It had been one month since the raid on Paxton Industries and for the most part, life had gone back to normal for the Louds. Well, about as normal life could be for a family of super powered kids. In that time period, a lot of interesting things had happened. While she didn't release the cure as she initially planned, Lisa did announce her intention to run for mayor of Royal Woods, something that caught everyone by surprise. As she was still in hiding from her siblings, Lisa made a conscious effort to stay under the radar to avoid giving away her location, as she bounced between her Paxton Industries hideout and her new safe house. She didn't know that her efforts were in vain as Lucy had already tracked her location and could've raided her new base of operations at any time. Despite Lana's insistence, the Louds refrained from going after her just yet, preferring to instead wait until she reached her highest peak before they exposed her and brought her world crashing down. Considering all the trouble she'd put them through, it'd be the sweetest form of revenge they could take.
Until that day came, however Lincoln was content to continue keeping his hometown safe from all threats. True to their word, he and Lio made a habit of stopping by the McBrides every day to check up on Lily. Aside from that initial incident, Lily hadn't caused any more trouble. While she still displayed signs of having powers, she seemed to have gained somewhat better control over them in contrast to the destructive display a month prior. Lincoln looked forward to meeting with Lily later, but for right now, he had a patrol he had to complete. At the very least, he could count on Clyde to keep him updated not just on the affairs of Royal Woods, but also on how Lily was faring until the time came when he could see her himself.
At the moment, Lincoln was swinging through the air without a care in the world as he enjoyed what had so far been a peaceful day. Partially to show off and partially to give the crowd of onlookers below something to be wowed by, Lincoln performed a few midair tricks, executing a number of corkscrews and flips to showcase his agility. One of Lincoln's favorite tricks was to dive bomb towards the ground, tricking the audience into thinking he was going to face plant into the concrete, only to fire another web and swoop back into the air at the last possible second. Lincoln practically had the citizens of Royal Woods eating out of the palm of his hands when he received a call from Clyde.
"Yo, Clyde, what's up?" Lincoln asked.
"We've got a bank robbery in progress downtown," Clyde informed him. "The police report says there are 3 suspects in total, all of them armed and that they're holding multiple people hostage. Police have tried storming the bank only to be pushed back by the robbers each time. Things are looking rather dire, think you're up for the task?"
"Do you even have to ask?" Lincoln replied with a hint of smugness. "Of course I'm up for the task. Heck, the bank's not even that far from where I'm at currently. These wannabe tough guys won't even know what hit em after I'm done with them."
With that, Lincoln head over to the bank as quickly as possible. When he arrived on the scene, he found a swarm of police cars outside the bank while terrified witnesses watched the scene unfold. A hostage negotiator was present, trying to convince the robbers inside to at least release a child that was being held hostage. Lincoln made sure to stay out of the public view, knowing that if his presence became known, it could easily make the situation go from bad to worse in an instance.
"Please, just listen to us," The hostage negotiator pleaded. "Just let the child go safely and we can discuss this civilly."
A single gunshot rang out, causing both Lincoln and the crowd to jump in fright with a few of the onlookers letting out a scream. "Now you listen here," One of the robbers yelled. "No one and I mean no one is allowed to leave until our demands are met! We want you pigs to back off and provide us with a clear passageway to the train station! Until then, no one goes free!"
"I was going to wait and see if things could be resolved without my interference," Lincoln thought to himself as he looked for a way inside the bank without being seen. "But if these guys are willing to shoot bullets all willy nilly without concern for others lives, I can't afford to wait any longer. I've got to get in their somehow."
Lincoln found his way inside when he spotted a window on the side of the bank that was obscured from public view. Without wasting a single second, Lincoln sneaked over to that side of the bank, crawled up the wall and opened up the window before making his way inside. Once he was inside the bank, he found, much to his relief, that none of the hostages had been harmed. All of them were lying on the floor with their hands behind their heads as the three robbers paced about, holding assault rifles in their hands and occasionally pointing them at the horrified hostages. The robbers were all wearing dark, navy blue suits along with balaclavas to hide their faces, with each man holding a duffel bag filled with cash over their shoulders.
"Man Frankie, things have really hit the fan," One robber said to the apparent leader of the trio.
"Don't say my name, dipstick!" Frankie yelled at him. "Now you've made it real easy for the cops to track us down. We wouldn't even be in this mess if Mike had done his job right and kept a proper lookout."
"Hey, cut me some slack," Mike tried to defend himself. "I was busy trying to make sure none of the chumps tried to play hero or make a run for it. Also, what happened to not saying our names?"
"Hey, you're the one who blew the heist so I figured that you were expendable" Frankie answered honestly.
"Do you really think the police are going to give into our demands?" The unnamed criminal asked his cohorts.
"They don't have a choice," Frankie answered. "Unless they wanna come in and find these people's brains splattered all over the walls."
"You probably should've asked for an escape helicopter," The unnamed robber suggested.
"Nah, that's too cliche," Mike said. "He should've asked for an unmarked car that we could use to escape by blending in with the rush hour traffic."
"If you ask me, you guys should've asked for the number of a good attorney," Lincoln intervenes, making himself known to the trio. "After all, You're probably going to need one when this is through."
"Great job keeping lookout, Mike" Frankie said sarcastically as he and the others all simultaneously opened fire on Lincoln, who dodged their bullets, but stayed in the same general place in order to draw their fire away from the civilians. "Now you've let another idiot sneak up on us!"
"You know, there are so many other ways you could spend your time," Lincoln taunted the trio as he continually dodged their gunfire. "You could be reading a book, learning a trade, maybe even go for a nice walk on the beach." Lincoln used web to snatch the assault rifles out of their hand before he broke them in half over his knee. "But this… this just seems like a waste. I mean, what would your mothers say if they saw what you were doing?"
"Will you shut up!?" The unnamed robber yelled before picking up a paper weight and throwing it at Lincoln, who caught it in his hands and tossed it back at the bumbling burglar, hitting him in the head and knocking him out cold.
"Sorry about that, I was aiming for your chest," Lincoln sarcastically apologized. "Then again, I always did have lousy aim and throwing was more of my sister's thing." Lincoln hopped off the wall, down to the floor and challenged the two remaining robbers, asking "Anyone else wanna step up to the plate?"
Mike immediately accepted Lincoln's challenge, rushing at the young superhero and attempting to throw a punch at him, only for Lincoln to drop down and use his legs to monkey flip Mike onto his back. Frankie was the next to engage Lincoln, grabbing a pen off of one of the teller's desk and trying to stab Lincoln with it.
"Really? A pen?" Lincoln deadpanned, shooting Frankie a look that just screamed "You're an idiot". "Out of all the improvisible weapons that are at your disposal, you choose a pen. You could've picked up one of the stanchions and attempted to bludgeon me with it. You could've used its rope to try and strangle me. Heck, you could've even used the duffel bag on your back to hit me upside the head, yet you chose a pen?"
"You talk way too much, kid," Frankie snarled, making an attempt at stabbing Lincoln through his eye.
Lincoln actually stood completely still as if taking pity on the criminal stooge and giving him a free shot, only to cock his head slightly to his side, grab Frankie by his arm and throw him into the teller's kiosk, knocking him out cold. Mike made one last attempt at Lincoln, actually taking Lincoln's advice and trying to hit him over the head with a stanchion, only for Lincoln to turn around and render him unconscious with a stiff uppercut.
"That should take care of that," Lincoln said, congratulating himself as he tied up the robbers with web before he heard a gunshot behind him. Thanks to his spider senses, Lincoln was just barely able to dodge the bullet that had been fired at him. "What the?"
Lincoln turned around to find seemingly another robber standing before him. Unlike the three criminals he'd just taken down, this robber wore a light purple suit and instead of a balaclava, wore a fishnet pantyhose over his face, which did nothing to conceal his identity. Also different from the other robbers was that he held a revolver in his hand, in place of an assault rifle.
"Clyde said that there were only 3 robbers, where did this fourth guy come from?" Lincoln asked himself before there was quick flash accompanied by a ripple effect and the fourth robber had vanished without a trace. "What the? Where did he go?"
At just that moment, police swarmed the bank, relieved to find that all of the hostages were okay and surprised to find Spider-Ace waiting for them.
"Spider-Ace?" The Chief questioned. "As unexpected as your appearance is, I sure am glad to see you. Can you give us an account of just what happened?"
"The short version is that I sneaked inside, took out these bozos with ease and then you guys came in," Lincoln said. "I was going to let you guys handle it, but when I found out that kids were involved, I couldn't just sit idly by. Fortunately, these clowns were rather easy to take care of."
"How many suspects are we dealing with?" The chief asked.
"I thought that I was only dealing with 3, but it turns out that there was a fourth guy accompanying them that I didn't know about," Lincoln informed him, only for one of the hostages to chime in.
"Actually, you were right, there were only 3 robbers" A woman chimed in. "They just kicked in the door and demanded everyone get on the ground!"
"But I could've sworn that-," Lincoln said before another man came to his aid.
"No, I saw the same thing that you did," He said. "There was another man dressed in a purple suit, wearing pantyhose and holding a revolver. I didn't get a good look at his face because he disappeared a few seconds later like some sort of ghost."
"So I wasn't just seeing things," Lincoln said to himself.
"Purple?" Another man scoffed. "His suit was clearly white!"
"Are you blind?" Another woman chimed in. "The suit was clearly tan colored."
"Alright, alright, everyone calm down," The chief said. "We'll make sure to get all of your accounts of what happened."
After recounting his version of what had happened, Lincoln made a hasty departure, calling Clyde back after all was said and done.
"So how'd it go?" Clyde asked him.
"It went just as I expected," Lincoln answered. "I arrived and kicked bad guy butt in less than five minutes. Then something strange happened."
"What happened?" Clyde asked him.
"After I'd taken care of the three robbers, some weird fourth guy appeared out of nowhere and tried to shoot me," Lincoln answered. "And then, just as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared into thin air."
"Do you think that you could possibly be dealing with another super powered person?" Clyde asked. "Or even someone sent after you by your sister? I mean after all, she does have teleportation technology."
"This is more than just teleportation," Lincoln said. "This guy was dressed as if he were an accomplice to the trio I took down. Like I don't know how to explain it, but it was almost as if he were from another world."
"That does sound strange," Clyde said. "But still, there's a good chance that your sister could be behind this,"
"You're right about that," Lincoln acknowledged. "I'll talk to Lio, Lynn and Lucy about this later, see what they think about it."
Lincoln had no idea of knowing that he wouldn't be the only Loud go encounter something strange that day. Leni was going about her day without a care in the world, basking in the sunlight as she soared through the air. She had just left her job at the mall and was on her way to her apartment when she received a phone call from her boyfriend, Chaz.
"Hey Chaz!" Leni cheerfully greeted him. "Sorry I haven't had time to talk to you lately, I've just been so busy lately."
"It's fine," Chaz said. "I was just starting to get worried about you. You said something about your little sister being on the loose and I thought that maybe she'd gotten to you."
"Nah, I'm fine," Leni assured him with a laugh. "In fact, none of have heard anything from Lisa since she announced her bid for mayor."
"Still, it's been a while since we've seen each other," Chaz said. "What do you say we try and meet up with each other some time this week. Maybe hang out like old times."
"Oh, I'd love to!" Leni gushed. "I hear the carnival's coming to town this week, maybe we can go together!"
"Yeah, that sounds like it'd be a load of fun!" Chaz said cheerfully. "I'll be sure not to forget my wallet this time so that I can buy you cotton candy and win you the biggest stuffed animal you've ever seen."
"Awww, you don't have to do that," Leni told him, growing more excited by the idea with each passing second. "I just want to be able to see you again!"
"Same!" Chaz said. "I mean, I just can't wait to give you the biggest hug of your life next time I see you!"
"Just be careful not to crush me," Leni joked with a laugh. "I know it's easy for you to forget your own strength when you get really happy!"
"Sorry," Chaz apologized. "You know me though, I'm the type of guy who wears his heart on his sleeve… which becomes kind of weird whenever I wear a tank top. Like, how can I wear my heart on my sleeve when I don't have sleeves?"
"That's a good question," Leni replied, stopping midair to think for a second. "I guess you could still wear your heart on your arm, but that doesn't have quite the same effect."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Chaz said. "Anyway, the point is that I can't wait to see you again! I'm going to make our time together special just for you!"
"And I look forward to it," Leni told him as she resumed flight. "I'll make sure I'm dressed my best just for you." She took a moment to pause before giggling and saying "Wow, I think I've turned into my sister Lori with how I talk to you."
"Really?" Chaz asked. "Is that a bad thing?"
"No!" Leni giggled. "I'm just saying that I get a lot more mushy when I'm talking to you. The only thing that keeps me from becoming a full on Lori is the fact that I don't say "literally"."
"Oh, good," Chaz said, breathing a sigh of relief. "For a second I thought that meant that I was starting to annoy you."
"Don't be silly," Leni said, telling Chaz "You could never in a million years start to annoy me."
"You promise?" Chaz asked.
"I promise," Leni said, willing to talk to Chaz for hours before she noticed a sudden strange ripple effect that sent small shockwaves throughout the town, leaving her confused. The sudden change caught Leni off guard, causing her to lose focus and suddenly smack headfirst into a tree branch that appeared from literally out of nowhere.
"Hello? Hello?" Chaz said. "Leni, are you still there?"
Leni was too dazed from the blow to her head to answer right away, but upon sitting up, noticed immediately that something was very wrong. Of course, it would've been more surprising if Leni didn't notice something was wrong seeing as the town she called home now looked completely different. In place of the vibrant buildings and lively atmosphere was a town filled with decrepit buildings that looked like they were being held together by mere scotch tape and was overrun by wild plant life. Debris such as the shards of glass, old tires, bricks, old broken down cars and plaster littered the streets. Aside from the vegetation and a few stray birds, there seemed to be no other signs of life, as if Royal Woods had become a ghost town. As if everyone had suddenly up and left in a hurry, either that or they all perished without warning.
It was eerily quiet, with the only noise being provided by the howling wind. Despite having a vaguely post apocalyptic appearance, this version of Royal Woods still somehow had that vibrant serene feel to it with the sun shining brightly on the lively city. That contrast in mood only served to make the place seem even more creepy as Leni could only stare in shock and awe. She looked around, desperately trying to find anyone else in this devastated landscape, only to be greeted by silence. There was another ripple effect and suddenly Leni found herself back in the Royal Woods she was familiar with, with Chaz calling out her name.
"Leni? Hello?" Chaz said.
"Oh, sorry Chaz, I don't know what just happened, but it was strange," Leni told him.
"You went quiet for around ten seconds and I didn't know what had happened," Chaz informed her.
"Ten seconds!?" Leni replied. "I was only gone for 10 seconds!? It felt like I was gone for an hour!"
"Gone where?" Chaz asked.
"Like, there was this weird creepy version of Royal Woods," Leni explained. "It was like, there were no people there and it looked as if the whole town had been destroyed or something!"
"That sounds terrifying," Chaz said.
"Considering I hit my head on a branch, it was probably just a daydream or something," Leni tried brushing it off.
"You hit your head?" Chaz asked. "Are you going to be okay after that?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Leni said, shaking her head as she took flight again and tried pushing what she had seen out of her head. "So when should we try to meet with each other?
With Lisa seemingly in hiding, Lola figured that she was safe to resume her jewel thieving as usual. Her latest target was a set of unique, one of a kind gemstones known as the Hysteria Beryl, worth more than $7 million and currently on display at Royal Woods museum. As always, Lola wasn't in this for the money, but rather for the challenge as she planned on stealing the gems in broad daylight and walking out without raising any suspicion whatsoever. Knowing that such as task would require covert sneaking around, Lola was wearing what she felt was the perfect disguise. A sun hat and scarf to help obscure her face along with a pair of dark sunglasses to hide her eyes. She carried nothing but a small purse and wore clothes that wouldn't garner too much attention; a simple pink T-shirt, shorts and a pair of sneakers.
Acting as sly as ever, Lola blended in with a crowd of guests for a tour of the museum. Lola knew she'd have to play her cards right and be patient if she wanted to walk away with the Hysteria Beryl. For the most part, Lola played her role to perfection. She oohed and aww'ed like the rest of the crowd when the guide showed them exciting exhibits. She'd take pictures and selfies with the artifacts on display, laugh at the guide's cheesy jokes whenever appropriate and just acted like any other tourist would. All of which served to take suspicion off of her when the guide finally showed the group the Hysteria Beryl that she had came for in the first place. Lola displayed the usual signs of intrigue and interest at the display, but when the crowd moved on to the next display, she stayed behind to snatch her prize.
The setup seemed almost too easy. There were no guards around to catch her in the act, no obnoxious tourists to get in her way and the lone security camera seemed to be focused elsewhere. Just to be on the safe side however, Lola pulled her trademark putty out of her purse and used it to obscure the camera. She then took a second to marvel at just how beautiful the gems were up close. Similar to the tiara from a while back, Lola almost felt tempted to keep this prize for herself rather than sell it on the black market. Lola slowly lifted the display case and reached to grab the gems and place them in her purse. Just as she did so however, there was a flash accompanied by a strange ripple effect. Lola shook it off as nothing of concern only to look down and see the Hysteria Beryl had been replaced by a set of emeralds, marked as the "Madness Emeralds".
"Okay, I'll bite, what kind of a twisted joke is this?" Lola asked, looking around in confusion and half expecting a security guard or someone to pop up from around the corner and tell her that she was busted. "The Madness Emeralds? Seriously? Who's pulling my leg?"
There was another ripple effect and suddenly Lola found herself staring back at the Hysteria Beryl. To say that Lola had no idea what just happened would be putting it lightly. The young thief rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't just seeing things. While what had just happened was certainly strange, Lola wasn't going to question it. At least, not until she had escaped safe and sound with the precious gems. Without wasting a single effort, Lola loaded the gems into her purse before making a hasty departure. Perhaps the stress of the theft had caused her to hallucinate. Whatever the case may be, Lola didn't figure it was any big deal.
Whenever she needed some time away from her siblings, there was a sunflower field that Lori could always visit for some peace. The field held some significance to Lori as it was the place where she and Bobby had went on their first date. Any time she came to this field, she felt at peace with the world. She could allow happy memories from a better time flood her mind as she kicked back and relaxed. Truth be told, she was starting to consider taking Bobby up on his offer to come live with his family. If, by some chance, Lori did end up unintentionally infecting them with the virus, she figured she could always bring Lio around to heal them. Whether Lio wanted to go or not. For that matter, she could probably be the caring big sister that she was and also bring Lincoln along too so that he'd have the chance to see Ronnie Anne again.
Lori took a moment to look out into the distance and see the skyline of Royal Woods in the background. For all the trouble life had given her over the past year or so, it felt nice to be able to kick back and relax for once. Lori started to think about the future and what it possibly held in store for her. Before the whole virus outbreak started, she had planned on either attending classes at Royal Woods University or moving to Great Lakes and enroll in community college there so that she could be close to her boyfriend. With things having seemingly calmed down for the moment, maybe Lori could pick up where she left off. It would sure beat hiding in a cave and getting into fights with cat callers who harassed as she walked down the street.
Despite her temper, which went hand in hand with her abilities, to anyone who read between the lines, it was clear that what Lori wanted most of all was to return to a normal life. While she appreciated her powers and how useful they could be, similar to her brother, she didn't enjoy this fast paced action packed life filled with fighting and mayhem. She considered it all to be a waste of time. Unlike her brother however, Lori didn't long for the return of a lost family dynamic as she considered that to be a waste of time too. She still loved her siblings, mind you, but had no qualms leaving them behind for something she seemed better. The only thing Lori felt she needed to worry about was regaining control of her life through any means necessary.
As she reflected on the path she was currently on, Lori couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. Call it intuition, but something just didn't sit right with her. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't relax. Lori turned her back to Royal Woods, prepping to take a walk through the sunflowers. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath of fresh air, only to open her eyes to find an empty field of dead plants that was crawling with spiders, beetles, and ants.
"What the!?" Lori exclaimed, recoiling in fright from the site of the creepy crawlers.
She turned around to look at Royal Woods, only to find nothing but a vast forest. It looked as if Royal Woods has never been there in the first place. As Lori looked on in awe, she could hear low grunts coming from the forest. From the sounds of it, they were approaching in her direction as well. Lori didn't know if these forces were friend or foe, but she wasn't going to take the chance. She ignited her hands and geared up for a fight, ready to take on anything that crossed her path. Just as the creatures were set to emerge from the shrubbery, there was a quick flash and Lori found herself standing back in the sunflower field.
"Okay, what just happened?" Lori asked, looking around frantically. "Was somebody just messing with me or did Royal Woods just vanish into thin air for a few seconds?"
While anyone else would've shook the incident off, Lori knew better. Something strange was going on and if she were a betting woman, Lori would guess that one of her siblings had something to do with it. For right now though, there were more important matters at hand, such as answering the incoming phone call she was getting from Bobby.
In the one month that had passed since they'd been reunited, Lynn had almost completely gotten over Chris' six month long absence. While it helped that he had a genuinely good reason for leaving it, it also had to do with the fact that Lynn just couldn't hold a grudge against Chris. At least, not for more than a week. Of course, now that Chris was back, Lynn was keeping her promise to never leave his side again. Nor would she let him leave her side again. It was strange to say, but their brief separation had only brought them closer together. At the moment, the two were playing a game of catch at the school's football field, with Chris helping to explain some of the finer details of Lynn's powers.
"Okay, I know you're smart and all, but there's no way you can explain my invisibility ability," Lynn said, tossing Chris the ball.
"Oh, pfft, that's easy light is electromagnetic radiation, as such the electron is the carrier particle of the photon, the particle that makes up light. by creating a vibrating electric force field around her she's basically wiping the photon's electromagnetic data free of-," Chris started to explain, catching the ball before Lynn cut him off.
"Alright, alright, I guess I was wrong," Lynn said with a laugh as she caught the ball and threw it back at Chris. "Gosh, you can be such a giant nerd sometimes."
"Yeah, but I'm your giant nerd," Chris said with a cheeky grin as he caught the ball and threw it back at Lynn.
"You know, I wonder," Lynn said, catching the ball. "If you're so smart, why haven't you created any high tech inventions?"
"Because…" Chris said as he awaited Lynn to toss him the ball again. "Every idea I came up with had already been thought of." As he caught the ball in his hands, he added, "Besides, I'm not really the best at building things without my energy constructs."
"Figures," Lynn said as they finished tossing the ball to each other. She walked over to Chris and the two held hands. "Although then again, with that Blue Lantern ring of yours, you probably don't need to invent anything."
"This thing is actually harder to use than you might think," Chris said, holding the ring up for Lynn to see as the two began their walk home. "Blue Light is the most powerful of all the lights, but it requires a ton of skill to use. Trust me, it took me a long time to finally master this baby." Chris chuckled and teased "It'd probably only take you 1 day to control this ring."
"One day?" Lynn jokingly scoffed. "What kinda loser do you take me for? Give me 6 hours tops and that I'd have that ring a slave to my whims."
"Oh, that's right, how silly of me," Chris laughed. "I hope you can forgive me for underestimating your greatness."
"I guess I can let it slide just this once, but-," Lynn said before she heard something strange, causing her to stop dead in her tracks.
"Is everything alright?" Chris asked, noticing a change in Lynn's demeanor.
"Do you hear that?" Lynn asked him, causing Chris to stop and take a closer listen. Listening carefully, the two could hear what sounded like soft sobbing in the distance.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, I kind of hear it too," Chris said before asking Lynn "Think we should suit up for this?"
"Just to be safe, yeah," Lynn replied before whispering "Shazam" to change into her more powerful alter ego while Chris did the same.
Standing back to back, the couple looked around, trying to find where the noise had come from. They heard a sniffle behind them and turned in that direction, hoping to find whoever was in distress. What the saw instead nearly gave them the shock of their lives. Looking down, Lynn and Chris briefly though that they were looking in a mirror when they came face to face with themselves. It soon became apparent that these were no mere reflections they were looking at as their apparent doppelgangers had a few different distinguishing features from the Chris and Lynn we've been following.
For starters, both the other Lynn and Chris were a bit shorter than and had softer facial features than the originals. In contrast to the lean yet athletic build that the original Lynn had, the other Lynn had a more lithe figure to her. Both the other Chris and Lynn had wider, almost chibi-esque eyes. The other Chris had longer hair and a glowing aura to him. The other Lynn's hair was, for lack of a better word, floofier, something that made her look more adorable. The soft sobbing came to a halt as the other Lynn and Chris stared directly into the eyes of the originals. None of the four spoke a word, instead simply looking at each other with intrigue. Finally, both sets of Chris and Lynn slowly reached out to each other. Just before their hands could touch, there was a strange ripple effect and just like that, the other Lynn and Chris had disappeared. Following that, there was about half a minute of awkward silence before the couple said anything.
"What just?" Chris started to ask. "Did you see the same thing that I saw?"
"You mean the two lookalikes who came out of nowhere and disappeared just as quickly?" Lynn replied. "Yeah, I saw that too. What was that about?"
"I wish I could explain it, but I can't," Chris said.
"I don't think anyone is capable of explaining what just happened," Lynn told him. "But I have a feeling we'll get an answer to our question soon enough."
Lana was back in her natural habitat in the form of the woods outside Royal Woods. She'd made it a habit of visiting her siblings more frequently and had even come to rekindle the close relationship she once had with them. She wouldn't admit it, but she was starting to grow fond of their company again. Still, a girl needed time for herself, thus she spent many hours roaming through the woods in various animal forms. As proof that her time with her family had slowly been softening her heart, she hadn't attacked any littering hikers at all in the past two weeks, instead settling for simply scaring them off.
At the moment, Lana was enjoying a swim through the river in the form of a catfish. She enjoyed swimming against the current and occasionally jumping out of the water. She made sure to keep an eye out for any predators that might try to feast on her; although then again, considering her ability to talk to animals, that likely wouldn't be much of a problem. After several minutes of swimming, Lana leapt out of the water and reverted to her human form. She took a moment to stretch before transforming into a wolf and shaking herself dry. That's when her nose picked up a strange scent. A scent that seemed familiar, yet foreign to her at the same time.
Lana wasted no time following the scent, her curiosity getting the better of her. Something was off about this situation, she could feel it. Lana wondered what she'd potentially come across. At this point, she felt that there was nothing that could surprise her. She'd truly seen it all at this point. She could be picking up the scent of a 4 eyed alien riding a unicycle while dressed as Tina Turner and her response would be an uninterested "meh". Following her nose, Lana came across a set of railroad tracks. That was rather strange, considering that they were in the middle of a forest. At least, that's where Lana thought she was. Taking a look around, Lana found that she was not in a forest, but instead in the middle of what looked like a desert.
"Well, this is a sudden change of scenery," Lana said wryly, changing into her human form. She took a look around before asking "So what is going on here? Did following that smell lead me all the way to the desert or something?"
In the distance, Lana could hear a train approaching, before she was nearly trampled by a horse. Lana was quick enough to jump out of the horse's path and looked up to see a young blonde woman with her hair tied in a ponytail riding proudly atop the equine with a determined look on her face. Lana didn't get to look for two long before she heard a series of gunshots and looked behind her to see what looked like 11 outlaws riding atop horses and chasing after the young woman. Their faces were covered by bandanas and they were firing wildly at their target. Wondering what would happen if she were to lend the young woman a hand, Lana transformed into a horse and ran in between the woman and the 11 riders before using her hind legs to kick one of the outlaws off their horse and tumbling to the ground.
Rather than help their fallen ally, the outlaws continued to chase after the woman. One of the outlaws decided to deal with Lana however and fired his revolver at her. Lana dodged the bullet, but one of the other outlaws rammed his horse into Lana and knocked her onto the railroad tracks. Lana lost her footing and to avoid snapping her leg in her horse form, changed back into a human form and hit the ground hard. Shaking and rubbing her head, Lana looked up just in time to see a locomotive coming her way, a mere seconds from running her over, causing her to close her eyes. When she reopened them, she found herself lying underneath a tree.
"Phew! It was just a dream," Lana said with a sigh before she noticed a pair of horse tracks on the forest floor. "Wait a second…" Lana stood you her feet and took a look around. She could as back in the same place she'd been, but the presence of horse track meant that it couldn't have been mere dream, could it? "Calm down Lana, you probably made those tracks yourself in your sleep. Nothing more, nothing less"
Lana knew that her explanation didn't hold water, but she couldn't think of another possibility that made any more sense. Maybe in time, everything would make sense and she could put this strange incident behind her.
Neither Luna or Sam missed a beat after Sam was healed, picking up their relationship exactly where it had left off. The two lovebirds were currently on something of a date, recreating the scavenger hunt that was an integral part of their first "official" date. At the moment, Luna and Sam were on their way to the arcade for a friendly game of laser tag. Hopefully, this game would go better than last time. Sam admittedly was a little nervous about trying her hand at the game again, but Luna had insisted they give it another try just to commemorate the date. Afterwards, Luna suggested that they could visit that vegan juice place that Sam loved so much. Little did Luna know that Sam had a few tricks up her sleeve when it came to this game of laser tag.
While her aim could still use a ton of improvement, Sam found that she could use her electrokinesis to fire off tiny invisible bolts of electricity at the opponent's chest sensors. Doing so would activate said sensors, causing them to react in the same way they would've if they'd been shot with the laser guns. Using this method, Sam racked up quite a few eliminations while her competitors were none the wiser. Not even Luna was aware of Sam's trick, causing the latter to smirk with a hint of pride. Despite having something of a reputation as a goody two shoes, Sam had no problems playing dirty from time to time as long as she had fun. Needless to say, the team of Sam and Luna won the game easily. The two high fived each other before Luna challenged Sam to a 1v1 game of laser tag.
"I dunno Rockstar, I'm not sure if you can measure up to my skill," Sam said with a teasing smirk.
"Wow, you win one game and score a few eliminations and you suddenly think you're the Queen of the World?" Luna replied, playfully rolling her eyes.
"Well, I know for certain that I'm the Queen of your world," Sam said, causing Luna to blush. "Now be a good girl and bow to your queen and dismiss this silly talk of a one on one game."
"What's the matter, your highness, chicken?" Luna taunted her.
"Okay, just don't say I didn't warn you," Sam said, accepting Luna's challenge.
The two began their game, starting on opposite ends of the maze before they began slowly making their way towards each other. The two kept a close ear out for one another, hoping to spring a trap. Each had their own advantages. Luna had the speedy reaction time and better aim, while Sam of course, had her cheap trick. The two could hear each other's footsteps and knew that they were getting closer to each other. Both prepared for a standoff and cautiously started to round the corner. As they rounded the corner and aimed their laser guns at each other, the maze around them disappeared and rather than finding themselves in an arcade, the pair found themselves in what looked like a futuristic utopia city.
"Is this some sort of new holographic background trick?" Sam asked, calling a ceasefire.
"I don't think this has anything to do with holograms, luv," Luna said as the two took a look around. She quickly got over the initial shock and asked "So what do you think this is? Time vortex or some other sci-fi explanation?"
"Time vortex?" Sam questioned. "Do you really think we're in that territory?"
"Well I can't think of any other way to explain why we've been taken to what looks like the future," Luna said. "The only question is how are we going to get back?"
No sooner than the words left Luna's mouth did the two find themselves back in the arcade, still in the middle of their game.
"Apparently, like that," Sam said with a cheeky grin. "So did we just imagine that or did we really venture into the future."
"I'm not sure," Luna said. "What I do know however…"
Luna raised her laser gun and aimed at Sam, only for Sam to instinctively raise her hand and fire a bolt into Luna's sensor, winning Sam the game while also giving away her con.
"Yes! I won!" Sam celebrated, smirking and telling Luna "I told you that you couldn't measure up."
"Did you just eliminate me without shooting me?" Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Um… about that…" Sam said with a giggle.
"Sam, you cheater!" Luna said before she and Sam tossed aside their gear. "I'm gonna get you for that!" She said playfully.
"You're going to have to catch me first!" Sam said, sticking her tongue out at Luna before she started running away.
"Get back here!" Luna said, giving chase.
When Lincoln called for a sibling meeting at Lucy's cave to discuss what he described as "something strange", the others were eager to join in. Within a few minutes, the Loud siblings, save for one, had gathered at Lucy's cave to talk about the various things that had happened to them throughout the day.
"I'm telling you guys something weird is going on," Lincoln told his sisters. "Like, when I was thwarting this bank robbery, some fourth dude literally came out of nowhere and tried to shoot me before disappearing. And even stranger, everyone had a different account of what the would be shooter looked like."
"Pfft, that's nothing," Lola scoffed. "I was stealing- er, I mean checking out these special gems at the museum when they were suddenly swapped out with these freaky emeralds"
"You call that weird?" Lana scoffed. "I was teleported to some desert in the Wild West!"
"Oh please," Lynn brushed her off. "Chris and I literally came face to face with chibi versions of ourselves, beat that."
"Oh yeah, well we were-," "That's nothing, I was-," "You think that's bad, I was-,"
It didn't take long before the discussion devolved into an argument between the siblings over who had the more bizarre experience. Finally, Lucy and Haiku had enough and spoke up to quell the bickering.
"QUIET!" They both shouted in what was a rare instance of them raising their voice. Lucy then spoke up.
"It's clear that you've all been through something weird," She said. "While I myself haven't experienced anything out of the ordinary, I did notice that a few of you guys just randomly up and disappeared for a couple of seconds at various times throughout the day." Lucy looked at Lynn and said "And in one case, picked up two identical presences."
"So what are you saying?" Leni asked.
"What I'm saying is that you guys haven't been hallucinating or anything," Lucy told them.
"Do you think you can explain what's happening?" Lori asked.
Lucy shook her head and said "No. Whatever's going on, it's definitely got some supernatural origin. That much is clear."
"I don't think this is supernatural," Lincoln said. "I think this is the work of a certain sister of ours…"
"So you think Lisa is behind this?" Chris asked him.
Lincoln nodded and said "It makes the most sense. She's up to something and I'm going to figure out what it is…"
END ISSUE 14