Hey everyone! Alright, so just gonna say this right away, I have been looking forward to writing this since I first started this fic and I had a total blast writing it.
Also, a lot of people guessed what this was about. I just wanna make one thing clear. THAT Loud House episode, the Episode that shall not be named, hasn't happened and never will happened. It has zero impact over this chapter and anything in the future with this fic and this series. Just pointing that out.
So with that said, I hope you enjoy.
Its been about three days since Alice came to Royal Woods and so far, she's been adjusting great to her new surroundings. As promised Runo and her family had let Alice stay over there and room with Runo. In return Alice became a waitress for the café and since she's been working their business has actually increase. Specifically, male customer's looking to…get an eye on the new ginger haired waitress.
And speaking of people that have their eye on Alice, as Runo and Alice were tending to people at other tables, they heard the bell to the door ring and looked to none other than their fellow Battle Brawlers Lincoln and Dan come into the store.
The two boys got the waitress's attention causing Runo to become a bit surprised and for Alice to have to hid an excited smile at seeing Dan come in. "Wow, didn't expect to see you two here." Runo said with a light glare towards Lincoln as she put her hands on her hips. "I thought your family had their own much better restaurant."
Lincoln sweat dropped in response as he rose her hands up. "Now, now Runo, no need for that." Lincoln followed up with a nervous chuckle. "We just figured since two of the Brawlers we're here it would be more convenient for us to hang out here so we could also hang out with you and Alice."
"Well I think that's a great idea." Alice said while looking at Dan with a smart. "We can work and think of plans to deal with Masquerade at the same time."
"Exactly!" Dan said as he snapped his fingers with a smug smile on his face before pointing a thumb at himself. "It was all my idea by the way."
Alice giggled in response with Lincoln and Runo rolling their eyes before the latter pointed a finger at an empty table right next to the door and window. "Well have a seat, Alice can take your order in a sec." The bluette told them before walking off letting Lincoln and Dan sit down.
Lincoln kept his eyes on Runo and once he was confident she was outta earshot, leaned close to Dan over the table and whispered to the Pyrus user. "So why are we here again?" Lincoln asked Dan as though he wasn't opposed to hanging out at Runo's family restaurant with Runo and Alice…he had to admit his dads place had a lot better food. Lincoln felt especially surprised earlier as it was Dan who suggested it.
"Uuuuuh…" Dan slowly let out as he looked placed Lincoln and at Alice as she was taking a table order. Dan's eyes quickly took notice that Runo was wearing a matching white apron to Runo and her hair was done in a ponytail. "…No reason."
Lincoln gained a dead panned look as he let out in a similar tone. "Sure Dan." Lincoln was 99.99% sure his friend was starring at a certain ginger haired girl right now.
"Like your one to talk kid." Suddenly Leonidas had hopped into the table and looked up at Lincoln. "You've recently got your own eye candy of darkness. Isn't that right?"
Lincoln's face quickly went red as he narrowed his eyes at his best friend. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Lincoln said before using a menu to cover his face.
"Oh this I got know." Dan said with a smirk at his friends' expense as he looked at Leonidas. "What's the scoop?"
"Leonidas don't you dar-"
"Haiku." Leonidas immediately answered causing Lincoln to slam his face down on the table in embarrassment. "Lately the kid won't shut up about her. Stays up late texting her. And its easy to tell when he's thinking about her because his face goes red."
"Leonidas…" Lincoln grumbled while still face planted on the table.
"Hahahaha! Seriously?" Dan laughed at his friends' expense with Leonidas joining in. "Man, I had no idea you were into goth chicks."
Lincoln glared at his friend before an idea came to him as a devious smirk came to his face. "Says the guy who's into older women." Lincoln countered causing Dan to stop laughing and freeze.
"Ooooooo!" Leonidas let out as he looked between Lincoln and Dan with amusement. "This just got good!"
"You take far too much pleasure in messing with others." Drago said as he hopped down from Dan's vest pocket and onto the table in front of the Darkus Bakugan.
"Don't knock it till you try it Dragonoid." Leonidas told his fellow Bakugan. "You pull the right strings and you just watch the chaos unfold, hehe."
"Oh Alice~" Lincoln called out causing Dan to go red in the face and wave his hands around to try and stop Lincoln. "Dan has something he wants to tell you~"
"No, no, no, no-Hey Alice!" Dan quickly said as Alice approached his and Lincoln's table with her usual smile on her face.
"What is it Dan?" Alice asked in her usual gentle tone. "You have something you wanna tell me?"
"Uuuuuuuh…" Dan internally panicked while also cursing Lincoln. "Yes! I wanted to say that…I'm ready to order! I'd like a BLT Sandwich with a coke please!"
"Of course." Alice said as she wrote down Dan's order. "And what about you Lincoln?"
"I think I'll have some Ramen Noodles with a Sprite please." Lincoln said with an overly smug smile as he set his menu down.
"You got it." Alice said after writing down Lincoln's order. "Those will be ready for you in a bit." Once Alice was gone, Dan slowly looked towards Lincoln and glared at him.
"You do realize, this means war." Dan told his white-haired friend whose smug smile never left him.
"Challenged accepted Danny boy." Lincoln retallied causing Dan to narrow his eyes even more.
"Heh, humans." Drago commented from the table.
"Ability Activate: Sandtrap!" Currently having a Bakugan Brawl was none other then Lincoln's older sister Lynn Loud Jr. And the person she was brawling against was her best friend and fellow team mate for various sports Margo.
Currently the score was Lynn having 2 Bakugan and Margo on her last one. Lynn was using the Subterra Element and Margo was using Pyrus.
The battlefield was set up with two gate cards, one belonging to Lynn and one belonging to Margo. On Lynn's gate card was a Subterra Bakugan known as Wormquake that resembled a giant earthworm. On Margo's card was a Pyrus Robotallion.
However, thanks to the ability card Lynn played Wormquake proceeded to dig underneath its card and start to emerge from Margo's card. "Robotallion no!" Margo called out as Wormquake struck Margo's Robotallion from below causing it to go back into ball form and land at Margo's feet.
The field was then closed as Lynn caught Wormquake with a smirk of victory on her face as Margo picked up her Bakugan. "Oh well, guess you win again Lynn." Margo said as she put her Bakugan away.
"Darn right I do." Lynn said in a smug tone as she tossed her Bakugan up and down in her hand. Just then she looked around the area where the rest of her teammates/friends were watching them and said. "So, who's next?"
However, all of the Lynn's teammates awkwardly looked around at each other before Paula limped up on her crutch and told Lynn, "Uh, no one." She said causing Lynn's eyes to widen. "You already beat the rest of us Lynn, Margo was the last one."
"Woah, I beat all of you guys already?" Lynn asked as all her team mates nodded, "Wow! I'm better than I thought I was! I bet my rankings gone up a tone!" Lynn then quickly got onto the Bakugan website and went onto the rankings list.
"Lynn Loud ranked 143 in the world." The Baku-pod told her as the athlete checked her rank.
Lynn didn't seem to like this however as she frowned. "What? Seriously? Only 143, what a total rip!" The athlete complained as her ranking was still to low for her liking. "Come on, I have to be higher than that. There must be some mistake."
"I doubt that Lynn." Margo said as she walked up to her best friend and put a hand on her back. "There are just people out there better then you, it's no big deal."
Lynn simply scoffed at this. "If you aren't the best at what you do, then what's the point of doing it." The 13-year-old crossed her arms before holding her head up. "I guess I can at least say I'm the best in my family."
"But I thought your little brother and oldest sister were way higher then you in the rankings?" Paula asked causing Lynn's eyes to widen in response. "Aren't they in the top 100 or something?"
"Yeah I just checked." Margo said as she checked her own Baku-pod at the rankings. "Lincoln's ranked 87 and Lori's ranked shot up to 72 recently."
Lynn's eye started twitching in response. She couldn't stand the thought of one of her siblings being better at a game then her. She was the best in her family at any kind of sport…well, except for golf which was Lori's territory but Lynn hardly counted golf as a real sport. But suddenly Bakugan came along and although Lynn was good, Lincoln and Lori just seemed to rise up to the higher ranks incredibly quick along with their group of Battle Brawlers.
"Well…so what if it says they're higher then me in the ranks." Lynn said stubbornly as she crossed her arms. "It doesn't actually mean they're better than me."
"Well…have you actually battled them before?" Margo asked which actually caused Lynn to put a hand on her chin and give it some thought. Has she battled Lincoln or Lori before? She…honestly can't remember actually doing that.
"I…actually haven't." Lynn revealed, surprising her teammates a bit. A grin then came onto the 13-year-olds face as she quickly got an idea in her head. "But that won't last long. See ya later guys! I got something I need to do!" Before any of Lynn's team mates could say anything, they watched their captain run off.
Back at Runo's family restaurant, Dan and Lincoln were chowing down on the meals they ordered with Dan secretly think of ways he could get back at Lincoln for his little stunt earlier. But as they were eating, Lincoln felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and took it out and saw that he had a text. "What's up?" Dan asked after swallowing of his food.
"Eh, its nothing." Lincoln said as he casually put his phone back in his pocket. "Just Lynn challenging me to a brawl."
"You gonna respond?" Dan asked with a raised brow as he didn't see Lincoln reply to the text after reading it.
"Nah," Lincoln said casually as he leaned back in his seat and took a drink of his soda. "After Marduk, Jenny and Jewls, and those two magician brothers, I kinda wanna take a day off brawling."
"That's rather surprising to hear." Drago commented as usually both him and his own partner couldn't get more excited over the idea of a brawl. Drago then turned to Lincoln's partner and asked. "You to Leonidas?"
"Yeah." Leonidas replied. "Me and Lincoln kinda just wanna have a bro day today. As much as I love beating the crap outta other Bakugan, taking some time to recharge your batteries isn't the worst thing."
Just then Lincoln's phone vibrated again this time with Dan hearing it. "Was that hear again?" Dan asked, assuming it was another text with Lincoln's 13-year-old sister.
"Probably." Lincoln said with a shrug. "She's probably making some sort of threat to get me to come battle her. But I'm not gonna even bother."
"Hey yay to go man." Dan complimented his white-haired friend with a thumbs up. "You've really toughened up recently."
"Yeah well, I guess all this Masquerade business helped me grow my spine a little." Lincoln admitted with a sheepish smile as he scratched the back of his head. "Needed to toughen up sooner rather than later."
"Well good for you Lincoln." Runo said as she passed by while holding a tray of drinks for another table. "No offense but you used to be kind of a push over." This statement caused Lincoln to pale out, but he couldn't really deny it.
"Now come on Runo be nice." Alice told the bluette from behind the counter. "Lincoln may not be the…physically strongest, but he makes up for it by having a big heart."
"Thanks Alice." Lincoln told the ginger haired girl with a smile. Just then Lincoln's phone started ringing with the white-head simply rolling his eyes as he checked it and, surprise-surprise, found that it was Lynn calling him. "And…hang up." Lincoln quickly pressed the deny called button before turning back to Runo as he put his phone back in his pocket. "So got any dessert menu's Runo?"
"Coming right up." Runo said as she went to go fetch said item for Lincoln and Dan.
"WHAT?! COME ON!" Lynn yelled angrily as her call to Lincoln was quickly denied. That meant her brother was looking at her text and call but was ignoring and hanging up on them respectively.
Currently Lynn was hanging out in the front yard of her house and texting her brother to come home and play a game of Bakugan with her. When he didn't respond she sent another text threatening to give him a super noogie if he didn't come. When he didn't even respond to that, she was planning on calling him and give him a good yelling to come home and challenge her, but two rings in, he denied her call.
Needless to say, Lynn was pretty ticked off at all this. "Just wait till he gets home…" Lynn growled through her teeth as she stomped inside the house. She was inside she quickly stomped off the stairs and was planning on going up to her room to work out some of her anger…literally with some weights.
But on her way, she ended up bumping into someone causing her to stagger back a bit. "Hey watch it!" Lynn yelled as she was already in a bad mood already from Lincoln ignoring her challenge, the last thing she needed was another on her siblings getting on her nerves.
"Well someone's literally acting like a Grouse today." Looking up, Lynn looked up and saw that it was her oldest sister Lori that she bumped into looking quite annoyed at her, not for bumping into her but for the way Lynn talked to her. Even going as far as to use their neighbors name as an insult.
"I HEARD THAT LOUDS!" The two girls heard said neighbor yell from next door. "STOP USING MY NAME AS AN INSULT!"
Both Louds looked at each other nervously, wondering how exactly Mr. Grouse heard em, but decided to think about it later as Lori narrowed her eyes at Lynn and crossed her arms. "Alright spill it." Lori told the young athlete. "What's egging you."
Lynn simply huffed and averted her eyes away from her eldest sibling. "Its Stinkcoln." Lynn stated causing Lori to raise an eyebrow in curiosity while also frown at the nickname Lynn used for her little brother. "I told him to come home and face me in a Brawl but he's totally dissing me, talk about a coward."
"Now Lynn, that's no way to speak about your brother." Hopping onto Lori shoulder was the 17-year-olds partner Chrysopeon, scolding Lynn for how she was acting. "If you must know Lincoln and Leonidas are taking the day off battling."
"What?" Lynn let out in a surprise tone.
"She's right." Lori confirmed with a nod. "You need to chill out Lynn, Lincoln doesn't just wanna battle 24/7."
"Pfft, sounds like loser talk to me." Lynn stated causing Lori to once again frown at her younger sister. "You take time off you get soft."
"But rest is important." Chrysopeon pointed out as she floated a bit down off Lori's shoulder. "You push yourself to hard and you burn yourself out and do nothing but hurt yourself."
"No pain, no game." Lynn said adamantly causing Lori to groan and roll her eyes. "Although if this keeps up with Lincoln, I'll pass him on the leader boards in no time." However, as soon as Lynn said this the sound of laughter soon hit her ears as she looked to see Lori actually laughing in response to what she said causing the athlete to glare at the 17-year-old. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing much." Lori said with a rather sly smirk on her face. "Its just you think you could actually beat him in Bakugan."
"I CAN BEAT HIM!" Lynn quickly snapped as she tried her best to get into Lori's face despite the height different between the two. "He's not so tough!"
"Look Lynn, I'm gonna be real with ya." Lori told the athlete in a calm tone. Thanks to Chrysopeon helping her out with some anger problems she still sorta had, she's been getting better and talking to other, especially her family, in a calm and rational tone. "I've seen you battle, and I've seen Lincoln battle plenty of times. Comparing you two…there's honestly no contest in which who's better. Sorry Lynn but Lincoln completely out classes you."
"Oh really?!" Lynn yelled with irritation in her voice as hearing what her older sister was saying about her. Just then Lynn pulled out her field card and got in a battle-ready pose. "How about we have a battle ourselves and see if your words hold as much weight as that butt of yours.
Lori's eyes snapped opened at Lynn's commented as she looked to see Lynn giving her a mix of a smug and cocky grin. Lori slowly glared down at her little sister and pulled out her own field card. "I'm literally going to destroy you for that." The oldest sister said in a dark tone.
A few minutes later, Lori and Lynn were standing across each other in the backyard. The two didn't spare any words as they rose up their field cards. "Field Open!" With Lori's card growing green and Lynn's glowing brown, the Bakugan field opened around them.
"Alright Lynn, let me show you how we do it in the big leagues." Lori said with narrowed eyes as she and Lynn pulled out their gate cards.
"Gate Card set!" Both siblings said in unison as they through their gate cards across from each other on the field.
"Ha, get ready to see how this game is played." Lynn said as she pulled out a Subterra Bakugan from her pocket. "Bakugan Brawl!" Lynn then threw the Bakugan towards her own gate card. "Subterra Hynoid stand!" Standing onto Lynn's gate card was a Hyena-like Bakugan that got on all fours and clearly was ready to battle.
"Time to lock and load." Lori said as she equipped her launcher and loaded it up with a Ventus Bakugan. "Bakugan Brawl!" Lori then shot out her Bakugan towards Lynn's gate card. "Ventus El Conder Stand!" Now floating above the gate card was a Bakugan that resembled a shaman with the appearance of a Mayan Totem
"Big mistake getting on my card Lori!" Lynn said with a smirk as she rose her hand in the air. "Gate Card Open: Energy Merge!" The gate card then opened with energy transferring from El Condor to Hynoid.
"Eat it Lori. Now 100 G's of power are going to be taken from your Bakugan and onto mine!" Lynn gloated as Hynoid went up to 450 G's and El Conder went down to 240 G's. "Now sick em Hynoid!"
Hynoid howled before charging at El Conder on all fours, ready to take out the Bakugan. Lori, however, wasn't intimidate in the least as she pulled out an ability card. "This is literally to easy. Ability Activate: Solar Plexus!" El Condor's eyes then started to glow as two rays of sunlight came out of them and onto the gate card. Once the rays of light hit the card, it suddenly stopped glowing and power downed.
"What?! What happened?" Lynn asked as she checked her Baku-pod. "Why is Hynoids power level dropping again?"
"1-0-0 G's of power returning to Ventus El Conder. Hynoid power decrease by 5-0 G's." The Baku-pod said as it showed the effect of the gate card being nullified with El Conder going back up to 340 G's and Hynoid going down to 350 G's and then decreasing further by 50 G's.
"Solar Plexus is an ability that nullifies any gate card and then drops 50 G's of my opponents power level." Lori explained with a confident expression on her face. "Meaning I literally broke apart you whole plan." El Conder then charged a Hynoid head first causing the Subterra Bakugan to go back to ball form and land on Lynn's face.
Lynn's face went red a bit with anger as she growled while El Conder returned to ball form and was sent back to Lori's hand. "Like I said Lynn, you're out of your league." Lori said before pulling out another gate card. "Gate Card set!" Lori then threw her new gate card where Lynn's card originally was.
Lori then took her partner into her hand and looked down at her with a smile. "Will you help me out here Chrysopeon?" Lori asked with a kind smile.
"Of course dearie." The Ventus Lamia reassured the 17-year-old as she closed up. "I'm always here for you."
Lori nodded in response with a grateful smile on her face as she loaded up Chrysopeon into her launcher. "Bakugan Brawl!" Lori then shot out her Bakugan towards her second gate card. "Chrysopeon Stand!" With a green tornado appearing, Chrysopeon came into battle and floated a few dozen feet above her gate card.
"Hmph, I'm not scared of some oversized snake!" Lynn said as she looked up at Chrysopeon.
"You need to learn some manners young lady!" Chrysopeon scolded the athlete.
"Please, how about I introduce you to someone I like to call Rattleoid!" Lynn said as she grabbed a Bakugan. "Bakugan Brawl! Bakugan Stand!" Now landing on the gate card Chrysopeon was on, a giant Rattlesnake-like Bakugan appeared. This was Subterra Rattleoid. "Alright Rattleoid lets bring the pain! Ability Activate: Poison Fang!"
Rattleoid then opened its mouth wide, baring its fangs, before lunging up at Chrysopeon and-
"Ability Activate!" Lori acted quick and proceeded to throw an ability card towards Rattleoid. "Blow Away!"
A green tornado then covered Rattleoid before it could bite Chrysopeon and blew the Rattlesnake Bakugan over to Lori's original gate card. "Hey! Stop running and start brawling already!" Lynn yelled in irritation towards Lori's move. "What are you running away or something!?"
"And that's literally your problem Lynn." Lori pointed out to Lynn taking the athlete back a bit. "You don't stop to consider what your opponent has up their sleeves and don't strategize or adapt to how things play out. You rely on nothing but pure power and when things get bad you let your anger get the better of you. And with a game like Bakugan, keeping a straight head is everything."
Lori then loaded up her launcher with another Bakugan. "Now allow me to prove that to you! Bakugan Brawl!" Lori then shot out her Bakugan towards her original gate card. "Siege Stand!" With a bright green glow, Lori's Siege entered battle at 340 G's.
"What's she planning?" Lynn asked herself as she checked her Baku-pod and saw that Rattleoid matched Siege's power level.
"Gate Card open: Quartet Battle!" The gate card Chrysopeon glowed as it was activated and suddenly, without Lori or Lynn's control, a Bakugan on each of their sides floated up and shot themselves towards the Quartet battle card with Lori's El Condor joining Chrysopeon and Lynn's Wormquake facing against both of them.
"N-No!" Lynn stuttered as a look of worry came to her face. "That's two against one! That's not fair! Why can't you fight like a man Lori!"
"All is fair in love and war Lynn." Lori told her younger sister with crossed arms. "If you can't handle this then why did you challenge me in the first place?" Once Lori was done talking to Lynn, she looked up at her partner Bakugan. "You ready Chrysopeon?"
"But of course, sweetie." The Lamia Bakugan said with a nod as she cleared her throat and began to sing her beautiful song.
"What? Why's she singing?" Lynn asked with confusion as Lori had failed to inform her siblings other then Lincoln about one of Chrysopeon's special traits.
Chrysopeon continued to sing as Lynn saw that the Ventus Bakugan suddenly began to glow. Chrysopeon's hair changed to pig-tails and her colors changed from green and purple to yellow and white. "Behold!" Chrysopeon said as she finished singing. "Haos Chrysopeon!"
"WHAT?!" Lynn yelled with disbelief as she saw the Lami Bakugan change from Ventus to Haos. "THAT'S…THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"
"Sorry but its far from impossible." Lori said as she pulled out an ability card. "Ability Activate: Ventus and Haos combine!" Chrysopeon and Siege then glowed yellow and green respectively as their power levels both increased by 100. "Alright then, lets finish this!"
"Glady!" Chrysopeon said as she and El Conder charged at Wormquake with Siege readying its weapon and charging at Rattleoid.
"Rattleoid! Wormquake!" Lynn called out to her Bakugan as both of them were struck at the same time by the opponents they were facing and-
The field closed as both of Lynn's Bakugan fell to her feet. Lori then caught all of her Bakugan in her hand, with Chrysopeon going to her shoulder. "You see what I was trying to tell you Lynn?" Lori asked her younger sister who was simply staring down at her Bakugan on the ground. "You constantly underestimate your opponents because you think you're automatically the best at everything. Well thinking like that will cease your ability to improve and grow. You have to accept that there is and will always be other better than you."
"Better yet, how about you stop caring about winning so much. Winning isn't everything despite what you believe. You literally should just focus on having fun, its not the end of the world if you lose. It just gives you a reason to practice and get better. I had to learn this myself."
"…" Lynn didn't say anything in response. She just kept staring at the ground her fallen Bakugan.
Lori simply sighed in response at her little sister's silence. "Just think about it alright?" Lori said to the young athlete. "Its time for my video chat with Bobby, I'll talk to you later Lynn."
Once Lori started walking away, Chrysopeon turned to face Lori and said. "I do hope she'll be alright." The Lamia Bakugan said in a worried tone.
"Yeah, same here Chrysopeon." Lori agreed…failing to notice Lynn tightening her fist as Lori left.
A little later in the day Lynn could be see walking through the park. A look of anger on her face as she stomped through the area with her hands in her pockets. Lori's words were stuck in her head and all they did was make her even more frustrated.
"Winning isn't everything.' What a bunch of bull crap." Lynn grumbled to herself as she punched a tree, she passed in order to let out a bit of her anger. "If you don't win, you lose. If you lose, that makes you a loser. And if you're a loser, then you're absolutely nothing!" Lynn then gritted her teeth as stop at the next tree she passed by and started rapidly punching it. "WHY! CAN'T ANY! OF! THESE! IDOITS! UNDERSTAND THAT!?"
"Oh, I understand perfectly Lynn."
Lynn stopped punching as the echoey voice hit her ears. Her anger seemed to be replaced by a chilling breeze that caused her whole body to shiver. Looking up at the source…Lynn saw none other then the masked Brawler himself. "I'm guessing…you know who I am?"
"You're…Masquerade." Lynn said with widened eyes as she watched Masquerade stand up on the branch and backflip down and land behind Lynn. "You're the number one Brawler in the world!"
"Hmph, guilty as charged." Masquerade responded with a smirk as he looked down at Lynn. "I happened to have heard what you just said."
Lynn's eyes quickly widened as an embarrassed blush came to her face. She just let all of that out in front of the best Bakugan Brawler in the world. "O-Oh…you…saw all that huh?" Lynn asked with an embarrassed chuckle.
Masquerade simply smirked again as he put a hand on Lynn's shoulder. "Walk with me Lynn." The number one Brawler told the athlete causing Lynn to tilt her head in confusion.
A few minutes later, Masquerade and Lynn were walking side by side across the park while having a conversation. "So, if I heard you correctly you said that people who don't win are losers, and loser are nobodies?" Masquerade asked, not even looking at the 13-year-old as he knew she was right by his side.
"Well…yeah." Lynn said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I mean what's the point of doing something if you aren't the best! Showing everyone that you're better than them!"
"You know something Lynn, I completely agree with you." Masquerade told the athlete causing Lynn to gain a surprised expression.
"R-Really?" Lynn stuttered at the fact that the best Bakugan Brawler in the world agreeing with her.
"Totally." Masquerade confirmed as he patted Lynn on the shoulder. "The whole point of any sort of competition is to crush your opponent. Show no mercy. If you can't do that, then why even bother. You just wasted your time, and no ones gonna care about a loser."
"Exactly!" Lynn let out as she rose both of her hands into the air. "Why can't more people get that! You gotta show you're the best! Nothing else matters!"
"People are just soft wimps now-a-days." Masquerade said as he and Lynn stopped walking once they reached the middle of the park where the fountain was. "They think life is just one big participation award."
"Aka a pathetic loser award." Lynn said with a joking grin.
This got a bit of a chuckle out of Masquerade as he nodded his head in approval. "Couldn't have said it better myself." Masquerade said as he and Lynn did a quick fist bump. "That's why I like you Lynn. You and me, we know how the world really works. How you need to prove to everyone that you're the best, and crush and destroy everyone in your way. That's why…I decided to take you under my wing."
"Woah, woah, woah, are you serious?!" Lynn asked with sparkles in her eyes. The number one Bakugan player in the world wanted to teach her!? Best. Day. Ever!
"I wouldn't say it if I wasn't." Masquerade reassured the athlete with another smirk. "The first thing we need to work on is…your stradegy."
"My stradegy?" Lynn asked with confusion in her voice.
"Yes, your ranking is rather high, but it won't go any higher if you keep battling the way your battling." Masquerade told the 13-year-old Loud child as he crossed his arms and looked down at Lynn. "You use brawn and hardly any brains."
"Hey!" Lynn said with offense taken. But just then she realized exactly what Masquerade said and she rose and eyebrow. "Wait, how do you know how I battle?"
Masquerade chuckled in response as he said. "I have my sources, and I have eyes and ears in various places." Just then Masquerade reached into his pocket as he kept speaking. "While brawn is a good thing to have, using only it makes you predictable. And a predictable opponent is a dead opponent."
"So, I should try and change things up?" Lynn asked as she mentally wrote down everything Masquerade told her. "Maybe some of what Lori said wasn't just nonsense."
"Here, I have something what should help with that?" Masquerade then pulled his hand out of his pocket and held up to Lynn…the Doom Card. "Use this and everything should come to you."
"Woah, looks like something Lucy would use." Lynn commented over the creepy looking card and how it sent shivers down her spin. But she wasn't about to turn down help for Masquerade himself…so she took the card from his hand.
Suddenly Lynn's eyes widened as simply holding the card seemed to change her entire outlook on Bakugan. As if it told her all she needed to know about how to crush her opponents into oblivion. "So…how do you feel?" Masquerade asked with devilish smirk, already knowing the card's negative energy was working its magic on Lincoln's sister.
"I feel…like I wanna crush someone in battle." Lynn said in a surprising dark tone as a mad grin came to her face.
Suddenly the sound of laughter hit Masquerade and Lynn's ears as they both looked to see a group of kids about Lincoln and Dan's age, all of them with Bakugan in their hands. "So, Lynn…how does some target practice sound?" Masquerade asked the athlete girl beside him.
Lynn didn't respond, and simply walked up to the group of kids, fully intent on showing them what she's made of and more.
"Hey Runo, where'd Alice go?" Dan asked as he and Lincoln had finished their meals and dessert a while ago and were simply ranging out the restaurant talking about various stuff with Runo occasionally joining in when she was able.
"Oh, I didn't tell you?" Runo said to the Pyrus user with a raised brow. "She went out for groceries about a 45 minutes ago."
"Huh, I didn't even see her leave." Lincoln said with a shrug. Guess he and Dan were too busy talking to notice the ginger haired girl leave.
"Ah well, I was hoping to say bye." Dan said as he got up from his table and stretched out a bit. "I gotta get going, tell Alice I'll see her later."
"Sure thing." Runo said as she got behind the counter. "See ya later Dan."
"Alright, you coming Linc?" Dan asked his white-haired friend who seemed to be looking out the big window of the restaurant, simply starring into space. "Uuum, Lincoln?"
"Kid, you ok?" Leonidas asked his partner who was simply continuing to stare out into space. "YO! KID!"
This finally snapped Lincoln back into reality as he looked at Dan and Leonidas. "Sorry, did you guys say something?" Lincoln asked causing Dan to sweat drop.
"You seemed spaced out." Drago said from Dan's shoulder. "Is everything alright?"
"…" Lincoln was silent at first and simply looked back out the window. A few black clouds were suddenly coming into the sky. "I…I don't know. Something feels wrong."
Back at the back, the group of kids that were there all had looks of fear on their faces. Each one of them battled Lynn…and were utterly wiped out and had to watch their Bakugan be sent to the Doom Dimension.
Lynn herself had her newly acquired Doom Card in hand and had just caught on of her Subterra Bakugan in her hand. Lynn gave an evil grin as she looked at all the kids in front of her. "So…who's next? Oh wait, I already took out all you Bakugan." Lynn said in a mocking tone causing all the kids to run away screaming.
Lynn then heard some clapping behind her and looked to see Masquerade slowly applauding her. "Good. Very good." Masquerade complimented her as he approached the athlete. "You learn fast."
"Well what did you expect?" Lynn said in a cocky and confident tone.
Masquerade chuckles in response as a smirk came to her face. "Nothing less. Now, since I helped you out, I need a favor. Just something small." Masquerade told the athlete causing her to raise a brow in interest. "Your brother Lincoln and sister Lori, they have been…huge thorns in my side for quite a while now. If you could get them outta my way…I would really appreciate. And if you do a good enough job, I think you might see you ranking shoot up high. Top 50 even."
Lynn's eyes widened in response at Masquerades offer. Top 50? No way she could pass that up! "You can count on me." Lynn told the masked Brawler, who nodded in approval.
"Good." Masquerade said, his grin still on his face. "Now I better head out. I'm a rather busy man after all, but I expect to hear good things."
Lynn simply nodded before walking away from Masquerade with said brawler heading in the opposite direction of Lynn. "Do you really think she'll be able to succeed?" Hopping onto Masquerade's shoulder was Reaper. "Can she really defeat them?"
"Hmph, maybe she'll get a few of their Bakugan, but actually beating them…no chance." Masquerade said as a mad grin came to his face. "Honestly exploiting her and getting her hopes up, its was easier then taking candy from a baby. But consider she's one of Lincoln and Lori's sister, no doubt this is gonna get under their skin. Show them I'm not messing around."
"Ya know, I'm surprised it hasn't rained." Lincoln commented as he and Leonidas approached the Loud House. "These clouds are getting bad."
"Let's just get inside and not push our luck." Leonidas told his partner as he looked up at the sky. "I don't like getting wet."
"Alright, alright, I'm going in." Lincoln told his partner with an eyeroll as he entered the house. Once inside, he only saw his older sister Leni sitting on the couch. "Hey Leni, what's up?"
"Oh, welcome home Linky." Leni greeted her little brother with her usual big and sweet smile. "Nothing much, just watching some fashion programs." Lincoln simply smiled and nodded and started heading up stairs, but stopped when Leni spoke up again. "Hey, do you, like, know what's up with Lynn?"
"Huh?" Lincoln hummed in interested at his sisters' question. "What about Lynn?"
"I don't know, but when she came home something seemed…off about her." Leni explained as an uncomfortable look came to her face. "It was kinda…creepy."
"Hmmm, I bet she's just butt hurt I wouldn't battle her today." Lincoln assumed with a shrug, knowing how Lynn can get in some circumstances. "She challenged me to a Bakugan Brawl but I ignored her, wanted the day off. She just has to deal with it."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense." Leni quickly gained her smile back, satisfied with her answer as she got up from the couch. "Now if you excuse me, I have something important to do."
"What's that?" Leonidas asked the ditzy blond.
"I'm finally gonna catch that little elf that turns the light on when we open the fridge!" Leni said as she suddenly pulled out a tiny little net. "He won't get away this time!"
Both Lincoln and Leonidas sweat dropped in response as they watched Leni walk into the kitchen. "And to think," Leonidas began saying. "They wasted such a great name like Dumbo on an elephant."
THE NEXT DAY
The final bell rung at the Royal Woods elementary school, signaling the end of the day for everyone. The school's quickly gather their things and eagerly leave the school, ready to go home. "I still don't get why we gotta know all this stuff." Dan complained as he held up some math homework. "I mean unless you're gonna teach the stuff, when is this ever gonna come up in a real-life scenario?"
"You got me there." Lincoln said with a shrug, kinda agreeing with Dan on that aspect. "But, might as well just get through it so Mrs. Johnson doesn't get on our case about it."
The two friends then exited the school and after a few minutes of walking away from the learning place, "LINCOLN! LINCOLN WAIT!" Lincoln and Dan stopped as they heard the formers name being called. Looking to the source, they saw none other then Margo running up to them with a bit of a panicked expression on his face.
"Woah where's the fire?" Dan asked as they both turned to Margo as the girl stopped in front of them.
"What's wrong…Margo is it?" Lincoln asked, thinking a bit to remember the name of Lynn's best friend. "Is something up?"
"Yeah, you could say that." Margo said as she caught her breath. "Your sister, Lynn I mean, she's…not acting right."
"…Is it her time of the month?" Leonidas asked causing Margo to go bright red and for Lincoln and Dan to simply looked confused.
"NO! No! Not that!" Margo quickly shook her head and hands at the Darkus Bakugan's statement. "I mean…she's acting nasty! Mean, merciless, and just plain cruel. Especially when it comes to Bakugan."
That last word got Lincoln and Dan's attention causing them to look at each other with widened eyes. "I got a bad feeling about this." Drago said as he had an assumption of what was happening.
"So, what do you need me for exactly?" Lincoln asked as now his interest and worries were peaked.
"I was hoping you could come with me and help snap some sense into her." Margo explained to the Loud boy who nodded in response. "You're her brother and one of the best players so I thought you could help get to the bottom of this and get her back to her old self."
Lincoln didn't even need to think before he quickly nodded and turned to Dan. "Mind giving me some back up?" Lincoln asked his Pyrus using friend.
"You got it!" Dan said before he and Lincoln took off, following Margo to where Lynn was.
After about a 10-minute walk, Margo led the two boys to the Royal Woods middle/high school parking lot. "Ok, she should be around her somewhere…I hope." Margo said with a gulp, hoping that Lynn didn't leave while she went to go get Lincoln and Dan.
Thankfully, it didn't take long for them to find who they were looking for.
"Well, look who finally decided to show their face."
Lincoln, Dan, and Margo turned around to see Lynn leaning by her shoulder against a lamp post in the parking lot, her back turned to everyone. Lincoln quickly narrowed his eyes at his sister and took a step forward. "Alright Lynn, you got some explaining to do!" Lincoln raised his voice at his sister. "What's this your friend Margo has been telling us how you've been acting!"
"And what's this got to do with Bakugan?!" Dan quickly added on as he rose his fist. "You better start talking!"
Lynn was silent for a moment before she started chuckling as she turned her head so one of her eyes was just barely peaking at the group behind. "I just need to get my wimpy little brother's attention so he'd finally crawl out from his rock and face me like a man." Lynn said causing Lincoln to glare at the athlete and tighten his fist. "So what do you say Stinkcoln?" Lynn then slowly brought up a hand that was holding a card with its back face to Lincoln. "Up for a challenge?"
Lynn then turned the card around to reveal to everyone that she had the Doom Card.
Lincoln froze in shock as his eyes widened and his pupil's slightly dilated. His sister…was holding the Doom Card. She…was working with Masquerade. His eyes shakenly moved down to her other arm and saw she had a Subterra Masquerade launcher on her wrist.
Dan was in a similar state to his white-haired friend but was slightly in more control of himself. "Lincoln…why does your sister have the Doom Card?!" Dan yelled as Lynn gave a more wicked Grin that caused Margo to tremble a little bit.
"Lynn…" Lincoln managed to let out as his fist were tightened enough that his hands started paling out a bit. "You didn't…"
"What's wrong Stinkoln?" Lynn said in a cocky and mocking tone as she turned around and started walking towards her brother. "Afraid? Well you should be. I ran into Masquerade the other day and he gave me some pointers and a few new toys to help me out. He also said that you've been bothering him and placed it on me to show you your place."
"Idiot!" Dan yelled as he stomped his foot on the ground and gritted his teeth towards Lynn. "Don't you know Masquerade playing you for a sucker?! Do you even know what that card does?!"
"Pfft, yeah, and who cares." Lynn waved off causing Dan and Lincoln to gasp. "This is just a game, who cares if a few toys get destroyed in the process."
"Lynn…" Lincoln tried reaching out to his corrupted sister. "You don't get it. There's much more to this than that."
"Don't bother Lincoln, look at her." Leonidas told Lincoln as he made the boy completely look over his sister. "Negative energy has got a strong hold on her. She's too far gone to simply talk to. We're gonna have to beat some sense into her."
"…You're right." Lincoln said as Leonidas's words and presence almost instantly gave him the strength he need. Lincoln then gave Lynn a harsh look that actually surprised her a bit as he equipped his own launcher. "Lynn…you've done some down right stupid and crazy things before…but you crossed the line this time."
"Yeah! Let's do this!" Dan said as he pulled out his field card. "Come on Linc, let's double team her."
"No Dan." Lincoln immediately said afterward, surprising Dan. "Lynn's my sister. I need to do this. Alone."
Dan was taken slightly back by this as he and Drago looked to each other. Normally Dan would complain about not being able to Brawl, but in this situation…he understood. "Yeah ok." Dan said with a nodded as he took a few steps back. "Kick her butt man."
"Good luck Lincoln." Drago said to Lincoln.
Lincoln nodded at his words as he pulled out his field card. "Alright Lynn, you want me, now come and get me. But I warn you, I don't care if you're my sister right now. You're working with Masquerade, and that makes you my enemy. So, I plan on showing you no mercy!"
"Stop the poetry and let's do this already!" Lynn said aggressively as she pulled out her own field card.
"Bakugan Field Open!" Both said in unison as Lincoln's card glowed purple and Lynn's glowed orange as the Bakugan field opened around them.
"Doom Card set!" Lynn then let her Doom Card fall onto the field, spreading the purple Doom Energy throughout the field.
"Get ready Lynn." Lincoln said in a serious tone as he pulled out a gate card. "I'm about to show you how weak you really are."
"Dream on loser!" Lynn said as she pulled out her own gate card.
"Gate Card set!" Lynn and Lincoln said in unison as they threw their gate cards across from each other letting them expand.
"Gate Card set!" Lincoln's first move as placing down another gate card to the right of his original gate card that he threw down. "Alright, let's do this quickly." Lincoln then loaded up a Darkus Bakugan into his launcher. "Bakugan Brawl!" Lincoln shot his Bakugan towards his first gate card. "Darkus Mantris stand!"
Lynn wasn't at all impressed as she watched her brothers Darkus Mantris come onto the field. Checking her Baku-pod, Lynn saw that the Darkus Bakugan was at 360 G's. "Please, I can trump that in my sleep!" Lynn said in a cocky tone as she loaded up a Subterra Bakugan into her launcher. "Bakugan Brawl! Subterra Manion stand!" Aiming it at Mantris's card, Lynn released a Bakugan that Spinx-like Bakugan with large wings on its back.
"Manion enters battle at 3-6-0 G's." The Baku-pod said as it showed Mantris and Manion at equal power levels.
"And now to crush that bug." Lynn said in a cocky tone as she brought out an ability card. "Ability Activate: Egyptian Chaos!" Brown rays then shot out of Manion eyes and shined down at Mantris who seemed to be screeching in pain. "Egyptian Chaos is an ability that takes away 50 G's of my opponents power level while raising Manions power by 100."
Raising an eyebrow, Lincoln checked his Bakugan and saw Manion go up to 460 G's and Mantris decrease to 310 G's. But Lincoln's serious expression never left his face as he stood strong and unbreaking. "Nice move, but watch and learn sis." Lincoln said as he pulled out his own card. "Ability Activate: Marionette!"
Mantris's eyes then glowed as string-like tendrils came out of Mantris's fore-legs and wrapped themselves around Manion and lifted the Bakugan up and dropped it down on Lincoln's second gate card. "Pain in my ass…" Lynn grumbled as Manion was set down on another card. "You're just as bad as Lori! To afraid to fight huh?"
"Its called stradegy Lynn, try it sometime!" Lincoln yelled as he loaded up his launcher. "Bakugan Brawl!" Lincoln then shot out this Bakugan at his second gate card. "Fear-Ripper stand!" Lincoln ever loyal Fear-Ripper then faced down Manion at 290 G's. Which simply made Lynn laugh as her Manion was still at 460 G's. "What so funny? I'm still waiting for you to kick my butt Lynn? Or you just all talk?"
This got Lynn to stop laughing and to glare at her brother and load up her launcher. "Well if you want a beating so bad, I'll give it to you! Bakugan Brawl!" Lynn then shot out her Bakugan towards Lincoln's original card that still had Mantris on it. "Centipoid Stand!"
Once the centipede Bakugan was unleashed, Lincoln looked at his Bakugan and saw it stood at 340 G's, 30 ahead of Mantris. "And now this is where you lose." Lynn said as she pulled out an ability card. "Ability Activate: Earth Power!" Centipoid then glowed with Subterra energy as the Baku-pod showed the Bakugan increasing to 390 G's.
"I think I'll start with your Fear-Ripper." Lynn said with a completely mad grin on her face. "Do it Manion! Send him to the Doom Dimension! There's no way he can raise his power level high enough to beat you!"
Manion let out a bird-like cry as it started dive bombing towards Fear-Ripper. "You're right, I can't raise his power level high enough, so I think I'll do this instead." Lincoln said as he held his arm out, making Lynn raise an eyebrow a little bit. "Gate Card open: Joker's Wild!" Lincoln's gate card then glowed when suddenly an explosion occurred on Manion half of the gate card. The force blew Lynn back a bit and before the athlete knew it, she saw Manion in ball form emerging from the dust and landing at her feet. Defeated.
"WHAT?!" Lynn yelled in shock. "HOW?! My power level was so much higher!"
"That's the Jokers Wild command card." Lincoln explained as Fear-Ripper surprising didn't go back to ball form. "It's a card that instantly defeats any non-Darkus Bakugan. And, an added bonus, after the cards been activated, I can choose whenever I want whether to keep Fear-Ripper on the field or call him back to my hand." Lynn growled in response, thinking that her brother was using cheap trick to win, as he spoke up again. "I told you I wasn't showing mercy Lynn. We can stop this right now. Save yourself the embarrassment. You're on my turf now!"
"Forget it!" Lynn immediately snapped in response. "I will prove I'm the best!"
Lincoln simply let out a 'hmph' in response as he shook his head in disappointment. "The only thing you're doing is showing how desperate you are!" Lincoln claimed loudly. "Resorting to working for Masquerade. You're pathetic!"
Lynn's face went red with anger as she looked up at Centipoid and quickly ordered the Bakugan. "CENTIPOID! NOW! KILL THAT STUPID MANTIS!" Centipoid roared in response as it charged at the Darkus Mantris.
"Gate Card open!" Lincoln quickly yelled with his hand held out. "Pyrus Hazard!" Suddenly red energy came out of the gate card and suddenly Mantris and Centipoid's colors changed to that of the Pyrus Attribute. "Hazard is a command card that changes all Bakugan on the card to any attribute I want. So that means you can't use any of your Subterra abilities."
"Centipoid power decrease by 5-0 G's." The Baku-pod said as it showed the effects of the Subterra ability Earth Power being lost due to the change from earth to fire.
However, Lynn simply grinned in response and let out a cocky chuckle. "That means you can't use your Darkus abilities either!" Lynn told her little brother as she still saw her Bakugan was at a higher power level. "And thanks to Manion my Centipoid is still higher! So, do it Centipoid!"
Centipoid roared as it charged once more, but Lincoln's expression continued to be unchanging as he pulled out an ability card. "Maybe not, but a good Brawler always saves their ace." Lincoln informed her sister as he rose the card up higher. "Ability Activate: Pyrus and Darkus link up!"
"Mantris power increase by 1-0-0 G's." The Baku-pod said as Mantris and Fear-Ripper both started glowing. Lynn's eyes widened in panic as Mantris increase in power to 410 G's and could do nothing but watch as Mantris roared and slashed at Centipoid causing the Bakugan to glowed and go back to ball form and fall at Lynn's feet.
"N-No way…" Lynn said with a trembling voice as she watched another one of her Bakugan be defeated with Lincoln's Mantris and Fear-Ripper going back to ball form themselves and Lincoln catching them in his hand with the gate cards they were on disappearing. "How?! After all my work?! I should be crushing you!"
"It doesn't matter how much work you put in Lynn." Lincoln claimed as he put Fear-Ripper and Mantris back in his Bakugan holder. "You can't beat me! That's a fact!" Lincoln looked his older sister dead in the eye as he went on. "You have a constant need to show off to other people and prove how good you are at any cost. Your inferiority complex shows itself clear as day. Meanwhile I stopped caring what people thought of me long ago. When I do something, I do for me and for those who have my back. That's the difference between you and I. You have you have to show you're the best while I know I'm the best!"
"Just! Shut! UP!" Lynn roared as she loaded up her last Bakugan. "You don't know anything! I'm the one that wins at everything! Sports! Game nights! Everything! Everyone knows I'm the best!"
"Is that so?" Lincoln asked as a smug grin came to his face. "You know there's more to life then winning. Even when I lose a brawl, I still enjoy myself. I prefer to just have fun. So long as I keep that and the friends I have, I'll always come out a winner." Lincoln's serious face then came back as he looked Lynn in the eyes. "Once again you simply rub your victories in everyone's faces. Theirs a big difference in showing your best and knowing you're the best. You show others, but you don't know it yourself. It's honestly quite sad."
"THAT'S IT! BAKUGAN BRAWL!" Lynn finally snapped as she shot out her last bakugan.
"Looks like ya touched a nerve." Leonidas said with a laugh as Lincoln simply smirked.
"WORMQUAKE STAND!" Lincoln then watched as Lynn's Wormquake buried parts of itself into the ground and stood onto battle at 350 G's.
"Ready to wrap this up Leonidas?" Lincoln asked his partner.
"Let's beat her good." Leonidas instantly agreed as Lincoln loaded his partner into his shooter.
"Sounds good, Bakugan Brawl!" Lincoln then shot out Leonidas towards Wormquake and its card. "Leonidas Stand!"
"Get ready to cry!" Leonidas roared as it gave Wormquake a deadly glare.
"In your dreams!" Lynn yelled as she held her hand out. "Gate Card open: Character!" Lynn's gate card then opened to reveal itself to be a Wormquake character card, doubling said Bakugan's power level to 700 G's. "Wormquake! NOW!"
Wormquake roared as it charged at Leonidas at full speed with the intent on sending the Darkus Bakugan to the Doom Dimension…only to be stopped.
"WHAT?! HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT?!" Lynn yelled as Leonidas was holding back Wormquake with practically no effort.
"Is this the best you got!? Don't make me laugh!" Leonidas yelled as he took one of his hands off Wormquake and used it to give a hook to the Subterra Bakugan, sending it to the ground.
"H-H-How…" Lynn stuttered as actual fear as she looked up at the Darkus Bakugan. Just then the athletes eyes widened as she slowly turned to her brother and flinched when she saw him giving her the fiercest glare she's honestly ever seen with his body covered in an aura of Darkus energy that was soon shared by Leonidas.
"I know I'm the best Lynn." Lincoln told his sister in a deadly serious tone. "I have nothing but the upmost confidence in myself and my Bakugan. I couldn't care less what you or anyone else thinks of me. What matters is that I know for fact that I have the skills to take on anything that comes my way! As for you, you're finished."
Lynn squeaked in response. She felt fear…over her brother. She was trembling and breathing heavily just from his words and the sudden dark power he and his partner radiated.
"Power surge detected." Snapping Lynn out of it was her Baku-pod which was suddenly beeping, alerting her of something. When she checked it…her jaw dropped. "Leonidas at 7-5-0 G's."
"H-H-H-He's not even u-u-using an a-a-a-ability card…" Lynn let out in a trembling tone. "H-How does he have this power?"
"TAKE THIS!" Leonidas then unleashed a massive uppercut that sent Wormquake high into the air. The earth worm Bakugan then started to fall directly at Lynn. The Athlete screamed in terror, afraid the falling Bakugan was going to squish her, but only felt a tiny dink on her head as Wormquake fell on her in ball form.
Lynn let out a sigh of relief but quickly flinched to see both her brother and Leonidas glaring at her. "It's over Lynn. You lose." Lincoln said as his Darkus aura was still present as the field started to glow and-
"So I'm guessing…you won?" Dan asked as he saw Lynn looking down in shame with Lincoln still looking at her with Leonidas on his shoulder.
Lincoln didn't respond to Dan's question and simply continued looking at Lynn with narrowed eyes. "Lynn, look at me." Lynn flinched when her brother talked to her. "Now!"
Lynn whimpered a bit in response as she slowly looked up at her brother. "I guess…you must hate me now?" Lynn asked, fearing the worst for working for her brother sworn enemy.
Lincoln crossed his arms and lowered his head before speaking. "Lynn…listen to be." Lincoln told her with Lynn gulping in response. "When it comes to my respect for you, consider almost all of it lost." Lynn violently flinched at what her brother said to her. "Listen here and listen good! I'm no longer someone you can push around! You can't force me to do anything for or with you again! Making me spar with you, give up stuff for you, threatening me for various things. Those days are over! I know for a fact that I'm stronger than you can ever be!"
Lynn took in every word Lincoln said and slowly nodded. She remembered all the times she made fun of Lincoln for his interest, forced him to spar with her and practice, or threatened him to do stuff like give up the TV remote of any snacks he might have…but no more.
"But…if there's one thing I can promise you its this. I could never ever hate you." Lynn silently gasped in response as she looked at her brother giving his signature kind smile. "We all makes mistakes. Me, you, Leni, Luna, Lori, all of us. But one thing will always be true, we're family. We always stick together and have each other's back. No matter how much we screw up. Promise me you'll remember that."
A few tears built up in Lynn's eyes as she managed a tiny smile and gave a small nod. "I will…" She quietly said with Lincoln nodding in approval.
"Thank you, I'll see you at home." Lincoln said as he turned around and started walking away with Dan soon following and Margo quickly going to her best friends' side.
"Hey, that was really cool of you man." Dan complimented Lincoln with a pat on the back.
"Well I guess every family tree has its sap." Leonidas commented, getting an eye roll but smile from Lincoln.
However, Lincoln quickly frowned as his eyes turned to a glare. 'So going after my sisters now Masquerade? That's it, the next time I see you…'
'You're gonna be sorry.'
I enjoyed this so much! Might be my favorite chapter so far. Chapters that focus on character development are always the best imo and I can't get enough of them. Seeing the characters grow and become something bigger and form bonds is just an experience you get to share.
Oh, before I forget, the Gorem episode happened off screen. There's literally nothing I can do to change that, just watch the actual episode on Youtube.
So with that said, remember to fav, follow, and review and stay tuned for...
"Grandpa's Got a Brand New Bakugan"