The group ventured through the gigantic odorous complex and went down multiple hallways and dark spacious areas. Lincoln had just discovered that the slightly rude contact who had given him advice on how to survive the semester was Chandler McCann, whom he had uneasy thoughts about, "You're AAdsz?! How's that possible?! I don't get it!"

"Just rearrange the letters in my code name," Chandler said, "It's not hard, even for you."

Lincoln didn't take too kindly to that remark until his mind played the connections game again (Chandler, Az — McCann Ads company), "Oh, dangit..."

"You didn't know?" Strong Suit smirked, "Come on, even I figured it out."

"Get off me..."

"Can you still not control your One-Off Ability?" Kim asked.

"*GULP*" Lincoln and Strong Suit shivered at the c-word, "Control?..."

"He'll learn all about it later on," Chandler pressed a red button to reveal a hidden elevator in the wall, "For now, everyone down."

"Really?..." Akina flinched, "We're gonna go deeper into the gutter?..."

"Actually, we're in the gutter right now," Tomoya said, "This elevator will take us out of it."

"Getting out by going down?..." Night Club squinted, "Ok, what exactly is down there?"

"We're gonna find out..." Kim said as everyone entered the elevator. Once the doors closed, the foul odor was gone, and a fresher metallic scent permeated through the walls.

Night Club took one big whiff, "Ok, no seriously, what's down there?!" At that instant, the elevator started its descent.

For a good ten seconds, the group stared out at the window looking at concrete walls wondering where the vessel led. Then, out of nowhere, the elevator stopped and shifted right. And that's when a brand new view was revealed to them. A glossy mechanical world much brighter and bigger than the sewage plant they explored was opened to them, a world that could incite jealousy from its competitors and slight acknowledgement from the Creator. This was a processing, manufacturing, researching, and testing facility all in one. They saw training models being developed, cores being analyzed, and full-on simulations and test flights being run in controlled and variable environments.

And that was just on the way to the lobby. When the cubby landed, the door opened a huge room that served as the main entry point to the factory, and his own personal central hub. If it weren't for the receptionist area and the many shuttle ways, this lobby would be similar to a luxurious studio apartment.

Akane and Tomoya stepped out and went to the door behind the receptionist area. The others were left on the greeting rug, "Holy shamoley..."

"I know," Chandler said, "An underground paradise? With restrictions."

Lincoln wandered around the studio room before approaching Chandler, "So...that part about your father working at the sewage plant..."

"A coverup," Chandler grinned as another giant door whirred open, "This is his real job." And it went away just as quickly.

Because his father walked past him with five other professionals, "I don't have time to worry about another runaway IS! I have to green light an experiment with a prototype core!"

"But, Mr. McCann! If that IS gets loose, it could destroy the entire facility! There won't be a core to develop!"

"My son is on his way with that boy Loud! They can deactivate the IS anytime! But the core cannot-"

"Dad!" Chandler shouted.

"Huh?" His father turned around, "Oh. Oh, Chandler! You got the-"

"Mr. McCann, please be reasonable!" The woman persisted.

"Absolutely not!" The father snapped, then turned to Chandler, "I'll be by in a few, son. Till then, don't mess anything up," and then he went back to the factory interior.

Lincoln blinked as if he missed several things, "That was...fast..." he said to Chandler, "Does that happen often?..."

"Uh-Huh," Chandler didn't look at him and just opened the door to his room, "That's what happens when you work for the government. You're always busy, always having to worry about something. Three-hundred grand a year, and for what?"

Lincoln followed Chandler into the bedroom, "Gee.. I didn't know..."

"It ain't the first time I kept a secret from someone."

"You mean...wow, not even your friends?" Lincoln sat down in the bean bag next to Chandler's.

"Exactly," Chandler plopped down on his bean bag and tossed Lincoln a controller, "My father actually was a sewage plant worker, but it wasn't enough money. Strange thing was that my mom was the needy freeloader. All she did was complain and complain, about how we can't buy luxury items, and how he's spending "too much time with me"-I never got that. He did everything for her, and she just-PBBTTT! Ain't enough," he explained until a fighting game was uploaded, then he and Lincoln got to battling.

"So, what happened?" Lincoln asked while playing.

"One day, my dad applied to the government for help," Chandler said, "Turns out he knew a lot more than people thought, so they made him into an IS contractor. We started getting money all over the place. We started hosting parties, acting cool and stuff... but then my dad was being kept up by constant phone calls, and mom kept going about how his time just disappeared."

"Did your mom try to do anything?"

"Hahah, what do you think?"

"Ah...figured."

"Well...actually she did do one thing. She filed for divorce. Funny thing is, she didn't receive a goddamn thing, so she just left."

"Geez...did things improve between you and your father?"

"Nope. The reason why you see me holding so many parties up there...my dad's getting pounded with IS crap down here. Here I am trying to fill the void with money. I used my stuff to be fake friends with Richie and Trent..." KO! PLAYER ONE WINS! "...until one day they became my real friends. Don't know how that works."

"Me neither...time?" Lincoln restarted the fight.

"I guess..." Chandler played one more battle.

"So, where do I fit in? Why did you give me advice? And that expansion pack?"

"Dunno. Maybe because we're in similar boats? I'm trying to get a good support group, and you're trying to get away from yours?"

"I wouldn't call it that. More like...upgrading them?..."

"Wow...the hell'd you pull that off?"

"Dunno. I was being...I was not being myself, to put it very bluntly."

"Oh, yeah. I heard how you caused political correctness in the student body."

"No, that ain't it."

"Open doors to all non-Japanese. When does that ever happen?"

"It rarely does. I'd like to see what the "fate of their future" looks like."

"'The fate of our future is...' worded in a way that makes the Oddbods sound like scholars."

"Gag," KO! PLAYER TWO WINS!, "I didn't think we'd carry a conversation like this."

"Me neither."

"Say...what'd you when people asked you about me?"

"I just told them off. I was rude, big whoop."

"Rude? Why?"

"Because you're a pilot, who goes to the same school as me. If I start being nice to you, they'll keep asking questions and start snooping around both our places, and some very shady people will start sniffing around until they find leverage to spill our secrets...or worse, kill off the only family we know."

"Geez..."

"I know...I know, but I can't do nothing. So, here I am, freeloading wherever I can go for IS intel, while getting crapped on for freeloading."

"Wow...you're taking heat as well..."

"I've had to deal with you for a year and a half now," Chandler smirked, "I would've learned something."

Lincoln threw a snarky look at him, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it means, Larry!" Chandler stuffed a pillow in Lincoln's face and initiated a pillow fight.

Right when Akane and Tomoya opened the door, "Excuse me, Chandler? Lincoln?"

"Wuzzat?" The boys froze in a double grapple.

"Um..." Tomoya tried not to smile while Akane lost it, "What are you-"

"We're just wrestling!" Lincoln quickly said, "Nothing out of the ordinary, just wrestling."

"Says you," Chandler flipped him over on the bean bag.

"Oof!" Lincoln fluffed, "Where's everyone else?"

"They've already filled their need to explore," Akane recovered from her laughing fit, "They're waiting for you two in the boardroom."

The two walked through the facility entrance and took the door on the left to enter the boardroom, where the rest of the party had been assembled.

"Where were you two yahoos?!" High Card was waiting for them behind the door, "We literally spent ten minutes on cringeworthy icebreakers waiting for you!"

"My bad," Chandler instinctively went to his public persona, "I was just making-"

"Never mind that, come here!" High Card dragged them both to the front and sat them in the front, then turned to a German soldier standing near the projector, "We're ready, Miss Harfouch."

Night Club and Alina snickered, "Harfwuh?..."

"Good," the soldier stepped forward.

Lincoln noticed that the soldier had the exact same eyepatch as Laura, "Say, are you related to Laura Bodewig in any way?"

The soldier nodded, "I am her second-in-command. My name is Clarissa Harfouch, and I have been assigned to assist you in this mission."

Strong Suit slammed her hands on the table, "I told you! I told you! One of them figured it out! She's going to blab to somebody! It's only a matter of time!"

And the rest of the party drew concern. "Akina," Kim groaned, "did you tell someone?"

"No way!" Akina shouted, "Laura's the crafty one! She's got the IQ and street smarts of Batman!"

"Everyone settle down," Clarissa said, "This remains a confidential matter between the Black Hair Corps and Royal Woods Manufacturing. No one outside this room knows."

Is what Clarissa said in the crisp cool evening of Michigan, but in the welcoming brisk breeze of the Japanese morning...

"HE WHAT?!" Cecilia and Rin lost their minds when Laura and Hana relayed the news.

Hana quickly scanned the immediate environment for any possible signs of the Brunhilde.

"He wasn't being kept behind due to a faulty permission system," Laura reiterated, "He was called away to defend his home."

"Just like a superhero..." Rin whimpered.

"If any of this is true, then what are we still doing here?!" Cecilia whispered.

"Most likely, we are the last line of defense in the event that Loud fails to subdue Phantom Task," Laura guess, right when Hana approached her.

"No Orimura..." Hana panted, "but there are three teachers hot on our tail..."

"We must go," Laura grabbed Hana and ran, leaving Cecilia and Rin alone.

"Ok...what are we supposed to do now?..." Rin asked, "It's not like those PT guys will just show up randomly, right?"

"We must alert Ichika at once," Cecilia said, "As we are now, our small group of elite pilots are the only ones who can bring them down."

"It's just one IS," Rin shrugged, "How much damage can it really do?"

"That kind of misplaced reassurance will get you in massive trouble," Cecilia said, "in case the last few instances didn't click already."

"Oh yeah?! Well, I could do without your snooty snoots!"

"Try to grow up a little bit in your mentality...and a lot in your-"

"DON'T. YOU. DARE."

Houki and Charlotte were hanging out with Ichika by the Shiraito Falls, admiring the majesty of the ever flowing crystal clear water, when their peace was interrupted by

Cecilia, "Can't you learn to take a joke in stride?!"

And Rin, "I'LL TURN YOU INTO A FLATBOARD STRIDE RIGHT NOW!"

fully deployed in a wild goose chase.

Ichika shook his head, "I gotta do something about that hotheadedness..."

"I don't think you can reason with that kind of gloating," Houki said.

"Aren't you a bit reckless yourself?" Charlotte asked, to which she received a cold shoulder.

"Houkiiiiiii?" Ichika cooed, "What's on your miiiind-"

"It's nothing!" Houki shook him off and stormed out.

"What could be troubling her to make her lash out?" Charles wondered.

"Maybe it's her sister?" Ichika said, "Tabane missed out on Houki's 16th birthday..."

"Oh, that would cause a problem..."

A big problem. When Houki crushed her phone, Tabane sent a text message shortly after:

Hey to you, little sis! Yeah, yeah, I already know why you called earlier. You want one, don't you? Your own personal unit! Of course I have one ready. It's overspec'd with high-end capabilities. It'll stand toe to toe with the Byaku. Mhmm, this unit is known as...AKATSUBAKI!

-Tabunny

"Akatsubaki...like hell I'd believe that hogwash..." Houki has been thinking on that for quite some time. This was her opportunity to obtain her very own personal IS, but it was provided by someone who wasn't very well versed in the ways of giving. Or visiting. She didn't know how to feel overall. For now, she would simply keep silent until Tabane herself came to her. Until then, "Ok...where was that entrance to the...you know..."

Back in Royal Woods, Clarissa and Akane had already gone over the layout of the mission and the Loud family's expected departure time.

"Now, for the hard part," Clarissa said, "We must split up into two groups: one to track the Louds, and one to defend this facility."

"I'll do it," Lincoln quickly said, catching the attention of Kim, Night Club, and Chandler, "I'll stay behind to watch Margo."

"Really?" Night Club raised an eyebrow, "I thought you wanted to whole lotta love with Ronnie Anne."

"I do, but..." Lincoln was cut off by Chandler.

"Dude, it's just a superstition. Get over it," Chandler said, "If you're still worried about that squirrel costume thing, then just go to Great Lakes."

"I can't..."

"Why not?..."

"Chandler, please," Kim eased Chandler off, "It's his choice."

Chandler nodded, "Fine. If he wants to be a sour stick about it..." he turned to High Card, "then that means your group will stay behind as well?"

"Yes," High Card nodded, "and we'll make sure he doesn't go overboard with emotional constipation," to the amusement of Strong Suit and Clarissa.

"I'll be perfectly fine," Lincoln said, "I won't dwell on the past."

"But you will dwell on the present," Strong Suit earned a high-five from Akina.

"Guys...uy," Lincoln rolled his eyes.

"So, does that mean Kim and Akina will travel to northern Ohio?" Tomoya asked.

"I suppose so," Kim said.

"So, who will be our mission support?" Akina asked.

Akane patted Akina's shoulder, "Me and Tomoya already secured an apartment right next to the Casagrandes. We will provide you as much support as we can."

"I'll keep eyeing Hazeltucky to see what else goes down," Chandler said.

"I'll provide Lincoln with tactical support should things get out of hand," Clarissa said, to which Lincoln nodded in hesitation.

"So, we're all in agreement, then?" Chandler asked, and everyone nodded, "Kim. Akina. Follow me to your ISs." He stood up and led the team to the holding area, where Akina's Rafael Revive Basic and Kim's Heaven's Dusk awaited them, "Got these babies in this morning. France's mass-produced unit is an all-rounder, but South Korea's key player is a long-ranger."

Kim and Akina stood in front of their assigned personal units, staring in awe of their potential energy.

"It's like it was waiting for me," Kim placed her hand on the Dusk and felt a warmth radiating from the surface, "It's already prepared itself for the coming struggle."

"I'm already prepared!" Akina hopped in the cockpit, "I can't wait to give this baby a spin!"

"Hey, dolt knob," Chandler poked her head, "You're trying to prevent a fight, not start one."

"Ok, you two!" A technician shouted while connecting her keyboard near some monitors, "I'm gonna start fitting and formatting the ISs, so get inside and don't move!" Kim and Akina fitted themselves inside while Lincoln watched.

"This is really happening..." Lincoln breathed, "We're about to go into battle..."

"Scary, I know, but you'll get through it," Chandler reassured him, "You've been through worse, right?"

"Right..." Lincoln said when the formatting process was completed.

"Formatting completed," a staff member said, "Now both of you call back your units, then call them out."

"Better stand back for this..." Strong Suit moves the group away from Kim and Akina.

Kim and Akina took a deep breath and closed their eyes, "Hhhhhh...come back to me." On command, the ISs retracted and took the form of a green collar around Akina's neck, and a small ring around Kim's finger. Their eyes still closed, they issued a second command,

"SUMMON THEE RAFAEL!"

"천국의 황혼 이오! (COME HITHER, HEAVEN'S DUSK!)"

The ISs suddenly enveloped them in a brilliant light. Two seconds later, Kim and Akina has emerged from the light, fully deployed and ready to battle. At least, Akina did; Kim emerged from the light looking like a royal empress from a long-forgotten golden age.

"Fitting and formatting have been finalized," Akane said, "Those IS now belong to them."

"If only..." Akina slumped, "I just realized that I have to give it back by next week..."

"Think about it like this," Tomoya tried to encourage her, "You'll be an entire lap ahead of your peers back home."

"Back home..." and Lincoln was getting tired of the callbacks.

Once the fitting was finished, the participating members regrouped at the lobby.

"So, it's settled," Chandler said, "The Loud team will watch Royal Woods, and the Kim team will go to GLC. We'll all meet back here the day before you have to leave."

"What about Clarissa?" Akina asked, "She wasn't supposed to know."

"I won't leak anything out to the public," Clarissa said.

"Unless LaBo broadcasted it out already..." Night Club whispered.

"We are so gonna fail!" Akina threw her hands up.

"I'm sorry," Kim stuck a snarky grin in her ear, "Who's going to fail again?"

"Get off me..."

Lincoln was mentally preparing himself for the coming struggle, "You sure I can't crash here for the night?"

"No can do," Chandler gave Lincoln some energy cells, "Like I said, I have to keep being a jerk to you, otherwise they're gonna use me to get to you."

"But no one knows," Lincoln stuffed the cells in his bag, "What's the harm of two enemies becoming friendly rivals?"

"Trust me: Phantom Task doesn't see friends, only assets. And right now, Margo's an asset to them," Chandler activated the elevator to send the group directly to the surface, "You just need to make them see her as a friend."

"Easier dome than said," Lincoln noticed them both cringing at the thought.

"Ok, team," Akane motioned everyone to go to the lift, "We're going back to the hotel to assign posts."

"Right-o!" Strong Suit fist-pumped, "Who's ready for a beat down?!"

"What will it take to suppress your impulses?" Tomoya asked.

"Nothing at all!" Strong Suit proudly proclaimed, "I do what I want!"

Lincoln was the last to board the lift. He looked back at Chandler, "So, I guess I won't be seeing you around anymore?"

Chandler returned to his old demeanor and brushed them off, but not before saying very loudly, "Whatever, Lincoln."

"Huh?" Lincoln heard it, "You just said my-OOF!" Right when the elevator door shut. He was cut off from his guiding red and forced out of the facility. He witnessed the entire facility wrapping up operations and slowly going dark before the elevator was sent back to the entrance of the sewage plant, "Well...now, I've seen almost everything..."

The group returned to the hotel and separated into two teams, where they went through the schematics of the mission for a good hour before they declared bedtime. While Kim's team was sleeping away in another room, Lincoln's team was still wide awake. Against Lincoln and High Card's orders, Strong Suit and Night Club went for a night around town, while they stayed back in their room.

"So, Clarissa's going to be our mission operator..." High Card commented while tapping away at her phone, "That's a first."

"I'll say," Lincoln was standing on the balcony overlooking the entirety of Royal Woods, "And right after Chandler scarred his code name into my brain..."

"That was very twisty," High Card got up and walked to the railing, "Well, I better make sure Night and Suit don't blow the world up before Phantom Task does..." and leaped off.

"Yow! Hey, don't-" Lincoln saw High Card use her fuzzy dice as a stringed grabbed to swing on multiple extended poles and soften her landing. "Huh...I didn't know Lori could do that..."

All of a sudden, that girly voice: "I didn't know any of your sisters could do that."

"Oh, for-UAA!" The instant Lincoln blinked, the entire world around him had frozen and lost all sound, and that familiar female lookalike was leaning against the railing. He gave up, "*SIGH* Am I psychic? No, but I might as well be..."

"Not to your friends, probably," the girl smirked, "I reckon I pulled you in at the right time?"

"I'm in the IS subspace...fully conscious..." Lincoln talked with his hands, "Do you have any idea how deranged I look right now?..."

"Your friends are all asleep! They don't know!" She wagged her hands, "It's fine!"

"What part of me being sucked into my own IS's magical core is fine?!"

"I don't know," she shrugged her shoulders, "The view?"

"Oh, blow me down with your bluntness..." Lincoln groaned and leaned over the railing, "...though I will say, I've never seen the hometown skyline till now."

"Well then, you haven't lived. You or your family."

"Yet another reminder of the past-don't say a word."

"Poi...Still, any place you're gonna visit tomorrow?"

"Maybe my room. Clyde says that Lynn inhabits that room now, so I can't wait to see what disaster zone she's managed to conjure up."

"How's that possible with half her body shredded?"

"Shredded my right buck tooth!" Lincoln scoffed, "She's a way tougher cookie than she's letting on!"

"How did you figure an email update for an attempted guilt trip?" The girl looked at him funny.

"Because I know my sisters a lot longer than you have," Lincoln said, "You know, why don't you just fizzle me back to whatever world I came from, whoever you are?"

The girl mulled on that last line, "Whoever I am...who am I?"

"Uh-really?" Lincoln wasn't having that, "You're gonna pull that one on me now? You're my partner, right?"

"Yeah, I got that, but really, who am I?"

This set off an alarm inside him, "Wait, wait, wait, wait...you don't have a name?"

"...do I need a name?"

Lincoln cringed. He was having an existential conversation with what was essentially a projected figment of his imagination. He tried to get out of it it by recalling his words before the beginning of the school year, "Ok, uh...well, what about Ace? Yeah, I called you Ace when all this started."

"Firstly, that's a dude's name," the girl flatly rejected, "Secondly, we're bordering on plagiarism here."

"Well we gotta think of-" the moment Lincoln turned back to face her, she was gone, "What The Who now!" and time flowed once again in his world. He looked over the city and saw Night Club and Strong Suit kicking up a major storm with the pro-Hazeltucky crowd, and High Card desperately trying (in vain) to quell it.

"Why haven't they fizzled out of existence yet?..." he groaned as he went to bed, "What did I put in them?"

The next morning came. Lincoln was sound asleep in his hotel bedroom by himself, dreaming about the simpler and happier days before his 11th birthday, when he felt something rummaging through his hair.

"...ud...Loud..."

"...nn...nnn..."

"Lincoln Loud."

"AAAAA! Wuzzat! Wut appen?! He to go...huh?..." Lincoln woke to find a familiar bob-cut eyepatch woman.

"Apologies, Lincoln. But I'm afraid we have no more time to lose," it was Clarissa.

"Clarissa?..." Lincoln woke up, "Wh-what are you doing here? What time is it?"

"It is 08:30 hours currently," Clarissa said while preparing his bag, "I came to warn you that the Louds have boarded their main transportation vehicle aptly named 'Vanzilla'."

"Vanzilla-AAA!" That word jolted him out of the bedroom and into high-alert, "Then that means Phantom Task could hit them at any time!" He quickly schlepped on his usual clothes and ran for the door, "We gotta make time! I'll meet you at the house!"

"Oh, not with that outfit," Clarissa yanked him back inside, "Your orange shirt will give away your position to the enemy."

"Right..." he nodded, "but what am I gonna wear?"

"I've taken the liberty of studying the current fashion trends and customized the best disguises for us," Clarissa pointed her thumb to an unsettling object: a manga about high schoolers visiting America.

Two minutes later, they emerged from the bathroom...not at all in line with the current fashion trends, instead looking like an IRL advertisement for a biker gang romcom/buddy film.

"Sunglasses?" Lincoln groaned, "Really?"

"I noticed the cool trend is very popular among the teenagers," Clarissa said.

"Popular?! I look like a stereotypical Hollywood representation of a 1950s greaser!"

"It's the only set of clothes that will fully distract from your usual Evolution of Dance attire."

"I don't act that old!...do I?"

"That's debatable," Clarissa pushed his bag into him, "Your mission objectives are not. Now, get going!"

Lincoln was shoved out the door and ran into High Card's behind, "OOF! Ow, my-GGGKK?!"

"Excuse me, Mister Puberty?" High Card griped.

"I told you you got buns, hun," Night Club snickered.

Strong Suit came up behind him, "But if I were you, I'd go for a full frontal assault. Squeeze squeeze."

"Would you stop giving me ideas?!" Lincoln shoved them all outside.

"First, these literally unheard of alternate costumes, and now this..." High Card groaned.

Fifteen minutes later, Lincoln's team was assembled at the same park where his practical was held. High Card was on the phone with Kim's team, who was following Vanzilla to Great Lakes City.

"Traffic is horrendously backed up on the main route," Kim commed, "I'm afraid we won't reach our destination until late in the afternoon."

"Do you have visual confirmation of the Loud family?" High Card asked.

"I do," Akina said, "They're all complaining about everything. I can hear them from ten cars away through the honking deafness they're so loud!" Right before disconnecting the call.

"Hey, what's the name?" Night Club poked.

"At least we know that they're gone," Strong Suit scratched her head.

"So, what's the plan?" Night Club asked.

"I think we should split up so we have better coverage," Lincoln suggested.

"Good idea," High Card nodded, then quickly grabbed Night Club's arm, "I'll take Night to the mall."

"Whoa, High! What gives?" Night Club yelped.

"I don't wanna catch the you-know-whats," High Card whispered into her ear.

Which prompted Night Club to embarrass High Card by shouting, "Sorry, bruh, back door's occupied! But I can let you in through the front! *WINK*"

"No! Don't! I-gi-that-WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" That was the last thing Lincoln heard from High Card before she was dragged away to the mall.

"Ok, if that isn't indicative of things to come..." Lincoln shook his head.

"Guess we've got the easy part of town," Strong Suit nudged, "Shall we?"

"Might as well," Lincoln walked with her down the sidewalk, "So, about last night..."

"Ohoho, have I got a story for you!" Strong Suit rubbed her hands together.

—TEN MINUTES LATER—

"And that's how we won a couple battles for Royal Woods and demoralized those Hazelpunkys," Strong Suit grinned.

Lincoln went pale, "That's it...mission failed...day one, and we already blew it..."

"Now, now," Strong Suit played her reassurance, "We already knew not to go in our regular getups for our identity, so we put on different clothes."

"And what would those be?" Lincoln asked.

Much to his horror, Strong Suit took off her bandanna, kneecaps and sweatbands, and then materialized a red and white Jersey with a giant red "1" in the center, "Tadaaaaa! Whaddaya think? Pretty good eye candy, huh?"

"THAT MAKES THINGS WORSE!" Lincoln screamed.

Just then, they heard laughter coming from the McBrides residence.

"Huh...thought they'd be out for the week," Lincoln said.

"Friends of yours?" Strong Suit asked.

"A really good friend," Lincoln responded, "Let's get a close up," he motioned her to follow him to the nearest open window. But once they peeked in on the conversation...

"And I can imagine the looks on their faces when they saw me like, OH CRAP!"

"Aaaa! Dead girl! Someone help!"

"Help, nothing! You put me there! What's the matter with you?!"

"I don't know! You're dead! I'm dead! The whole world's dead! Dead is dead!"

"And all of a sudden-" falsetto "-AAAAANGEEEELLLLLS BOWING DOWN FROM HIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH!"

More laughter.

Lincoln grabbed Strong Suit and ran back to the park, then stuffed themselves under a tunnel in the playground.

"Ok, ow. What was that?" Strong Suit griped while Lincoln had a panic attack, "All I saw was two friends. Ain't nothing wrong with that, right?"

Just then, Lincoln's communicator linked to Kim's team.

"Lincoln, we have a problem," Tomoya commed over, "We were able to do a visual headcount on Vanzilla, but we only counted 11 heads-"

"IT'S LYNN!" Lincoln bellowed, "LYNN STAYED BEHIND!"

"What?!" Kim was startled, "Lynn Jr?!"

"That's bad, isn't it?" Akina said.

"I guess?" Strong Suit spoke, "But why is it-"

"BECAUSE YOU LOOK JUST LIKE HER!" Lincoln screamed.

Strong Suit took a moment, and then, "Oooohhhhhhhh..."

"Wait, that was Strong Suit?!" Kim asked, "They still haven't fizzled out of existence yet?!"

"Hey, I don't know why either!" Lincoln commed, "But you have to send somebody back here!"

"No worries! You still have that Harfoosh whoever," Akina said, "I'm sure she can control her no problem!"

"Man, I hope you have that right," Lincoln looked to his right, "because Double S just took after Double L!"

"...Uh, English please?" Kim said.

"Strong Suit's gone," Lincoln flatly said, "She is spying on Lynn as we speak."

Upon hearing a fairly haunting "...what?!...", Lincoln cut the connection, left the bridge, and ran in the direction of the house, despite the risk of being seen by Lynn or Clyde.

Meanwhile, Clyde and Lynn were on the McBrides doorstep.

"Man, I didn't think you could last this long against a chokehold," Lynn said.

"I get fidgety when I do taxes all day long," Clyde stretched his shoulders, "I had to do something about it."

"Hey, let me work off those shoulder sometime."

"Maybe tomorrow? My dads are going out for the weekend."

"Cool beans, bro," Lynn fist bumped Clyde, "Tomorrow morning, it is." They parted ways for the day, with a small yet strange feeling of warmth and fuzziness in their core.

Lynn traveled back to the house with that feeling masking her initially aching back and legs, "Boy oh boy, Francisco's gonna be...did he even notice that note?..." She walked up to the porch and sighed, "Great...now, I'm brooding..."

And right behind her... "Not very like you at all." ...her soundalike voice.

"Huh?" Lynn turned around, "Who the-"

Lynn's eyes widened. She didn't know how to react to seeing her actual body double.

"Yo," Strong Suit waved.

Lynn cautiously approached her twin body, "Whoa...who're you?"

"I'm your better half."

"No," Lincoln arrived too late, "Dangit..."