It's a Kid's World
4.1: Operation Resurrection
In the early hours of the morning, a mysterious looking young lady walked onto the camp site atop Groove Hill. In her arms, she held a fallen white-haired hero.
Asherah had carried Lincoln's lifeless corpse all throughout the night in a race against time to return to her abode.
Just as Luan, Lily and the twins were waking up inside their tent, a familiar face wandered in and startled them…
"AGH!" Lana and Lola screamed for a second, surprised by Asherah's sudden appearance.
"Loud siblings… help me. There isn't much time." the girl ominously warned them.
The siblings immediately saw what she was carrying. Needless to say, it was an alarming sight for them all.
"LINCOLN?!" Lana cried as she saw her brother in her arms.
"No! This can't be happening!" Luan cried, openly trying and failing to deny the latest tragedy that was presenting itself.
But the tragedy was undeniable as it was right before their eyes. The siblings gazed at the lifeless husk that was their sibling, first with immense shock and dread, which soon transformed into a strong sense of pain created by feelings of regret and loss. There he was, their own flesh and blood brother, stone dead.
"He's so cold?!" Lola said unnervingly after she touched his pale white hand.
"What happened to him?!" a shocked Luan demanded to know.
"We have little time. I need somewhere to lay him down!" Asherah instructed.
Reluctantly, the sisters revealed the secret laboratory to Asherah. They wouldn't under normal circumstances, but seeing Lincoln's limp body in her arms and the alarming reaction that created made them think quite differently.
"Lisa's experimentation table, use that!" Luan pointed out to Asherah, who carefully placed the deceased body onto the table.
The sisters stood over Lincoln's corpse and deduced the facts for themselves. The cold temperature, the ghostly white skin, the lack of movement… their brother was dead.
"Lincoln?" Lana blurted out as she began to cry.
Her twin sister did the same, and the two twins hugged each other for comfort. Lily also cried to herself. Luan faced the same brutal realisation as them, but she had some anger mixed in with her immense sadness.
Asherah looked around the laboratory for a moment to inspect the room and what it contained, evaluating the resources she had at her disposal for the insurmountable task she was about to face…
"Hmm… this place is quite the impressive feat of technological advancement. Yes, I think I can work with this." the mysterious girl said to herself as she looked around.
"Look, we haven't seen our brother in quite a while and when we finally do, he's dead! I think it's fair we know. What happened to our brother?!" Lola aggressively commanded to hear.
But Asherah ignored Lola's question as she was fascinated by her surroundings. She then saw something that filled her with great excitement…
"Is that what I think it is?!" an elated Asherah asked as she pointed to a tub of liquid large enough to fit a human body.
"I don't know, Lisa's the know-it-all, and she's not here!" a frustrated Lola bit back.
"To me, that looks like a C.R.A.P! That stands for Chemical Rejuvenation Appliance Pool." the girl said.
"Huh?" a confused Lola replied.
"It's a chemical bath designed to preserve and even resurrect recently deceased bodies. It looks unfinished, though, like it's a prototype or an unfinished experiment somebody was working on that was abandoned before an alternative was pursued." Asherah explained.
"Hold on, since when are you into all that science mumbo jumbo?! I thought you were a fortune teller, or a witch or something!" Lola questioned.
"Okay, perhaps it's time I came clean… my whole fortune teller shtick is just a gimmick. I'm actually an accomplished scientist, just like your sister. I recognise all this stuff; the apparatus, the compounds, the lot!" the starry dress wearing girl admitted.
"So, you've been lying to us this whole time?!" Luan asked.
"Wait, so what about the visions you see in your crystal ball thingy?!" Lola brought up.
"I do see visions. But the crystal ball device is an invention I made. It's a feat of science, not a magical artefact. Inside that crystal ball is some incredibly complicated technology that allows me to see glimpses of possible future scenarios. That's why I've taken an interest in your brother and you. I've seen a future where he leads you all to victory and survival, and I'm trying to make sure that still happens. I just built a gimmick around my ability to see into the future based on prophetic fortune telling." Asherah stated.
"Why?" Lana questioned.
"Well, this may be something you can all relate to right now in this new world we're living in, but there aren't a lot of opportunities to have fun these days, so I take what I can get!" she defensively put it.
"To be honest, I'm taking everything you're telling us with a grain of salt! We've just found out you're not even who you say you are! How do we know that everything else you're saying is even true?!" Luan accused.
"Like what?" Asherah responded.
"Like… WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR BROTHER!? YOU STILL HAVEN'T ANSWERED ME!" a grieving Lola roared, growing impatient of waiting for an explanation.
"I don't know! I found his dead body in Royal Woods. Judging by the wounds in his limbs, plus the fact that he was lying near a religious cross, I would guess he was crucified." Asherah predicted.
"WHAT?!" all the sisters furiously blurted out.
"Who would do that?!" Lana asked.
"I'm uncertain." Asherah stated.
"What?! You couldn't just use your crystal ball machine to find out?!" Lola angrily said.
"Like I said, my device only allows me to see glimpses and possibilities. Its capacities are limited, and some details are unrevealed." the seer stated.
"Hold on, now I remember! One time you mentioned something about our family suffering a great loss, and us needing to rely on you." Luan recalled.
"Before you assaulted me? Yes, I remember that, too." Asherah wittingly replied.
"Did you know Lincoln was going to die? And you did nothing to prevent it?!" Luan furiously questioned.
"Like I've been trying to tell you, specific details of the future are unknown to me. I only see small peaks of mere possibilities. All I knew was that the boy I saw in my visions was about to face a troublesome scenario in Royal Woods and so I went to see what I could do. Admittedly, my device needs some fine tuning. But until now, I've lacked the resources to do that. You know, because everywhere else outside this room has not had any access to a power source?" she reminded them.
"Maybe you meant for Lincoln to die! Maybe you killed him!" Lola accused.
"I wouldn't put it past her!" Luan followed.
"Look, guys! If she meant any harm, why would she have gone to the effort to bring his body back here and tell us about it? If she's our only chance of bringing Lincoln back, shouldn't we try and help her?" Lana reasoned with her sisters.
"*Hmpf* Fine! For our brother's sake, I'll let her do her work. But if she does anything suspicious…!" Luan threatened before leaving the room, with an equally sceptical Lola and Lily following her.
The time had arrived for Carl Casagrande to fulfil his destiny. The plan was put into action, and just one thing stood in his way. In the throne room of the mafia headquarters, that thing was sitting before him while he waited to pick his moment…
"Good morning, Carl." said the living obstacle, Dickie Morito.
"Oh, hey." Carl said, disinterested in what his leader had to say.
"Could you please round up all the guards? I want a meeting with them this morning." Dickie politely requested.
"Oh, what for?" Carl asked, pretending to sound surprised.
"Well, I've been hearing rumours that some of our men are having their doubts about me. I want to set them straight." Dickie explained.
"You clueless little…" Carl quietly said to himself, mocking the boy.
"So, could you do that small task for me, Carl?" Dickie asked.
"Oh, but sir… I think you'll find there's no need. They're already here." Carl replied as the door opened and a swarm of guards walked in.
"I don't understand." a surprised and confused Dickie said.
"No, there's a lot of things you don't understand, runt!" one of the guards harshly responded.
"Hey, I'm your leader! You can't talk to me like that!" Dickie shouted back.
"Give it a rest, 'boss'! Don't you get it?!" Carl asked him.
"Huh?" a clueless Dickie replied.
"We're taking over!" Carl smugly revealed.
Two of the guards then approached Dickie and dragged him off his chair, allowing Carl to sit on the vacated seat of criminal royalty…
"Let go of me! I demand you let go!" Dickie ordered, but nobody was taking orders from him anymore.
"I imagine you're too young and stupid and know what the word 'mutiny' means, so I'll keep it simple. YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS ANYMORE!" Carl bluntly told him.
"NO! YOU'RE HORRIBLE! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" Dickie shouted, spouting a juvenile tirade in response to Carl's treachery as he was being taken away.
"*Pfft* Stupid kid. Anyway, it's nice to finally hold a position of respect." Carl said.
"So, now that you're in charge, can you help us with our street patrolling problem?" one of the guards asked him.
"Oh, right. Yes, there will be some big changes when it comes to how we patrol the streets! In fact, I have a few ideas that should help make an example out of idiots like those dumb biker girls!" Carl promised, much to the excitement of the guards.
Sure enough, the Biker Girls were hanging around in the heart of the city that very morning. As usual, they were vandalising the area and relishing the fact that the mafia wasn't able to stop them…
"Ha, those jerks think they're the alpha's in this city? What a joke!" one of the girls said.
"Yeah, we've been running circles around them for weeks, and they've not been able to do a damn thing about it!" another one of them boasted.
Just then, they heard the noticeable sound of a car engine. They turned around to see a limousine full of suited boys coming their way.
"Wow, they really think they can stop us with that?" one of the girls joked.
But then they heard a second motor, and turned their head in the opposite direction to see another filled limousine approaching from the other side.
"Okay, so there's two of them. No biggie." another girl said with a slightly nervous tone.
Suddenly, various armed mafia guards emerged from behind street corners and up through subway entrances. The trio of biker girls found themselves completely surrounded…
"WHAT THE?!" one of the girls blurted out in a panic.
"There's never usually this many of them!" another of the girls said.
Suddenly, a sewage lid in the middle of the street was opened and out popped the head of the new mafia ringleader, Carl himself…
"Hasta La Vista, Baby!" Carl said, with a loaded gun in his hand.
Carl then shot down one of the biker girls in cold blood.
The other two girls screamed in terror at the sight of one of their friends getting slaughtered.
"YOU…!" one of the girls frantically shouted as she charged towards Carl.
But as the leader of the mafia, Carl only need to remain still and let his minions take care of the threat for him. Before the girl could even get close to him, her body was blasted to bits by an array of bullets from his masses of men.
The final girl, sat on her bike, desperately tried to flee from the scene. The guards didn't even bother to chase her. She was in the middle of the street, completely open and defenceless against any attack. Finally, one of the guards fired a shot at her, hitting the back of the head, killing her instantly. She immediately collapsed to the floor after having made a hopeless attempt to escape.
Carl's first act as mafia ringleader proved to be a popular one. Under his command, the mafia was once again able to rule the city with an iron fist, and make it lethally clear to everyone that they were not to be crossed.
Asherah was still in the underground lab, doing her best to find a way to resurrect the lost Loud boy…
"So, what are you doing?" Lana asked as she approached the young scientist.
"This isn't going to be one of those 'ooh, what does this button do' routines, is it?" Asherah wittingly remarked.
"No, I just want to know what you're doing to my brother." Lana clarified.
"Well, once I placed his deceased body into the fluid bath, I began experimenting. There are many chemical compounds, advanced feats of machinery and a whole array of possibilities contained in this lab. But the resurrection of your brother is still a long shot at best." Asherah uneasily admitted.
"But… you will try as hard you can to bring him back, right?" Lana worryingly asked her.
"Yes, I will. I didn't travel all the way to your hometown, locate his body and bring him back here just for the fun of it. My visions, as limited as they are, have told me that your brother is supposed to play a vital role in restoring the world to what it once was. Your sisters may not trust me, but I assure you I mean him no harm." the seer explained.
"Asherah… I know Luan and Lola don't trust you as far as they could throw you, but I want you to know that I believe you." Lana said.
"Thanks, young Lana." Asherah responded.
"Also, I know Luan's been really hateful towards you since we got here, but I think you two just got off on the wrong foot. She's usually really nice and cheerful. She's just stressed out because most of her family is gone, she's been forced to grow up fast and take care of us, and her whole life has changed in ways she struggles to handle." Lana said.
"While I can sympathise with her situation, don't forget that you and your family aren't the only ones suffering from this whole turn of events. We have all lost many things as a result of the big vanish. We all have to deal with the same hardships as you and your kin. That doesn't give anyone, including her, the right to take out her frustrations on me!" Asherah pointed out.
"Well, I guess I never thought of it like that." Lana said as she pondered to herself.
"I think I've been very nice and generous to your sister, considering how much animosity she has flung in my direction! Every time she sees me, her face just oozes hate, but I've let it slide. Even when she punched me in the face, I didn't retaliate." Asherah mentioned.
"Well, like I said before, that probably wouldn't be a good idea." Lana recalled.
"I'm tougher than I look, you know? Don't be so sure that your sister could 'whoop my ass.' I may appear to be a calm and level-headed lady, but if your sister continues to push me, she will see another side to my character." the older girl stated.
"Come on, don't be like that! It doesn't need to come to blows! Just concentrate on fixing Lincoln!" Lana tried to tell her.
"I mean it, young Lana. If your sister attacks me again, I won't be so forgiving!" Asherah stubbornly insisted, her inner frustrations with Luan's antagonism's against her finally raising to the surface.
"It's okay, I don't think she will. Especially if you manage to bring our bro back. Then I think she'll worship the ground you walk on! Heck, we all will!" Lana said.
"Again, I'll do everything I can to save him. However, I can't promise anything." Asherah reminded her.
Lana then grew a worried and saddened expression on her face as the realisation that she could lose her brother forever began to plague her mind. She decided to stick around and watch as Asherah made steps towards Lincoln's hopeful restoration.
Elsewhere, Lynn Loud Junior was about to do something she never would have dreamed of doing before… dancing in a cheerleader's outfit.
In a snack bar in Beaverton, Cathy and her CheerDancers were backstage preparing for their performance of the day…
"Alright, you schmucks! Go out there and look glamorous and graceful!" she fiercely ordered them.
"Yes, ma'am!" all of them replied and saluted in a standing line, resembling a military unit in the way they conducted themselves rather than a group of dancers.
"What about you, maggot? Did you get that?!" Cathy shouted at Lynn, who was skulking around in the corner of the room, ignoring her.
"Yuh-huh." she quietly said and nodded, still sounding completely disinterested.
In the bar itself, the young and eager audience of testosterone pumped pre-teen and teenage boys sat at their tables and prepared themselves for an arousing display on the stage…
Suddenly, the candles in the room were blown out by the young bar staff and some battery powered lights were pointed at the stage to alert everyone's attention to the performance.
The CheerDancers then came out onto the stage, wearing thin white coloured bras and red frilly skirts, combined with sparkling pink trainers.
"WOO-HOO! YOU WORK IT, GIRLS!" one of the slightly intoxicated boys shouted impulsively.
Given Cathy's strictness, all of the girls gave a top-notch performance as expected. With each spin, each somersault, each co-operative manoeuvre… they executed the entire dance routine seamlessly. The dancing was indeed glamorous and graceful, just like their leader wanted. Not only that, but some of the movements were quite arousing, which was also intentional.
Even Lynn, a girl who would have never been seen dead in such a girly outfit, and someone who had plenty of reasons to lack motivation for the performance, was actually managing to do the dance. She was keeping up with all the experienced dancers and was managing to work in-sync with them with each movement.
However, something still felt a little off. While she had the movements and timing down perfectly, something was missing. While the other girls radiated happy, enthusiastic, cheerful positivity with their expressions and moods, Lynn had an incredibly glum and deadbeat look on her face. It was clear she was doing the dance half-heartedly, and was only managing to keep up with the other girls in spite of this because of her supreme athleticism and natural talent. The audience did start to pick up on this…
"They're pretty good, aren't they?" one boy asked his friend at one of the tables.
"Yeah, but that one at the end is putting me off! She looks like she just doesn't care." his friend replied.
"Yeah, I know. It's like she has the talent, but she really just doesn't want to be here." the first boy commented.
"I like my saucy dancing girls to be full of smiles and radiant energy! She's just killing it!" the other boy said.
"Shall we go?"
"Yeah."
And just like that, several of the boys stood up and walked out of the bar. Despite the girls executing the dance flawlessly, Lynn's mood alone tarnished its intended effect…
…and Cathy could see exactly why those boys were leaving, and she wasn't happy.
Meanwhile, at one of the tables, two boys recognised the gloomy brunette on stage.
"Hey, that mopey girl on the end… isn't that Lynn Loud?!" he asked in surprise.
"No way!?" his friend reacted.
"Yeah, that's definitely her! Lynn from middle school back in Royal Woods! Brown hair, freckles, ponytail…" he observantly pointed out.
"Wait! Are you talking about the Lynn Loud I think you're talking about?! Royal Woods sports legend, rough and tumble, excessively butch Lynn Loud that wouldn't be seen dead wearing something like that?!" the second boy said.
"I swear it's her, man. She must have changed big time!" the first boy concluded.
"Judging from the look on her face, I'd say she had her spirit crushed. It looks like she just doesn't care what she does anymore. I guess that's the only reason she would ever be caught doing something like cheer leading!" the other boy deducted.
"Wow, she must have had it pretty rough." the first boy said.
Finally, the performance came to an end. All the girls stood in a line and bowed to their audience. Except Lynn, who just walked off the stage straight away.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" screamed a livid Cathy.
Lynn just kept walking with an enraged Cathy following her, knowing full well she could flatten the other girl if she cared enough to do so.
"I TOLD YOU HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS TO ALL OF US! YOU THINK IT'S GOOD ENOUGH TO JUST PHONE IT IN LIKE THAT?! AND ANOTHER THING…" Cathy ranted at Lynn as the emotionally disconnected Loud girl just continued to walk away, ignoring all of her boss's ranting and raving.
After having made an example out of Lincoln, Chester held a monopoly of power in the town of Royal Woods. The day after the crucifixion, he called for a town meeting, where everyone in the community was forced to be present for the event. He stood on a stage so he could be head and shoulders above his people…
"As I'm sure many of you have heard, a small band of children infiltrated our community and tried to manipulate me into sending all of you to fight their battle for them. Fortunately, I dealt with them swiftly, so you all have me to thank for not having to fight another brutal war so soon after having beaten Hank and Hawk's little faction." Chester said, trying to big himself up as the hero of the situation.
His loyal followers naturally cheered in praise of his words, while the rest of the children, including his former committee partners, all stood there with intense frowns on their faces, knowing his claims were untrue.
"Those kids are now locked away in prison cells as we speak. As for their leader, well… let's just say he's seen the light." Chester joked.
Many of the young townsfolk wanted to speak up in protest against the tyrannical young man, but they were hesitant because of the possibility of sparking an intense civil war. Also, many of them understood what he meant when he referred to Lincoln 'seeing the light' and knew he was dangerous to tangle with. However, some of them were having their limits tested as every word coming from Chester's devious mouth infuriated them deeply.
"Anyway, enough about them! Time to move onto other matters! For those of you who aren't already aware, I've disbanded the committee, as I feel there is no longer any use for it! Not only that, but I'm also abolishing the voting process, as I don't believe voting is a necessity in all this! Progress is a result of decisive action, not discourse." Chester announced to his people.
This immediately caused an outrage within the community. Many of the kids were not happy with this decision…
"THIS IS BOGUS!" Tabby shouted.
"You're like… totally undermining our freedom of speech!" Maggie followed.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO DEMOCRACY AND REPRESENTATION?!" Giggles yelled.
"He's just a ruthless dictator!" Trent added.
"I don't think you need the 'tator' part!" Mollie insultingly said.
"ENOUGH!" Chester shouted.
"Face it, Bundy! You can try and take over, but the people will never respect you the way they did Chandler!" Benny told him as he, Jordan and Margo stood in front of him and all emitted a smug grin from their faces, knowing that sentence touched a nerve.
"Look, I understand what you're all saying… but the fact is, democracy is incapable of generating positive results. You can't listen to a thousand viewpoints and try to satisfy them all. Achievement comes through power! That is my motto! However, if any of you don't like that…" Chester began to say, before pausing mid-rant…
…to allow everyone's attention to shift towards the large, imposing figure that was walking onto the stage and stood behind him.
"…then you can address your concerns to my new Executive Chief of Staff… ATILLA THE HULK!" he announced to his community.
Immediately, the detractors ceased voicing their complaints as they became fearful of the hulking beast that stood beside their leader, afraid that any further verbal bashing would result in them being singled out and ripped apart by the new brute in town.
"Some of you may have heard of him. He was the reigning champion in the Elite Wrestling Federation! He went undefeated! But eventually, they had to get rid of him, because he kept on killing all their fighters. It wasn't his fault, of course. He's just a really brawny, super strong guy. Think about just how easily he could snap one of your bones like twigs!" Chester asked, striking even more fear into the townsfolk, some of them even gulping at the mere thought of having such a huge beast attack them.
"EWF TOO WEAK FOR HULK!" Atilla shouted as he flexed his biceps, further demonstrating his physical prowess to the onlookers.
"So, they wrote to me and a bunch of other community leaders, and asked if anyone in the surrounding towns would take him off their hands. I thought it would be a good idea to give him a chance here, and I knew exactly what role he'd be good for." Chester smugly said, enjoying every minute of his critics quivering in fear at the sight of the new muscle he had employed.
"Look at him, the smug arrogant little jerk!" Jordan bitterly said as she watched Chester standing before his community with total dominance.
"That guy is huge!" Benny said about Atilla in awe and intimidation.
"Well, I'll admit that much. He is a specimen alright! His arms are bigger than our heads!" Jordan observantly stated.
"It's times like this I wish my friend Lynn were here. She'd give that overgrown meathead a fight!" Margo said.
"It looks like we need to find another way to beat that punk!" Jordan angrily said about Chester.
"He knows not everybody is fond of his leadership, so he's hiring big heavies to scare them into silence! Nobody will dare to speak up against him in case he sets his pet monster on them!" Benny deduced.
"So, I hope you all get the message. Keep quiet and be grateful for everything I do for you… OR ELSE!" the Committee President threatened before walking off the stage with his new bodyguard following his lead.
Ronnie Anne's army was marching its way back from Detroit towards her home, Great Lakes City. With an imposing force of several hundred young warriors, she finally felt confident that she could oppose the tyranny of the mafia.
"Well, home sweet home, here we come." Ronnie said as she walked with Sid.
"I can't lie, I've missed our city." Sid said.
"I know, but we were driven out of the place by that dirty Don Morito! I mean, he probably would have enslaved or killed us if we hadn't made a lucky escape." Ronnie recalled.
One of the Viking boys then walked over and asked his leader a question…
"Hey, Tiger girl?"
"Yeah?" she replied.
"Why did you make us take these shields with us?!" he asked.
"These shields we swiped from the cultists will be very useful when we get back to my city. They're made of a very strong kind of metal, which should be enough to block bullets." Ronnie explained.
"Wait, these guys we're heading off to fight have bullets?!" the boy questioned, a little shocked by that news.
"Yep. That's why I needed to get myself as big an army as I could. Taking these guys on will be no cakewalk." she told him.
"Aw, man! What happened to the good old days of classic barbaric warfare, where you could charge at the enemy bare-chested, and get stuck in without risk of being shot down?" the boy remarked in disappointment.
"That's how war works, buddy. You have to adapt and evolve your weapons and strategies." Ronnie justified.
"Don't worry. Just use the shields to get close to them, then once you disarm them, drop the shield and go nuts!" Sid suggested.
"Good idea. Thanks!" the Viking boy said before retreating away.
"Even with the shields, I don't know if it's going to be enough." Ronnie said worryingly.
"I think it should be. Those mafia bozos might have the better weapons, but you have the better warriors." Sid encouragingly stated.
"Yeah, you're right, Sid. I should have more faith in these guys. They've done a good job so far. Besides, I always have my trump card!" Ronnie mentioned.
"Huh? What trump card?" Sid asked, a little confused.
The three tigers then walked over for a stroke from their master, which helped Sid figure out what her friend meant…
"Oh, they're your trump card! I get it now." Sid said.
"Yeah. Let's face it, any army with three fearsome beasts behind it is an army to be feared!" Ronnie said as she clenched her fist and grinned with confidence.
"Hey, is that Great Lakes City?" Sid asked when she saw a familiar looking city-scape in the far distance.
"Umm… yeah, I think you're right! It looks like it's not going to be long now." Ronnie said excitedly.
"So, it looks like we'll be taking back the city tonight, then?" Sid suggested.
"I think we should keep walking until we make it just a few miles away from the city. Then we set up camp and rest. That way, we'll be able to make a refreshed strike against the mafia tomorrow morning once we're ready." Ronnie Anne decided.
And with that, it appeared the endgame the tiger masked girl was striving towards was in her sights. She was so close to taking back her home city that she could taste it. But the hardest part of the task was yet to come…
Lana was still in the lab with Asherah, who was still working hard on her mission to revive the boy floating around in the chemical bath.
"So, how long do you think this will take?" Lana asked.
"That depends on the success rate I have with this. It could take hours, if not days. That's if it works at all." Asherah responded.
"Oh, so maybe it would be best if I went outside and came back later?" Lana suggested.
"Well, you may want to consider it. I don't recommend waiting in a lab for potentially days and days, people rarely have that level of patience." the older girl told her.
"Okay, if you think that's best. Just come and find me if any miracles happen before I come back." the little tomboy said before reluctantly starting to make her way out.
"Don't worry, I will. Oh, and by the way, thanks." the scientifically savvy teenager said.
"It's cool." Lana responded.
"No, I give credit where it's due. Your sisters haven't taken a liking to me, but you've at least given me a chance and heard what I had to say without giving me scorn. Don't think that's unappreciated." Asherah mentioned, showing a softer and more intimate side to her character.
"It's alright." Lana said.
"Actually, hmm… I don't know if I should do this, but there's something I want to tell you." Asherah suddenly brought up rather anxiously.
"What?" Lana asked, a little concerned by the girl's sudden change in demeanour.
"Well, the thing is… there's something I really need to get off my chest, but I've just not been able to do it. I need you to promise me something." the teenager requested.
"Umm, sure, I guess." Lana replied.
"You know how your sister went missing a few days ago? Well, I know what happened… or should I say 'who' happened." she began to elaborate.
"Huh? Are you saying you know where Lisa is?!" Lana questioned.
"No, but I know who took her! It was Boris and David! They captured her!" Asherah revealed.
"I thought it was them! But wait, how do you know that?!" Lana interrogatively asked her, intrigued and alarmed by the news the seer was giving her.
"Well, that's the thing… the morning Lisa was taken, I ran into her captors. I saw Lisa being forced by David and Boris at gunpoint to leave the camp site without telling anyone. When they saw me looking at them, before I could do anything, they made sure I kept quiet." Asherah explained.
Lana could only look at her with a baffled and shocked expression as she was finally finding out such vital information, and she knew she about to hear more…
"Your sister pleaded with me to keep quiet because her captors would shoot all of you here in the camp site if they were caught in the act. I wanted to speak up and alert you all to what was going on, but that would only have resulted in all of you being killed! They were armed with advanced laser weapons; we would have been gunned down!" Asherah explained.
"But that was days ago! Why didn't you tell us before!? We could have went after Boris once he left the camp site and ambushed him or something!" Lana angrily questioned, emotionally rocked by what she had discovered.
"I'm sorry. I know I should have, but once I kept quiet about it and let your sister get taken away, I couldn't bring myself to mention it after the fact. I guess I was too ashamed of myself to say anything. Not to mention, your sister already has enough reasons to hate me." the seer stated shamefully.
"Well, we have to do something! I can tell the others and…" Lana began to say, but was interrupted.
"NO! I mean, think about it. If they intended to dispose of your sister, they would already have done so. However, the more likely scenario is that they kept her around to use a deterrent against us from coming after them. As such, we have time to come up with a counter plan to rescue her. But there's no rush. To be honest, I don't think now is the best time to tell your sisters." Asherah claimed.
"Why not?!" Lana questioned.
"Well, with their brother already on the verge of being gone forever, I think this news would hit them too hard at the wrong time. I think we should wait until after I've resurrected your brother to tell them about Lisa." Asherah stated.
"Oh, I don't know… I don't think it's right to lie to them about something as big as this." an unsure Lana said.
"It wouldn't be lying as much as just not telling them." Asherah claimed.
"Ugh! This doesn't feel right, but I kinda see your point." Lana argued with herself.
"Also, maybe it's better if you tell them once the time is right. I don't think Luan would react very calmly if I told her about all this." Asherah said.
"YOU'RE DANG RIGHT I WOULDN'T!" shouted the comedic girl in question.
Asherah and Lana then turned to see an angry Luan, Lola and Lily standing before them.
"How much of that did you hear?" Lana asked nervously.
"Enough!" Lola replied sternly.
"YOU UNBELIEVABLE LITTLE…!" Luan shouted at Asherah, with rage-filled hatred in her eyes.
Author's Footnote:
Well, season four already? Isn't time flying by this year? As it turns out, I was able to get this season done a little sooner than I expected, which I guess is a good thing in a certain sense. Either way, I can feel myself reaching the finish line with this story, as now I'm just in the middle of the proof-reading process before I move onto the grand climax. Anyway, I hope this was a solid start for all of you, and be assured, there's plenty more good stuff to come this season. As always, follows, favourites and reviews are greatly appreciated and encouraged, and I should be back up here with the next chapter in three or four days.