good reports."

"Roger that, spook."

Center of Royal Woods

Linka's arms were starting to give out by the time she and Lupa reached downtown. "Where should we set up shop?" Linka gazed at each structure, deciding which one best suited the device.

"What, didn't have a plan for that?" Lupa growled.

"More or less..."

"Why not set it off at the school? You know, the one where-"

"I know which one you're talking about..." Linka didn't have valid options at this point. Not with the time window vastly closing on them. And the school was not far from where they were, now that they remembered. "I miss the pizza they served," Linka reminisced.

"Lucy loved the burgers with extra ketchup. Said she'd make it look bloody."

"...Yeah, that sounds right," Linka shrugged.

"I'm... Hungry," Lupa admitted, biting her lip.

"Save it! We'll eat later!" Linka reminded her. "Keep covering me to the school!"

Blocks Away

Lynn had left Lucky, but didn't mean to. She had to go back to him, already running back to where he had been left. But he wasn't there to be found. "Oh, no..."

Bad enough she had lost both Nnyl and Liberty, but now Lucky? She felt like an utter failure, incompetent to even watch a sleeping relative. She hated herself so much, for everything and for nothing. The everything belonged to her adding mistakes that came from her only few flaws, really many of them. The ones she thought she had overcome, plowed through. She wasn't the same brat as before, not the same one who had a fixation on winning. Winning so that she would never be the loser. Loss was just as acceptable as victory... And yet... And yet...

She didn't want to lose, for what was at stake. And then, there was more than those two things now. Always has been.

She ran faster, with only the defeat of the fallen "daughter" taking up most of the space within her mind. She went around, taking down phenos, and breaking the mind-control out of them. She searched from block to block. Street against street. House after house. Building through building. Nothing so far, but all she really did was gradually wear herself down faster.

She had now reached the area where it was familiar to her. The streets around were the ones she used to get herself to and from middle school. That also meant the house they demolished was close by. No, she couldn't go there again. Lynn broke into a faster run, speeding right past the school. If she hadn't noticed Linka and Lupa breaking into their old middle school, she would have kept going, far from this hurtful place.

"Oh, no..." Linka whispered when a gust of air blew at them.

"Lynn! You're alive!" Lupa said in a cheerful tone, before switching to her moody one. "That's cute."

"What are you two even-" Lynn then noticed the cylinder object Linka carried around, eyes narrowing at them. "Have you not even-?!"

"You use this when the Agency is deployed in! We can take them all in one fell swoop this way! Render all their special weapons useless!"

"I'm with Linka on that," Lupa sided. "It'll definitely spare a whole lotta phenos from dying, but we've still gotta-"

"This fries the mind-control devices, you goddamn idiots!" Lynn reminded them. "And you want to save this while you two are aware that it's all going downhill?! Are you two kidding me?!"

She didn't like this plan now that she was seeing it put into action. She should have set it off the moment she arrived into town with Lucky. Her fault for thinking Linka had the same idea. And Lupa... Lupa was actually agreeing with her, despite her truly aiming to save everyone they were able to. This plan meant that the killing went on while Linka waited for the third party to arrive.

"I know that! I know that people are dying..." Lupa swallowed the pill for it. "But people have already died, Lynn. Casualties from both sides, I'm sure... But I've tried to rescue some of these people and phenos alike-"

"And so have I," Linka crammed in.

"-But we know we can deny them the complete extinction of the race when they're in range to set it off!"

"N-no... That's not how you do this! It can't be that way!"

"It can, and it will!" Linka decided.

"We've broken many of them free already, Lynn! Less victims now, even though I wish we've stopped most of them faster!" Lupa clenched her hands into fists and brought her hands upward. "But we can't win every single battle the way we want to! I didn't come in expecting that it would all go our way!"

Linka and Lynn became the audience for the emotional talking albino. She spoke some vivid truth to them, preaching away what was bound to be more realistic- No, it was at that, and Lynn couldn't kid herself for much longer. It hadn't gotten their way. Not the way they, or she, wanted it to be.

"We're not strong enough to save everyone," Lupa continued, "Just like you're not fast enough to save everyone!"

Lynn looked down in shame, and Linka relieved Lupa of her harsh wake-up call by planting a hand on her shoulder. "That's enough, I think she understands it now."

"I can't..." Why did these words feel familiar to Lynn? She grasped them unevenly, stirred up mentally enough to be disoriented with the knife of reality. She tried to save those she cared about, but she failed to. She simply failed to save Lacy. She failed to prevent Lincoln from killing Liby, and that was based on her own decision in which she chose to find another way. Another way... There had to be contingencies, right? Better ones at that. She hoped, but did so at the cost of her only brother's life.

But if all, it never had begun before this. Before Twenty-Six. And not even before the death of her caretaker, the one she so desperately wished to have saved. This was always the curse of the fire. The fire that ignited Lynn's insecurity, making her the scared wimp who could not even try to run back to save her parents. It all hurt too much after Lupa circled that shit back at her.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't save everyone, for the life of her. She tried so hard, so much to. Not Lacy, not Liby, not Lincoln, not Lana, and not at all her own caretaker. She'd offered to do whatever it took to save him, only he wished to not be. He wished it to be, and Lynn broke again after years of being reconstructed from the trauma of the fire, and losing all her beloved family members.

But the matter of the truth, the true turning point of where Lynn had homegrown this manipulative insecurity started out as the tiny seeds where she ran from the house. Ran, afraid to face that death and tragedy would lay claim to someone, or several of them. What could she have done, albeit being a simple thirteen year old girl with many trophies, sports memorabilia, and her love of all things competitive?

What was Lynn missing as of yet? "I don't... Get it..."

"You do, Lynn," Lupa corrected, turning back to the school entrance. "We need you to set it off here, while Linka and I continue to stop the bloodbath. We'll hold off the Agency, too."

"Wait, where the hell is Liberty at this moment?" Linka had forgotten about her. "And... You did take Lucky back, right?"

Lupa gasped at the genderbent's name, having lost that update to tell along the way. "Linka-"

"Liberty switched over..." Lynn dropped. "After you left, Lana- Lana came by to pick him up-"

"What?! She's gonna get herself killed-" It was Lynn's dark facial expression that gave Linka the jeebies, which in turn only made her blue eyes widen with disbelief. "N-no... Not her."

Lynn was able to afford only one single tear for the fallen tomboy. "Liberty took Lana, led me into an ambush. L-Lynnette, sh-she-!"

"Lynnette? Who is Lynnette? Another clone?"

"That's what Nnyl used to be called before she renamed herself," Lupa answered.

"Oh... You see, that's better than Nnyl."

"Lana..." Lupa crossed her arms and tapped her feet on the concrete ground. "Damn you, Nnyl..."

"What happened to you arm?" Lynn pointed to Lupa's flopping arm.

"What do you think? Come on, get a move on."

Linka carried the metal cylinder after opening the doors. "Rooftop will do. Know that we won't be able to contact anyone once this thing goes off, but those others will also be blind, so that's good for us. They'll all be spread apart with no eyes or ears, and the phenos will be freed as well. This means-"

"Nnyl won't rely on escaping through time either!" Lynn pieced together.

"No, she can escape easily. But that's unless we render her speed useless..." She was devising another objective.

"Linka, what are you thinking?"

"Eagle eyes, you're up!" Linka pointed to the sky, which confused Lupa for a good four seconds.

"Oh! Scout run, of course!" She took to the sky, flying away like a free bird.

"Talk me through this?"

"We've gotta steal some of the Agency's own pheno-only guns specifically to use on Nnyl. It won't be hard to-"

"LINKA!" Lupa came freefalling down from above, diving like an eagle ready to swoop on its prey. "WE'VE GOT BIGGER PROBLEMS!"

"What? What kind of-"

More explosions rumbled the earth heavily. Lupa came to a slow halt and landed on the roof over the school. "We've got the military coming in! I'm seeing tanks closing in from the south, and many ground soldiers coming in units!"

"What? What about the damn Agency? Are they not going to show up?!" Linka handed the device to Lynn. "Damn it! They're good, but we can do better!"

"Linka, this is unexpected! If we don't activate this now, it might just be too late!"

"Damn it! It'll be a walk in the park for them the more closer they get!" Lupa added. "I know what I said, but... Now we have to! Listen, they're already firing away their cannons! As in, engaging the phenos! Linka!"

Options were even fewer now. Linka had it wrapped up around her pinkie, but it loosened. This was true war. "Do it, then! Take away their toys! But... At the cost of a way to defeat Nnyl! Just remember that when we-"

"We'll find a way! We will find another way to win, Linka! We will!" Lynn went off speeding away to pull out the trump card.

"What now?" Lupa wondered.

"Lucky is still out there, by the sound of it. We gotta go find him through this mess. Him, and your brat, too."

"We've got two speedsters to take care of now... Goddamn this shit."

"Liberty... Who even brought her here?"

"Nnyl, I'm sure. It makes sense, yet it doesn't. When I get my hands on her-"

"You'll do what?" Liberty had come running from Lynn's direction, at the other end of the empty hallway. She flipped Lupa on her back and punched Linka quite hard, helplessly giggling away with great joy. "Oh, wait! You tried to kill me! I remember now!"

"I should have yanked your head off!" Linka fired back.

"You should have! But, where would be the fun in that?" Liberty proceeded to break Lupa's other good arm, finally rendering her powerless for the most part.

"AGH, GOD FUCKING- GRRRRR!" Lupa remained downed, crying out as she proved to be finally useless and helpless to her sister. "KILL THAT BITCH, LINKA!"

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen!" Liberty proudly announced. "I got you! I finally got you, Linka! But this time..." She commenced a slapping session exclusively on Linka's face, delivering multiple ones with each second, not stopping until she reached past ten whole seconds. This didn't hurt Linka as much as she hoped, but it did leave her cheeks tomato red, as well as give her slight disorientation. "I've decided to kill you instead!"

"What, you've-" Linka coughed blood while trying to stand still. Her brain had rattled enough to also make her want to vomit. "Urk-! You've decided that I'm too old to kidnap and raise as your own?"

"Oh, yes! I mean, no. That's not primarily why, you see." The albino speedster pushed Linka lightly, making her fall off-balance easily. "It's because you replaced me! I was the perfect pre-Linka, or... Proto-Linka, as some from the beloved T-L-H fandom call me. Then, you came along!"

Linka just raised both her eyebrows in utmost confusion, then eyed Lupa for some answer, but the latter lifted her shoulders, being just as clueless as she was. "The..."

"Long story short, I've been forgotten because of your existence! Only the author shows me love at this point, because he knows I'm great! Oh, and apparently because I have longer hair as well, which is just crazy as I don't really straighten it."

"I really hit you hard on the noggin, didn't I?" Linka spat blood again, this time she targeted Liberty's face. "What's it gonna take?"

"Oh, I'm so lucky Nickelodeon doesn't own me!" Liberty didn't plan to to easy on her official, canon replacement. "I would just soil the show's reputation, or something-something."

"Crazy rambling bitch-" Linka sputtered. "Best tell us where Nnyl is hiding, if you known what's good for you! She's gonna answer for Lana's death!"

"Oh, hehe, but Nnyl didn't get that kill, if that's what you're implying! No, that would be me, actually! I killed that half of the incomplete twin set."

Lupa let the revelation sink. "Y-you? B-but she vouched for you! And she was wearing your same clothes, too!"

Linka stood on a knee, the slaps having already swollen up her cheeks. "Burn in hell-"

Liberty drove a hand right through Linka in that instant, a notable kill move among the quicksters. And Linka blinked in the face of the devil.

AN: While the fight has reached a new point in, there is stlll much ground to cover on the dynamics between Lupa and Linka, along with the final development additions to their characters. My fault for not being able to do this with the rest of them, despite so weakly trying. I probably should have collabed... Nah, haha.

Either two or three more chapters left of this arc. And the death toll will get higher. Oh, and ready the tissues for the final pair of em. That's all.