Lincoln observed with amazement at the streets of Royal Woods; the place was completely different now, it looked more urbanized with buildings and signs all over. They passed a street that Lincoln could recognize no matter how different it was.

"Hey, wasn't there supposed to be Flip´s food and fuel?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah, until police found out that Flip had a money laundering business under his store. The old man went to jail and was locked for five years until he died like three months ago." The taxi driver said. Lincoln was not surprised by that; he knew Flip was more stingy than Mr. Krabs, and if you put an easier way to make money he would take it, not caring if it was illegal. Lincoln always thought it was just a matter of time until he got involved on illegal business. He even remembered that time when Flip tried to sell him cigarettes.

The store was gone now; instead there was nothing but flat ground and construction machinery all around.

"What are they gonna built in here?" Lincoln asked.

"People say this will be another Burpin' Burger; that restaurant became quite popular in the later years." The driver said. "Man, I remember when I used to go there with my friends; back then it was just a small British restaurant in the center of town." He sighed "I wish I could see them again."

"You seem to miss them" Lincoln said.

"Hell yeah. My friends and I used to have all kind of problems in our days. I remember the time when we had to choose between going to a pool party full of girls and going to a sleepover at my friend Zach's house. Or the time when we wanted to cheer our friend Lincoln because his girlfriend moved away."

This last commentary made Lincoln freeze. He knew what the driver was talking about, and if the driver was telling him all that it meant that he was one of his childhood friends.

"Oh, and h-how did it end?" Lincoln asked nervously.

"Well… to make it short my friends and I had to clean bird poop from some suits my father borrow us."

"Hehe, it sounds like you and your friends had fun." Lincoln said.

"Yeah. If you don't take into account the bird poop, it was one of the funniest days in my life." The driver said.

Ten minutes passed and Lincoln kept talking with the driver about how Royal Woods was when he was a kid. Lincoln had to make an effort to keep calmed and not stutter so the taxi driver wouldn't notice him nervous.

"So what's your name buddy?" The driver asked. Lincoln felt a shiver running down his spine; he had to think in something quick.

"I'm Braun, nice to meet you."

"You can call me Rusty." The driver said. Now everything made sense; that explains how he knows so much about he and his friends.

As Lincoln processed the information in his brain, the taxi pulled in front of a white 2-story house. He saw how the house had remained the same since he was gone.

"Alright, here we are." Rusty said.

"Yeah. Let me just take my… Oh, shit." Lincoln said.

"What's the problem?"

"I… Lost my wallet." Lincoln said, giving himself a facepalm.

"Oh, don't worry about it man, this one's on the house." Rusty said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. This day has been really boring; usually when people call me to take them all they do is use their phone, no conversation, not a single 'hello', just 'take me to this place'. And they don't even look at me when they say it. You are the only one whom I have talked to in the whole day. Besides, you look a lot like one of my friends, and I always give 'em free rides."

Another chill ran through Lincoln's spine. Had Rusty recognize him?

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. You have the same chipped tooth, the same three freckles on the cheeks, white hair, you live in the same house… How I wish he were still alive…"

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Lincoln said.

"Don't worry. It happened some years ago, so there's no reason to feel bad. Life must go on." Rusty said.

"You're right." Lincoln said, getting out of the taxi. "Well, thanks a lot Rusty."

"Don't mention it my friend. If you ever need a ride you can call me." Rusty said as he gave him a card.

"I'll do it. Thanks man." Lincoln said as Rusty drove away. He was glad to see that Rusty still was the same kind-hearted idiot he was when they were kids; at least something remained the same.

Lincoln was now in front of his home; it was just as big as he remembered, but for some reason he had the sensation that something was different. In that moment, flashbacks came to his mind about his sisters running all over the house causing all kind of problems. Lana chasing Lola threatening to throw mud at her, Luna playing her guitar in the garage, Lori yelling at everyone…

He walked slowly while gathering the courage to knock at the door. He always thought that no matter how far he or his sisters could be, this would always be their home. Yet he felt like a Jehovah's Witness walking to a house; you never know if they will open the door, and if they do, you don't know if they are going to believe in you.

Now in front of the door he took deep breaths to calm his pulse and get rid of the bad thoughts; if he wanted to cause a good impression he would have to think carefully his words. But, what if they're mad at him, or what if the house is empty and no one lives there anymore? If there was one of his sisters there he would have to know how to talk to her, but what if they changed in the time while he was not around? Was Luna still a musician? Lola still loved pageants? Was Lisa still a genius? There are so many variables and he wasn't prepared for any of them. What if they…

He was losing it again.

The boy shook his head to come back to reality. He was doing exactly the opposite of what he had to.

Enough.

With determination in his eyes he knocked at the door. He didn't hear any footsteps coming from the house; he took this as a cue to leave and return later, but he had to be sure before leaving. He knocked again and waited some minutes. Not a single sound came. He turned and started to walk away, until a cold wind hit on the back of his neck, sending chills through his whole body.

"It's good to see you again, big brother." A female voice came from behind; it came like an ice cold steam that froze his heart. He didn't know why, but her voice always had that weird ability of kick him out of what he's doing and make him focus just on her. It was calmed, yet strong, beautiful and kind of…

Spooky…

Lincoln woke up from his trance and turned around just in time to see the shape of a beautiful young woman wearing a black tank top with a bat on it. On her arms she was wearing some sleeves very similar to the ones she used to wear as a child, and pair of pants that ended up in a pair of boots. Her eyes were still covered by her bangs, but now she was wearing a diadem that gave her a simple, yet amazing look

Lincoln was amazed to see how much his little sister had changed; she was not as tall as him, but yet she reached his chest, her hips were wide, her breasts were not too big but the tank top was too tight he could see their form through the fabric. Her bangs still covered her eyes but her hair was longer, and on the top of her head she was wearing a white diadem that made a simple, yet pretty good look.

"H-hello Lucy." Lincoln said. Honestly he was stunned by such a beautiful sight. If Ronnie Ann was sexy, Lucy took the word to other level; her black dress contrasted against her pale, milky skin.

"Well, are you going to stand there and look at me or are you coming in?" The gothic girl asked with a slight smile on her face. Lincoln woke from his trance and entered the house. He was surprised to see nothing had changed much; the furniture was in the same place, but they weren't the ones his family used to have when he lived there, these ones were bought recently.

"So… How did you know it was me, Luce?" Lincoln asked.

"I felt it." That was all Lucy said. Lincoln didn't understand what she was talking about, and it didn't pass unnoticed by the gothic girl. "You might not know it, but you and I have a stronger bond than with our other siblings."

"I always knew that Lucy. I love all my sisters, but you were a special case; you were my first little sister, you were the first one I had the joy to hold in my arms. When you were born I remember mom and dad always had a rough time trying to calm you every time you cried, and they had to resort to me because just by holding you in my arms you always smiled, and so did I" Lincoln said as he hugged Lucy, burying her face in his chest and planting a kiss on top of her head; the girl corresponded to the hug, but when he was about to break it he could hear his little sister was sobbing slightly.

"I missed you all this time, Lincoln" She said with her face still against his chest. The boy felt how guilt invaded him again. How many people have he hurt? Right now he wasn't sure, but one thing he knew was that there was no other thing he hated the most that seeing one of his sisters cry.

Especially Lucy.

He broke the hug and carefully held the face of his sister in his hands; using his thumbs he cleaned her tears falling from her cheeks, then he lifted her bangs to reveal her beautiful red-blood eyes. He was the only person whom Lucy has shown her eyes; he saw them for the first time when he was ten and she was seven. That time he was a little scared but to not let hir little sister down he said he loved them. This time he was able to see the true beauty in those pools of blood; they seemed to glow, and the more he stared at them, the more he lose his will like a man looking at the eyes of a vampire. Before he could even notice, he and Lucy were kissing passionately, losing themselves in the heat of the moment.

"You got her?"

"Yes."

The room was dark except only for a hanging lamp; under the light there was a half-naked, beaten up young girl tied to a chair. She seemed to be conscious but by the look in her eyes it looks like she just woke up from a long sleep.

"Well, it looks like we managed to get in without an invitation." A female voice coming from the dark said. "Normally, after getting what I want I would let you go, but since you already know too much…" The click of a gun being loaded could be heard, and even when the girl was still sleepy she could assume what was happening. She tried to beg for her life but her mouth was covered with a rag; her eyes wide with terror as she tried to break the knots of her ties, but her efforts were in vain. Tears were falling from her eyes as she realized that she couldn't do anything to try and save her life.

"Look at the bright side; at least this new dress fits me perfectly." The female voice said. The tied girl tried to figure where the woman was, but all she could see outside the light was darkness. At this point she had lost all the hopes of saving herself; all she could do was hope for someone to come and rescue her, she expected someone to come and take her to a safe place. If she were rescued she would never get herself involved with-

The sound of a shot drowned by a suppresser echoed through the room, and in the blink of an eye the girl stopped fighting; she had a hole on her forehead, blood coming from her nose and ears and her dead eyes staring at the floor as a blood stream was falling from her head, forming a pool under the chair.

"This is zero-two, the job is done." The voice said. "Tell them to come and clean the mess."

A door suddenly opened, revealing the silhouette of the woman; she was wearing a black v-shaped formal dress that didn't leave much to the imagination and stuck perfectly to her body, long, golden hair that fell through her shoulders, and a pair of black, high heels.

"I got the cover. Tell the team to arrive at the party at ten." She said through a communicator in her ear. "We'll finally get that bastard."