The Ultimate Decision
"I'm almost out! I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. However, it feels like something is holding me back…"
Fueled by the encouraging words of his family, Lincoln continued to run down the corridor, paying no mind to the raging rodent now far behind. In his mind, there was very little that could stop him now. As he moved further through the tunnel, the more it seemed to open up. The ceiling grew higher, the walls moved further away from him, even the floor seemed to distance itself from him, the young man running along some kind of bridge made of light. He wasn't sure how this was working, but now was not the time to put a lot of thought into it. Up ahead, he could see a faint light. Can't stop now. However, the further longer he went, the more resistance he felt. It was as if something was pulling him back the closer he got to the light. A swirling mist was rolling in from ahead, making it impossible to see what was below the platform. Darkness surrounded him in all other directions, apart from in front of him. Around half way there, the one son was straining to move even a single step. Such was the effort that he was quickly getting tired, when he felt a chill down his spine and heard the ringing of a bell. He looked to the left and the right, and spotted something that terrified him to his very core. Floating toward him was a skeletal being in a black robe, a large scythe, and a small square hat on his skull...marked like the Swedish flag? The white haired boy probably would have found this more odd if he weren't scared out of his wits as the Grim Reaper floated over to him. 'Is this really happening right now?' He wondered, as he struggled to put one foot in front of the other. 'Is this how it's going to happen…?'
"Well, hello there," The specter of death said, in such a friendly voice that Lincoln was completely taken aback. "The latest check out from Gregory House, I suspect?"
"Uh...yes, sir," The young man replied, kind of befuddled. "Or at least...I'm trying."
"Having a little trouble, eh? Want to know why?" The wraith pointed his scythe back from where Lincoln had come from. His eyes followed the weapon, where he noticed a kind of glistening white, ethereal cord attached to his back. He looked further up the cord and his eyes widened in shock as he saw a large, ghostly mouse with hollow black eyes moving along the connection as if he was scaling a mountain.
"My friend! Where are you going!?" Gregory called out.
"Good grief. Doesn't he ever give up?"
"Nope," The reaper answered simply. "For as long as I've known him, he's been one persistent bastard." The middle Loud grabbed hold of the spiritual connector in his back and pulled as hard as he could. "Save your energy, kid. You aren't getting rid of that that easily," Death informed him. "You may be trying to get out, but you clearly have a doubt somewhere in you. That doubt is all that's connecting you to Gregory's world." He raised his scythe. "Now, I can sever that connection for you, if you want. It's up to you, but you need to decide now."
"Mr Loud, don't do it." The spectral rodent pleaded with him, a little more than halfway to him.
"Why not?" Lincoln replied angrily. "Why would I stay someplace where I'm going to lose my soul?"
"Well said, Lincoln." Lucy said as she, her sisters, and Haiku watched this all take place through her crystal ball. The image was kind of snowy, as they were in a realm between Gregory's and the living world. The connection was much weaker there.
"Where else do you have to go, Mr Loud? You don't have a home to go back to."
"Yes he does!" Lola protested loudly, though neither could hear her.
Lincoln refused to respond to that, at least out loud. 'I may not be able to return to home...but I could probably stay for a little while with Pop Pop or Clyde. It's not ideal, but it's something,' He thought to himself, a thought he had been mulling over since he had knocked the wall down. Seeing that strategy wasn't working, the spectral vermin tried something different.
"Your family hates you, Mr Loud!" He bellowed at the young man before him.
"Don't act like you know anything about that, Gregory," The one son shot back with pure venom.
"...I know your family hates you, Lincoln." Gregory told him, in a serious and saddened tone. The one son turned with fury to face the eyeless spirit, who was almost right in his face. "I know...because I have a family that hates me." Lincoln blinked in surprise, his anger fading somewhat. "Yes, it's true, my friend. My family hates me..." The elderly hotel owner continued, coming to hover a few feet from the human boy.
"C...come on, Gregory...that can't…"
"Oh, but it is true. You've seen how Mama treats me. How she speaks to me. And James, my own grandson...he delights in torturing me. In causing me pain." He looked into the eyes of the white haired boy, who was looking back with sympathy. The ghostly mouse's eyes started to glow a sickly red. "Do you call that love, Mr Loud? Do you call that respect? Because I certainly do not." He continued as Lincoln started to fall into a kind of trance.
"Damn it all…" Haiku hissed, her eyes narrowing. "He's playing to his heart…"
"That can't be true, right?" The oldest of the Loud siblings inquired of the concerned goth.
"Sadly, I think it may be." She answered flatly. "And that's the worst and most frightening part of this." Lori's pupils shrank as she looked back to the orb.
"Lincoln! Don't listen to him!"
"Save your breath. He can't hear us in there. I'm surprised we even have the visual connection we do have…" The taller goth rose from her spot on the floor, moving over to Lincoln's body. "There's nothing we can do to help him from here…"
"No...but we can him from there," Lynn said, also getting to her feet.
"What!?" Her sisters exclaimed all at once.
"But you heard what-" Luan started, but the family athlete cut her right off.
"Yeah. I know the risks, but you know what? I don't give a rat's ass." Almost all her siblings gasped in shock, Leni hastily covering Lily's ears. "I'm done just sitting or standing and watching," she said firmly as she stepped over to Haiku, looking her right in the eye, her fists clenched. "Right now, my baby brother needs help, and you are going to help me help him, or so help me…" She raised a trembling fist between the goth girl and herself, furious tears welling up in her eyes as Haiku looked back with a stone faced expression.
Death watched as this scene unfolded with a frown. He could see what was going on, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. The most he could do in this situation was to cut the bond between Lincoln and Gregory at Lincoln's request. 'There are times the rules are a hindrance,' he thought to himself, his frustration building up. Just then, he heard something curious; the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. He turned his skull in the direction of the steps, curious what that was.
"You see, my friend...I know a hateful family when I see and hear it...but my family likes you. Mama may have wanted your soul, but she was impressed by your cleverness, and James really enjoyed his time playing with you." He placed a spectral hand on his shoulder. "Come back with me, Mr Loud. You, me, Mama, James...WE can be a family."
"He's got a family, creep!" Gregory jumped in surprise as the sound of a familiar voice caused Lincoln to flinch and snap out of the trance. They both turned their attention to the source; Lynn springing into the air and drawing back her fist as she flew toward the oversized rodent spirit. Before he could even process what he was seeing, she punched him with all her might right in the snout.
"OWWWWWUCH!" Gregory wailed as he was sent spinning end over end back toward his own realm, holding his nose.
"L...Lynn?" Her brother asked in a daze.
"Come on, bro! Let's move!" She told him, taking his hand and trying to run back toward the light. However, she was stopped short. Lincoln hadn't budged an inch. "Linc, what-?" She started to ask, but stopped when she saw the look on his face. He was feeling a tidal wave of emotions right now: surprise, wonder, sadness, anger, fear, among others. And all of them were showing on his face almost simultaneously. What Lynn saw, however, was the fear and anger. The anger she felt she deserved. She thought the reason he wasn't moving was because of her. Her eyes started to mist up again, a sight the one son rarely, if ever, saw in his tough sister. "Lincoln…please…"
The white haired boy just stared at her for a full second, as Gregory finally stopped his spin and was recovering from being dizzy. His mind was as conflicted as his emotions. However, there was one thing his own brain could agree with him on. His face hardened, which made Lynn even more worried, but then he turned to Death. "Sever the connection!"
"You got it, kid!" The Grim Reaper swiftly raised his blade and, with a single slash, cut through the ghostly binding like a hot knife through butter.
"Thanks. Come on, Lynn." Lincoln said quickly before he started to run.
"Right. Let's blow this rat traAACK!" Lynn's sentence was interrupted by the feeling of something wrapping around her neck, almost completely cutting off her airway. Her brother skidded to a stop when he heard her choke, looking back with alarm. The ghost of Gregory had wrapped the cord that once connected him to Lincoln around her throat and was trying to pull her to him, strangling her in the process.
"LYNN!"
"Cough...keep going, Linc…" She choked out as she struggled to get away. However, between being caught off guard and being pretty darn hungry (she was really regretting skipping dinner at this point), she didn't have the power to pull free. "Run and-gasp-don't look back…"
"Well well...quite the conundrum, isn't it 'my friend'..." Gregory asked in a sinister manner, saying 'my friend' quite derisively. "What's it going to be? Are you going to run away and leave your sister to me? The sister responsible for you even being here? Or will you give yourself up to save her? Hm hm hm hm…"
"Cough cough...don't worry...about me, Lincoln. Save yourself."
"You be quiet!" The old rat snapped, tightening his grip on her throat. Time seemed to freeze for Lincoln as he witnessed his sister struggling to breathe and Gregory taking almost sadistic glee in what he was doing.
"...you will be forced to make the ultimate decision," The voice of the Frog Fortuneteller sounded in his own head.
"Do you forgive her, Lincoln Loud?" The voice of Judgement Boy Gold asked in his mind. "Or will you tell her that her crime is unforgivable? The time to decide has come. JUDGEMENT….NOW!" He felt a warm, throbbing sensation in his pocket after the giant judge had his say mentally. Lincoln reached into his pocket and pulled out the crystal heart. It was pulsing with pink light, like a real heart.
'...I would forgive her.' He thought to himself as he stared into the heart. 'Maybe not right away, but eventually, I would.' His mind was set and his course was clear. He looked back up and quickly reached into his other pocket, drawing Cactus Girl's pop gun. "I hope this fits…" He muttered as he jammed the crystalline heart into the barrel. It was a tight fit, but it fit. He rapidly pumped the back of it, glancing up at his sister and the villainous rodent. Lynn's face was turning a deep red from lack of air, and Gregory was snickering his evil chuckle. "Hey Gregory! Have a heart!" The middle Loud shouted as he raised the gun and opened fire.
"Oh please, Mr Loud…" The giant ghost rodent scoffed, slowly looking away from his current victim. "Do you really think pleading for your souls will-" He started to ask, just as the heart hit him right between the eyes, shattering and sending tiny, sharp crystal particles all over his face. "AGH! MY EYES! MY EYES!" Gregory screeched in anguish, covering his eyes. His spectral tail unwrapped from around Lynn's throat. She coughed and gasped for air, rubbing her reddened neck as her brother dashed over to her and grabbed her hand. With Lincoln taking the lead, the two of them ran toward the light.
Back at the Loud House, everyone was on edge. Not only was Lincoln laying motionless on Lola's bed, but so was Lynn, slumped over on the mattress while sitting on a chair beside it. Haiku was standing between the sporty Loud and the crystal ball, her eyes closed and her hands extended between them. With the lack of time, she couldn't create a protective totem for her, so she had to act as a tether for her soul. Not ideal, but the best they could do. All was silent for a few minutes from the moment Lynn had passed out. Then, a glistening, silvery white ball emerged from Lucy's orb, hovering over it for a moment before darting toward the crowd of sisters. They all (apart from Lucy) stepped back from it out of concern as a second one flew out of the crystal ball. "W...what is that?" Luna asked.
"A soul." The little goth answered as she looked right into the floating essence. "Whether it's Lincoln's or Lynn's, I can't tell." The two souls seemed to be zipping around in random directions, like a pair of flies for a few seconds, before the first ethereal sphere made a beeline for Lincoln's body. His unconscious form shuddered a bit as the soul re-entered his body, the second essence soon diving into Lynn's body. Neither moved for like a second before their brother groaned and slowly sat up. Lola, Lana, Lily and Leni's eyes all widened with joy as smiles started to spread on their faces. They (along with Luna, Luan and Lori) were about to rush over to him, but Lisa held out a hand to stop them.
"Siblings, let us not rush our brother so hastily. We do not know whether the reentry process for a human soul has any adverse effects upon him." The toddler genius said before she turned to Lincoln. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah...I think so…" He replied, rubbing his head. "...where's Lincoln?" The nine Loud sisters blinked when he asked that question.
"Ugh...present." Lynn replied as she sat up, rubbing her head. "...never would have thought that reuniting body and soul could be such a head-" The words caught in her throat as she looked up at Lincoln and he looked back at her, expressions of horror on their faces. They slowly looked to their family and Haiku, pointing at one another.
"...what am I doing over there?" They asked in unison.
