While Lincoln and his team were fending off a huge problem in his hometown, there was an even bigger problem going on in Great Lakes City. Both the Louds and the Casagrandes have been subdued and taken hostage inside their own apartment by two pairs of siblings with unknown intentions. Both families were moved to the grandparents' living room and laid side by side, bound and gagged, with nothing but the moonlight to illuminate the bleak moment.
And standing at the center of the scene were Hank, Hawk, Janice, and Juniper.
Hawk nudged Juniper, "Wake her up."
Juniper nodded and then splashed a cup of cold water on Luna's head.
"BLAGHPHOUGH-*COUGH*COUGH*COUGH*" and that was enough to wake Luna up, "Ugh! Who would...Huh?" Enough to shock her into looking around her and seeing her family unconscious on the floor, "GUYS?! GUYS, WAKE UP! COME ON!"
"That ain't gonna do you any good," Janice knelt down beside her, "You're ours now."
"What did you do to them?!" Luna squirmed, "I swear, if you don't get me outta her right now-OOGH?!" She was suddenly kicked in the gut by Juniper.
"Know your place, bitch!" Juniper shouted.
"Hey, hey, easy, easy," Hawk shiver Juniper aside, "We don't damage merchandise...yet."
"Urgh...yet?..." Luna winded, "Whaddaya mean...yet?..."
"Listen," Hawk knelt down in front of her face, "I don't wanna be the bearer of bad news but...we've seen what you can do with those IS things and, quite frankly, we need you all to die."
"Die?" Luna raised and eyebrow, "You cannot be serious-Uh?!" Until she felt a knife gently prick the skin under her chin.
"Dead serious," Hawk glared into her eyes, "You little girls have been a thorn in our backsides for too long. All we wanted was to assert our dominance over Royal Woods, but you asses had to get in our way every single time we meet. And only now do we find out that every single one of you's a goddamn pilot?" He ran his knife across her neck without cutting her skin, "No way. You all have to go."
"Oh my god... you're seriously serious..." Luna quivered, seeing exactly how angry Hawk was.
"It's bad," Hank stepped out from behind, "and to make matters worse..." he then opened a pantry door, and out popped three roughed up bodies slamming to the floor: Kim, Akane, and Tomoya, "...these bimbos have the nerve to get in our way and try to stop us."
"OOF!" The bodies grunted.
"Kim?" Luna recognized one of those voices.
"Haagh?!" Kim gasped, "Wha...Luna! These guys-"
"Shut up!" Janice stomped on Kim's head, causing Kim to lose consciousness, and causing Lori, Luan, Leni, and Rita to regain theirs.
"Ugh...what..." Rita was the first to shake her head, "What's going on?..."
"These guys..." Akane panted, They took pictures of squirrel Lincoln and spread them out..."
"Under Margo's orders..." Tomoya groaned, "That's what's going on-AAAAAAAGH!" Before getting pepper sprayed in the eyes.
"Nah, that ain't gonna cut it no more," Hawk shook her head, "We gotta kill them now."
"Hold on, they got bosses for bosses," Hank said, "We need them to coerce those other people to back off."
"You won't get away with this..." Lori grunted, "Someone's gonna come for us..."
"Don't bet on it," Janice put her knee on Lori's neck, "There's people taking care of them right now."
"Why are you doing this?..." Leni asked, "Why do you have to do this to us?..."
"Really? You're asking us why?" Juniper walked over to Leni and cut off some of her hair, "Do you wanna be the first to die?!"
Leni was terrified into absolute silence.
"Do you think you're gonna pull out of this unscathed?..." Akane grumbled.
"Has your conscience fallen so far that you'd kidnap us for this?..." Lori said.
"And you're gonna leave us napping by the fishes?" Luan said.
"That's all up to her," Hawk pointed to Luna, who boy her lip in fear of what would happen to her family if she rejected Hawk's proposal, and what could happen to the world if she accepted.
And Chandler heard all of it under the plant.
"Hahhhhh, boy," he shook his head, "My job just got a lot more painful."
Suddenly, Clyde came barging through the doors, "Hey! I'm here!"
"Where were you, four-eyes?!" Chandler snapped.
"I had to help Lynn get on the IS thing!" Clyde responded.
"So, nothing you said to her made a difference?"
"She was gonna German suplex me! What was I supposed to do?!"
"Dangit," Chandler gave up and dragged Clyde into the facility, "Whatever, follow me."
Meanwhile, Akina was having the time of her life in another city, wreaking havoc by merely fighting across the neighborhoods and busy streets with the spider-like IS. It went on until she found herself splashing down in the lake of a park.
"Ugh! Ow..." Akina grunted, "How on earth are there no people on earth..." Just then, she saw her target attempt a ground pound. She countered by firing her rockets at the pilot to veer her off course, then ramming her combat knife into the IS's abdomen.
The instant the knife hit, the pilot revealed a hidden cannon and shot Akina, forcing the two away from each other. But the pilot instantly leapt at Akina, who recovered just in time to be met with four bladed legs trying to slice her shield energy away. She blocked nearly every single attack, and the ones she couldn't block slowly started to wear on her, until finally the pilot was able to pull out a machine gun and relentlessly pelt Akina with bullets. Akina stayed in the line of fire and was forced backwards, until she got enough room to hit the pilot with a couple surprise rifle and rocket combos, disorienting the pilot. Akina fled into the inner city, withdrawing her IS when she was within a crowd of people.
"Whew... I didn't think my first field mission would be this terrible..." Akina muttered, then tried to connect a channel with the rest of her teammates, "Kim? Lincoln? Do you copy?" Five seconds, no answer, "Ha-jin? Loud? Respond back?" Fifteen seconds, nothing. She started to rack her mind for any possible backup plans, "Ok...I need to stop her from hurting anyone else...but how..."
Then suddenly, a young man's voice came through to her channel, "How about going down to her level?"
"Uaaa!" Akina yelped, "Who the-"
"Relax, it's me, Clyde. One of Lincoln's friends."
"Clyde?...Oh, right, you're Lincoln's bestie!"
"Don't use that word-" SMACK! "-OW!"
Another young man's voice came through, "Dude, focus!"
"What was that?" Akina questioned everything she just heard.
"Nothing! Now, listen," Clyde said, "You wanna take down Autumn, but you can't do it alone."
"What do you mean-no..." Akina clicked his words to her current situation. She couldn't reach out to her team, so she would have to reach out to the general public, "No...no, I already did that once tonight and almost got someone killed!"
"Don't worry," Clyde reassured her, "She apparently loves to be in the chaos, and you have to support of the police. Just lure her into the city and I'll take over from there."
"Um...ok, I guess," Akina wandered out past the city limits and found that same woman in the spider IS waiting under a giant billboard, "Um...you said Autumn. Who exactly is she?"
"Oh, unhinged. Looney. Obsessed about bugs and stuff," Clyde casually responded.
"Oh, ok," Akina nodded, "'Cause I think I'm looking right at her." She then pulled out her rifle and fired a warning shot at her.
"You think correctly," the pilot swatted away the shot and let out several sticky balls at Akina.
"Uh-huh! Confirmed visual! Engaging Autumn!" Akina screamed while trying to counter those spider balls.
"And I'll get the police involved," Clyde said as he traced Akina's location to any police stations near the area.
Akina suffered another machine gun blast, but she persevered through the bullets and managed to crack open Autumn's helmet, which got her very very angry.
"AGH!" Autumn staggered backward and shook her head.
"Oh, that's not a good..." Akina looked behind her at the city she had just left, "That is not a good..."
"How...how dare you..." Autumn slowly became more infuriated by the second, "You...you little brat..." and then, she lost it, "...YOU'LL PAY FOR THIIIIIIIIIIS!" and charged towards Akina.
"Very very very not a good!" Akina fled into the city with Autumn chasing her and blasting her from behind, "Should I really be getting everyone else's attention?!"
Clyde suddenly commed to Akina, "Just go!"
"Huh?!"
"Don't attack! Just go! I'll lead you to the police!"
"Uh, ok?!" Akina didn't bother thinking about that and led Autumn into the sprawling lights and busy crosswalks where- "WHOA-AAA!"
"Hey, watch it!" An angry pedestrian nearly got plowed by her.
Akina tried to apologize, "Sorry, I just-OOF!" But Autumn plowed into her, thrusting her against the side of a mall, right before getting blown through the wall by a car.
"Oh my god..." Akina groaned, "Nobody said being a hero was easy..." CRASH! "-GASP?!" She just saw Autumn crash through the wall and aim the machine gun at some shoppers. Luckily, Akina was able to shield them from the gunfire. "OR THIS PAINFUL!" she screamed as a sharp pain began crawling up her buttocks.
Meanwhile, back in Great Lakes City, Luna was contemplating her next move and the consequences that were sure to ensue. Hawk was standing over her with a knife ready to gut her bound family members if she didn't give him the answer he wanted, while Janice and Juniper had their weapons aimed at the Casagrandes, who were still out cold.
"Well, Miss Queefo?" Janice taunted, "Time's ticking? You gonna be our slaves, or our food?"
Right when Ronnie Anne was waking up, "Uh, my eyes...Whoa. Janice?"
"Yeah, that's right," Janice walked over to Ronnie, "What you got, ¿puta?"
"Nothing much..."
Janice put her heel on Ronnie'a belly, "Really? Nothing?"
"Nah..." Ronnie Anne grunted, "Just the fact that you were the one that couldn't handle your own homeland."
"SHUT UP!" Janice stomped on Ronnie's gut, causing her to wheeze in pain, "Don't act tough just because you got your passport earlier!" She prepared to knife Ronnie's throat...
...but she was stopped by Frida's sudden shrieking, "NO! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY BABY!"
Janice was a little freaked out, but Juniper quickly got in Frida's face, "What? You wanna take her place?"
"Wha..." Frida panicked, "Wha... I just-"
"Nuh-uh," Juniper slapped Frida, "You don't 'just'. Someone has to go."
Luna looked at her with deadly eyes that quickly turned sorrowful once she saw it where that knife was pointed. She wanted to say so many words to them, but couldn't. For one reason only:
Hawk, "Alright, that's long enough. Time to die, Loudes." On command, Janice grabbed the knife and prepared to take Lily's life, causing the elder Loud sisters to scream.
Which caused Luna to bellow "NO! STOP! I'LL DO IT!"
Hawk, Janice, and Juniper stopped what they were doing and turned to Luna. The sisters stopped freaking out and worried for the worst.
"I'll do it, ok?!" Luna said, "I'll do it!"
Hawk ran his hand up Luna's chin, "You'll do...what?"
Luna gritted her teeth, and seethed through her anger over herself for not being able to break free of the rope, "I'll...I'll be your bitch..."
"Not just you," Hawk taunted, "Your entire family. They're all the pilot-ass nobodies that wanna piece of me. You're gonna bring them under my control, you hear? I have no use for people who don't obey me."
Suddenly, a familiar male voice boomed, "So, nobody?"
"Huh?" Hawk looked up to see who said that- FLASH! "AAAAGH! DAMMIT!" Only to get blinded by a flashbang grenade.
"Yo!" Luan screamed, "What's happening?!"
"I don't know!" Luna said.
The commotion was loud enough to wake up Ronnie Anne and Bobby, who were both unbounded by Hank of all people.
"Huh? What's going on?" Bobby asked half-dazed.
"A miracle is what's going on," Ronnie Anne said, "What's this about, Hank?"
"No time to explain," Hank shook it off, then unbound the rest of the Casagrandes, "Cops and gangsters will be here any minute."
"Gangwhats?!" Frida exclaimed after her ropes were undone, "What exactly is happening?!" Before getting shanked by Juniper, "OOOOWW!"
"Mama?!" Bobby rushed to Frida's side, nearly coming into contact with Juniper's knife.
"No, really," Janice confronted them, "What is this all about?" She turned to Hank, "What the hell are you doing, bro?"
"Saving your puny ass from jail," Hank said as he hurled Ronnie Anne at Hawk.
"Ugh...dammit..." Hawk was winded, "What happened-OOF!" He was hit with Ronnie Anne's flying headbutt, but he quickly recovered and caught her reeling from the attack, "Oh, if that's the saddest sight I'd ever seen," he said as he picked her up and prepared to kill her, but he was quickly subdued by Akane, "AGH! LET GO-URGH!"
"You're done here, meat head," Akane grunted as she put a chokehold on Hawk.
Tomoya quickly freed the rest of the hostages while subduing Juniper, "Go! Get them outta here!"
"Gotcha," Hank nodded, then turned to grab Luna and Ronnie Anne's hands, "Come on, let's move."
"Wha..." Luna was shaken by what had just happened this past night, "I don't know...I just-"
"Get up, dude!" Ronnie Anne pushed, "We got other places to be!"
"No, you don't," Janice snuck behind Ronnie and wrestled her to the ground, "You're gonna spend some time right here!" She was about to choke Ronnie when she was suddenly grabbed by Frida, Carlos, and Carlota, "Ack! What the... heck?!..."
"Oh my..." Rita was helped up by Lori, "Do you know what's happening here?..."
"There's no time," Lori said while helping her dad up, "Get the keys and go! We need to leave now!"
"Not yet," Hank said to them, "There's a huge gang waiting for us outside. We have to use the emergency exit."
"What?!" Lori snapped at him, "How would you know that? Aren't you in on this whole scheme?"
"I was," Hank said, "but I backed out early on." Then, he recounted how he was able to look up the Casagrandes' apartment block and their neighbors' phone numbers, and land the right person out of sheer luck...
("Hey. You're Ronnie Anne's friend, right?")
("Yeah?...Why do you ask?...")
("Because in just a few days, some real nasty stuff's about to go down.")
("Really? Is it gonna be like a beat down, like a pile-on of bad people?")
("Worse. Now, listen. I need you to time your call to the police, with whatever shouting or thudding you hear in the apartment next to you. Make up whatever story you need to; just get as many cops here ASAP. Got it?")
"I literally do not believe a single word of that hoopla," Lori shook her head before being shoved out the window by Hank.
"You don't have to believe it!" Hank snapped, "Just get your ass outta here and run!"
"Ok! Ok!" Lori screamed as she eased her way to the emergency ladder. She was able to get a solid hold on the ladder until she looked down and saw a hoard of grown men with bats and knives, "Um...guys?! There's a vicious gang below me! And it's not cats!"
Suddenly, Kim jumped out of the window, "Allow me!" and unveiled her new IS's pole arm. She then threw it at the gang mob below, and it exploded upon impact, injuring nearly every gang member in range. The pole arm came back to her, "That's not all of them. You need to climb down there now."
"But what about the police?" Lori asked, right before the sound of sirens and the flashing police lights started to permeate the atmosphere, "Oh...ok! I'm going down!" She started her long climb down, then Luan and Leni followed closely behind. They momentarily stopped when they heard loud banging on the entry door.
"Shoot, we're not fast enough," Tomoya hissed.
"Mr. and Mrs. Loud," Kim floated inside, "You have to let me carry Lily down."
"What?!" Lynn Sr exclaimed, "Why?! We don't even know what is happening-" BAM! "-UH!" The door came down.
"Dangit," Akane said, "How are the others?"
"They're out cold," Tomoya pointed to an unconscious Hawk, Janice, and Juniper, "Hank, you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Hank shook his head as he walked towards the door and addressed the incoming gang members, "Sup, gringos?"
"Don't 'sup' me, dude," one of the thugs shoved him back inside and walked towards him waving his bat, "You have any idea what's gonna happen to you?" He didn't get the chance to finish, as Akane swiped the bat from him and conked him out. Then, Tomoya dragged another man inside and pushed his head into a countertop. That prompted the rest of the gang to storm inside and try to overpower them.
"Lynn, we don't have time!" Rita urged, "Please. We have to trust her."
Lynn Sr took one look at the still sleeping Lily, then at the scene behind him, "Ok, but...what about the others? They're still out cold."
"We can take care of them!" Tomoya shouted as she effortlessly fended off the horde of gangsters.
"Police'll be here soon!" Akane said, "You just go!"
One of the gangsters broke through and lunged at Lynn Sr, only to be stomped by Hank, "AGH! What the hell, man?! I thought you were with the program!"
"Program's been corrupted," Hank cracked his knuckles, "and I ain't gonna be a part of it," and thrashed the poor soul.
Lynn Sr was compelled to surrender Lily to Kim, "Ok, fine! Just get her somewhere safe!"
"Thank you," Kim withdrew her IS's arms and gently cradled Lily within her chest. Lily nuzzled Kim's bow tie and made a soft sniffle. "Shhh, it's ok," Kim cooed, "Auntie Kimmie's gonna bring you a nice warm bed soon-"
"OOUGH?!" Hank's sudden painful groan interrupted Kim's train of thought.
"Tomoya!" Akane shouted. Tomoya threw up another flash bang grenade. This time, it stunned everyone who was fighting in the apartment and woke up those who were still out cold.
"Yo-wha-Huh?!" Lana was the first up, and she immediately jumped her sisters into action, "Lola! Lucy! Up and at 'em!"
Lola was slow to wake up, "Ughhhhj...don't interrupt my...WHAT TH-" She only needed a second's glance at two older women being pinned down to realize what was happening, "I don't realize what's happening, but I am craving some MAN-MEAT RIGHT NOW!"
"Same here, Lols," Lana growled as she donned a pair of brass knuckles and tossed Lola a bat. And together, the twins wrought absolute havoc upon the gangsters, only to be pushed back midway through their wrath, "AGH! Why you-BPHMHMM?!"
Hawk suddenly woke up and put the twins in a choke hold, "I got something special for you-" SMACK! "-Ugh!" He was knocked upside the head, releasing the twins from his grasp. "Ow, who the..." He spun around and saw who hit him, "Bro...you?"
"Yeah...me," Hank cracked his knuckles, "and I'll do it again if I need to."
Hawk surveyed the scenery around him. He saw Ronnie Anne and Luna tend to a dazed Janice and Juniper. He saw two women managing to hold their own against a gang. He saw an IS pilot effortlessly switch back and forth between helping the families evacuate and whittling the gang's morale. But most of all, he saw Hank standing before him in utter defiance of everything he had planned. Hank, who had been with him every step of the way, through thick and thin...now no more than a random gringo who had just looked at him the wrong way.
"Aight..." Hawk nodded, "Aight..." then, he pumped his arms, "You're done."
Hank rushed towards Hawk with a left hook, but he was countered with an elbow block plus backfist. Hank tried again to lunge at Hawk, but he was swatted away. Hawk then landed a gut punch and knee before throwing Hank out the window and into the emergency balcony.
"Oh my god..." Hank groaned, "What did they do to you..."
Hawk suddenly jumped through the window and stomped on Hank. "Nothing you wouldn't see," he said as he started choking Hank.
Hank struggled to get his neck freed. The burly arms that chained him were far too big for him to grapple. He could only watch in horror as his former best friend turned deadly, actually chuckling as the life was slowly strangled out of him. But just when he was about to lose consciousness-
-THWACK!-
Carlota suddenly kicked Hawk over the rail, knocking him out and sending him plummeting towards the ground. She left Hank outside wheezing for breath and went back inside to finish off the home invaders.
Meanwhile, Kim had made it to ground level, but there were still gangsters to contend with, and some of them had guns firing nonstop. She was stuck in the middle of the road, hunched over to protect Lily. "Dammit!" She screamed, "Is there anything we can do?!" Just then, she saw Hawk free falling to the ground, "Wait...that's it!" She flew up, quickly deployed her left arm, and caught Hawk, unconsciously triggering her wing units for the first time. Her wings released a powerful light that blinded the remaining gangsters, allowing her to rush in and tackle them all down.
"Whew..." Kim panted, "Done..." she started at her hands, one with Hawk slowly coming to, and the other with Lily still cuddled in her chest, "Well...I think it's time you both got some proper rest..." And just in time to, because the police arrived at the scene in droves. Their loud sirens and flashing lights woke Lily from her slumber, and the young baby was crying as a result of the interruption. "Aw, no no no no," Kim retracted her arms and tried to cuddle Lily to sleep, "It's ok. No one will hurt you anymore. You can go back to sleep-"
"It's ok, Kimmie," Luan tapped Kim's hips, "We can take it from here."
"Um...ok," Kim handed Lily to Luan, who wasted no time in lulling Lily to sleep.
One of the policemen drove near Kim, "Excuse me, ma'am. We'd like to have a word with you."
Kim stammered, "Oh, that's not necessary. The Loud and Casagrande families-"
"Ma'am, this is not up for debate," a police officer said, "We need you to-"
Just then, two communication channels opened simultaneously,
One on the police channel, "All available units respond! Situation in Cleveland area! An IS is going berserk! We need all available units to assist in evacuation and containment!"
And on on Kim's channel, "Kim?! I need help! It's Autumn! She's throwing me like a rag doll! The police are here, but they're powerless against this spider thing! You need to come over here and help me get Autumn under control!"
"I'm on my way!" Kim immediately flew off into the night sky, out of the police's grasp.
Carlota saw Kim blast off from the apartment window after hearing the police enter the bodega. She then turned around and took a few moments to take it all in, "Hahhhh...hahhhhhh...hahhhhh...what...the hell...just happened..." She saw the limp bodies of the mob that tried to ambush them. She also saw Ronnie Anne tending to Hank, while Juniper was slowly coming to her senses. "Oh, this little prick..." Luna groaned as she approached the young woman.
"Ohhhhh..." Juniper slowly woke up, "My head...what happened..." she showed very little reaction to Luna grabbing her collar and bringing her to her eyes.
"You got five seconds to give me a reason to not turn you into a human quesadilla," Carlota growled.
"Ugh... what...what does it matter to you?" Juniper chuckled, "It's already too late..."
"What?!" Carlota shouted, "Tell me what you did!"
Juniper spat in Carlota's face and received a powerful gut punch. She was dropped to the floor, writhing in pain, but still maintaining her smirk, "UGH...HHH...hahhh...it's too late...Margo's already done him in..."
"Margo?!" Carlota shouted, "What did you do to her?!"
"Heheh..." Juniper chuckled, "Wouldn't you like to-" until Tomoya's radio blared out a distress call:
["Come in, Homesewer! This is Lincoln Loud! Margo's out of control! The Silverio Gospel is too powerful! Clarissa, Lynn, and Strong Suit are working with me to prevent the spread of the fight, but it's not enough! We need to notify the police and get started on an evacuation order now! I don't know how long we can hold her off!"]
"Lincoln?" Carlota reacted.
"Lincoln?..." Ronnie Anne gasped, "He's back?..."
"Big bro?!" Lola and Lana exclaimed.
Juniper had the opposite reaction, "No...no!...HOW IS HE NOT DEAD YET?!"
That shout attracted Tomoya, Akane, Lola, and Lana to hear the rest of the story.
"Who's not dead yet?!" Lola demanded.
"Care to explain the entire thing to us?" Akane said while holding up a voice recorder.
Carlota sighed and went over to Hank, who was still on the balcony taking in several gulps of breath. She stepped out in the open air and leaned against the brick wall, not knowing what to say to the man who's pulled several betrayals before.
But Hank knew what to say, "Yeah, take it all in...Pretty soon, my entire family'll be back in Mexico..."
"Huh?!" Carlota raised her eyebrows, "You'll what?!"
"Well, heheh, not exactly...I'll be stuck in jail...everyone else's ass is going back..."
"Wait, Wait Wait Wait Wait...you're not...not a...a citizen?..."
"Depends on how you see it...Autumn...she promised a spot on her team for Margo...a huge city for Hawk...and a green card for my mom and Janice..."
"What? I thought they'd have gotten it already..."
"Supposed to, two years ago...they've been here for five years, but...stuff happens..."
Carlota was in shock. Everything that happened to her and her family was just so Hank could have a chance to stay with his family, "I don't...I...why didn't..."
"Not that it matters anymore..." Hank groaned, "Pretty soon, I'll be gone...and ain't no miracle gonna rain down on me this time..."
Carlota started to speak, "With this, I wanna know that-"
-BAM!-
"POLICE! NOBODY MOVE!" The police have made it to the apartment. Once the ER team arrived, they started to make their rounds, tending to the wounded and handcuffing anyone that tried to resist.
Juniper tried to fight her way out, but Lola and Lana easily subdued her, causing the three of them to be arrested. Tomoya and Akane explained the entire situation with a detective and two officers. Janice was put onto a stretcher and led away. Any Loud and Casagrande left was escorted outside for questioning. Three policemen saw Carlota and went to the balcony.
"Excuse me, Miss," one of the policemen said, "Could you come inside? We need to have a word with you."
"Uh...me?" Carlota stammered, "Maybe...I don't-"
"No," Hank interrupted, "It's me you want...I saw the whole thing... I participated in it..."
"Son? Are you sure?" A policeman asked, "If you did participate in the assault, then-"
"I know what it means..." Hank panted, "I just...I just need to tell someone..."
The policemen looked at each other, then have Hank a solemn nod. One officer handcuffed Hank's hands together and put him on a stretcher, "Alright, son...you're under arrest for home invasion, aggravated assault, and attempted murder."
"And Hawk?" Hank asked, "What about him?"
"He's been arrested as well."
"Good..." Hank sighed in relief and allowed the policemen to take him away. He briefly crossed Sid's line of sight, which caused her to panic and run after him.
"Hey! Hey! Hank!" Sid shouted, "I didn't know they'd have gotten you too! I just told them that there was gonna be a massive brawl!"
"It's ok..." Hank weakly held up a thumb's up, "You did good..."
"Yeah, but Janice! Your mom! Your fu..." Sid halted once Hank got into the elevator. She realized that it was pointless trying to stop him and just watched as the doors closed on him, "... but... I was ...aw, Dangit!"
Ronnie Anne walked towards the elevator, "Sid? Did he really..."
"Yeah! He told me to call the police! I didn't know that this is what he meant!"
Ronnie Anne gasped, "Wha...but that's the thug who-"
"I know! What happened?! Who exposed his Antarctic heart to the searing, heart-rending lava?!"
Ronnie Anne kept swerving her gaze between the elevator and her apartment. She didn't know how to react to any of this. All she knew was that this Thanksgiving would go down in her diary as the worst thing that has ever happened to her. Her family was just attacked. She was needlessly thrust into a world of mechanized intrigue. And to top it off, Lincoln has returned, after weeks of cutting off all communication with her.
"Sid..." Ronnie Anne groaned, "I don't feel so good..."
"Let's get you some water and a bath," Sid walked Ronnie Anne to Tomoya and Akane's apartment, "I will not have you pull a dusty one on me."
Meanwhile, Akina was pulling multiple fast ones on Autumn, luring her to multiple dead ends for some fast hits, but ultimately unable to gain any advantage over the ground-based IS. She fought her all across the city, gaining plenty of publicity, and a bit of help from the police. But nothing changed the course of the battle. She managed to take the fight all the way to the harbor, where she was able to hide underwater long enough to land a surprise attack and blast a rocket to Autumn's face. But Autumn hid inside a gigantic apartment complex. Akina followed her inside and stopped in the lobby, where the residents no doubt tried to flee the scene.
"Nut bunnies!" Akina grunted, "I can't pin her down-WU-HEY!" She was suddenly caught up in a spider web.
Autumn crashed through the entrance and rammed her bladed legs into Akina. She gave Akina eight slashes before breaking her out of the web with her machine gun, knocking her back outside. She launched a rocket and Akina, sending her plummeting into the river.
"Ahahahahahahahahaaaa!" Autumn cackled, "I finally caught you!" She jumped out of the complex and into the river, spraying another spider web where she thought Akina would emerge, "The look on your face when I hit you is priceless! I wonder what ghastly expression I'll elicit from you this time!"
"Oh, shut up!" Akina emerged from one of the ports and fired a grenade at Autumn, which was easily dodged. Akina rushed closer, continuously blasting her rifle until she got up to Autumn's face, then pulled out her knife and tried to cut off the bladed legs. But she was caught up in another web, "GACK?! Ugh...gimme a-"
"Not bad," Autumn muttered, "but not good enough." She had all four legs centered on Akina's limbs, ready to chop away what little shield energy she had left. But just as she was about to finish the job-
-THOOM-
"OOGH?! RRRAAAAA-"
-BLAM!-
Autumn was struck dragged into the harbor by a pole. Then, the pole arm exploded, causing a massive amount of damage to Autumn's shielding.
"Whoa..." Akina muttered. She saw the pole arm fly right at her and winced as it missed her, instead breaking the web and freeing her, "Aah! Uh! Who the-" She saw the pole arm fly right into Kim's hands, "Kim! He-hey!"
"Glad I made it in time," Kim flew to Akina's side, "How's the IS holding up?"
"Oh, it's seen better pilots," Akina joked, but the stared into the harbor, at the spot where Autumn splashed in, "but I made sure everyone knew what was going down." She looked behind her as multiple police cars drove into the area and surrounded the splash zone.
And not a moment too soon, because-
-SPLASH!-
"RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Autumn resurfaced in utter rage, for everyone to see, "I WILL KILL YOU! ALL OF YOU! YOU ARE ALL DEAD!" She recklessly sprayed her machine gun all over the dock.
"Hit the deck!" Kim and Akina both shielded the police with their shields and energy fields.
"Do we have visual on the rouge IS pilot?!" An officer screamed into his communicator.
"No visual confirmation!" Someone yelled back, "The water is obstructing our view of the pilot, but the IS appears to be the stolen Arachne Gen2 model!"
"What do we do, Kim?!" Akina shouted.
"We can't let these people die!" Kim stammered, then looked up and saw Autumn shoot out a bullet to a nearby gas tank, causing a massive chain explosion.
Suddenly, a female voice from above them bellowed, "EVERYONE GET BACK!"
Kim and Akina peered over their weapons to find a water wall erected between them and the explosions. Standing in front was another IS, another pilot, with blue hair, channeling the water with just her staff. They were awestruck; they weren't aware of any IS that could manipulate physical matter to an insane degree that this woman did.
The pilot held up the water wall for a full minute, then released it, resetting the river to its former stillness. She then turned around and glanced her piercing red eyes at Kim and Akina, "Are you two ok?"
"Yeah..." Akina said, "I think so...thanks for that..."
"Don't thank me yet," the pilot turned back around and scanned the harbor, "We still have to find that little water spider."
Kim approached the pilot, "I'll send out a beacon for that IS signature."
"I wouldn't," the pilot shook her head, "She's international. By the time I put down the waterworks, she's slipped outta the country. She's probably halfway to Toronto by now."
"Well, what can we do?" One of the police officers asked, "We got an international terrorist on the loose, and millions of dollars in property damage to answer for!"
"I'm sure you'll figure it out," the pilot winked, then summoned a massive tidal wave to sweep the police backward.
Kim and Akina jumped over and fired on the mysterious lady, but she was already gone.
"Huh?" Kim said, "How did she..."
"I don't know, and I don't wanna know," Akina muttered, "All that matters is finding a way to fix the mess that spider lady caused."
"Leave that to us," the captain approached the pair, "You did an admirable job protecting the citizens from that pilot's attacks."
"Aw, shucks," Akina blushed, "You know I couldn't have done that without your help."
"Sir?" An officer called over, "We got a call for an emergency team to come to the plaza mall."
"What?" The captain seemed puzzled, "We don't have a plaza mall...Who sent the signal?"
The officer checked his radio and listened intently to the message, "Let me see...the caller identified herself as...Clarissa...Clarissa Harfouch."
Kim and Akina gasped, "LINCOLN!"