Chapter 14: Operation Breakout
Alright, this is where things start getting interesting. Lynn's life inside juvie has relatively improved in the last few chapters. She has made new friends out of the unlikeliest of individuals. She received a cathartic therapy session with the counsellor, and compared to how she was doing around chapters 6 and 7, things are looking… well, not too bad, at least.
Of course, good things just can't last, can they? Let's see what's in store for the energetic jock in chapter 14.
It was a new day, and Lynn's life in juvie suddenly seemed just slightly less intolerable, all thanks to the fact that she at least had a few valuable allies in there with her. Most notably, the alpha female of all the juvie inmates, Mamba of the snake trio. Of all the girls she was going to make friends with, Lynn never would have guessed it would be with the girl who assaulted her on her first day.
But then again, that's why it was such a pleasant surprise…
"Yo, yo, Mamba!" Lynn shouted to her friend as she met her in the courtroom after eating lunch.
"Lynnsanity, how's it hanging?" Mamba replied.
"So, what muscles you wanna go and work on today, huh?" Lynn asked her new friend.
"Actually, before we go off and do all that, I have to talk to you." Mamba responded.
"Oh?" Lynn replied confused.
"Just… come over here." Mamba said as she dragged Lynn off to the corner of the courtyard for a private conversation.
"Okay, what gives? Why waste our hour of free time to skulk around in the corner?!" Lynn questioned.
"Listen for a second. Remember what I talked to you about yesterday?" Mamba asked.
"What? We talked about a whole bunch of stuff." Lynn recalled.
"I meant about that stuff with my grandmother and her sickness?" Mamba reminded her.
"Oh, yeah, you did say something about that." Lynn remembered.
"Yeah, well, I was allowed to make one call this morning to the hospital for an update, and it was bad news!" Mamba revealed.
"Oh… I'm so sorry to hear that. Is it…?" Lynn asked.
"The end? No, not yet. She has a few weeks to live, they told me." Mamba said as she sadly hung her head down.
"That's horrible. I understand if you don't want to work out today. You just take some time to deal with this, all the time you need." Lynn reassuringly told her friend.
"Thanks. That means a lot." Mamba softly responded.
For the first time, Mamba was showing a side of vulnerability that Lynn hadn't seen until that point. Lynn was no stranger to those who had a tough exterior but a softer, more fragile interior.
"Look, if you need me to be there for you, or anything, just let me know." Lynn reassured her.
"Well, actually, there is something." Mamba replied.
"Oh, okay. What?" Lynn curiously asked.
"Let's go to the corner and talk in private." Mamba whispered to her friend.
Lynn then followed the snake girl leader to the corner of the courtyard area, where they could have a more private conversation.
"Lynn, you said you'd do anything for me, right?" Mamba asked.
"Um, yeah…" Lynn uneasily confirmed, suspicious of what she was about to be asked to do.
"The thing is, I'd give anything to see her one last time, you know, before she snuffs it!" Mamba said.
"Well, yeah, I know, but you can't get out of here, so that's that." Lynn reminded her.
Mamba then looked over to make sure no security guards were patrolling nearby in the area to make sure nobody else heard the following request…
"Lynn, I need you to help me get out of here." Mamba told her.
"WHAT?!" Lynn shouted, startled by such a suggestion.
Mamba then covered Lynn's mouth, leaned closer and responded…
"Do you wanna repeat that, though just a little louder, because there's some moron down the other end of the courtyard who didn't quite catch it all?!" Mamba quietly but furiously said to Lynn.
"I'm sorry, it's just that I don't get asked everyday to start a prison break!" Lynn angrily whispered back.
"No, look. I've spent a while in this place. I know this place pretty well. I know a way to get out. Lynn, I need you to help me escape." Mamba said.
"Mamba, I can't do that!" Lynn replied.
"You said you'd do anything!" Mamba reminded her.
"Yeah, but…" Lynn replied.
"Please, it would mean the world to me. Look, I know it's a risky move, and yeah, if we get caught, there will be consequences! But I've never needed something so badly like I do right now! I wouldn't ask you for help if I weren't desperate." Mamba justified.
"Do you really think you'll just get away, even if I help you?!" Lynn questioned.
"No. I know it won't take long for them to recapture me even if I do manage to get out! I'm not looking to escape for good. All I need is enough time to go find and see my dying grandmother one last time before she goes away forever." the snake gang leader told the fallen jock.
Lynn thought about it for a moment. She did promise she would do anything to help her friend, but at the same time, going to that measure to do so was not something she felt comfortable with…
"If we get caught, we could both have our sentences increased massively." Lynn reminded her friend.
"I know, but I'm willing to take that risk." Mamba answered.
"And what about me?! Maybe I don't want to stay in here forever!" Lynn said.
"I know, but that's why I'm asking you. You're Lynn Loud Junior, right? As in, the local sports star in Royal Woods? Your athletic ability is through the roof!" Mamba said.
"Well, I don't like to brag, but…" Lynn boastfully stated.
"Then of all the people to do something like this, you're probably the only one who could do it and not get caught!" Mamba told her, appealing to her sense of ego.
"Well, I guess that's true." Lynn bragged.
"So, if I give you advice and guidance, you use your ninja-like agility and stealth and get me out of here. What do you say?" Mamba proposed.
Lynn looked down at the ground for a few seconds as she debated whether or not she should, before looking back up at her friend. She could see the look of desperation on the tough girl's face. While it seemed mamba was trying to hide it, Lynn could see right through the act. Lynn felt sympathy for the girl…
"I want to help you, but this feels like I'm crossing the line." Lynn said, debating inside her head.
"I know it feels wrong, but trust me, it's right. You'd be helping a friend in need." Mamba stated.
"If I do this, I need you to promise that you won't try to run away for good. In fact, I want you to turn yourself in and come back here as soon as you're done with your visit." Lynn told her.
"Fine. Consider it a deal. As I said, I only want to get out so I can see her. That's all. After that, I'll come back." Mamba promised as she extended her hand for a handshake deal.
"Alright. I'll try to help you." Lynn said as she accepted the handshake.
The deal was on.
"Great! Free roam hour's going to end soon, follow me when it does and we'll sneak out while everyone else goes back to their cells." Mamba instructed.
Later on, Lynn and Mamba quietly sneaked out of the courtyard while the other inmates returned to their cells, subtly detaching themselves from the flock of prisoners that the guards were paying close attention to. They landed themselves in a corridor, away from the cells. Mamba then put her plan into action…
"Okay, first, put this on." Mamba said as she handed Lynn a ninja outfit.
"Well, it's not the first time I've put on a ninja suit to sneak through a security system." Lynn remarked, recollecting the time she worked with her siblings against Lisa's truth revealing tech, or when she was sneaking around in Pop-pop's old folks home.
"Alright, here's what you have to do." Mamba started, before she whispered a series of instructions into Lynn's ear.
"Got it." Lynn said.
Lynn then leaped into action while Mamba hid. Lynn sneaked down a corridor where there was a security guard, patrolling the area. The walls were dark, not too dissimilar in colour from her ninja outfit, which she used to blend into her surroundings. The guard was facing away from her, but was starting to turn around.
Lynn quickly looked up and saw a light hanging down from the ceiling. She was small, and didn't weigh too much. She thought quickly as the guard turned around to look in her direction. But he didn't see anyone, because Lynn had jumped up and clung onto the hanging light above his head.
The guard then walked past and further down the corridor, and Lynn progressed further. At the end of the corridor, there was a door, Lynn opened it, and through it was a warehouse-like room. Inside were a load of firearms, shields, batons, helmets and other combat-oriented gear and equipment. No doubt, it was there for the staff of the facility to use whenever there was an outbreak or a riot. Lynn slowly and carefully, with great stealth, made her way through the room, being mindful of not only other guards but also any cameras which may have been hidden in plain sight.
She saw one camera was turning and was about to catch her, so she somersaulted out of the way and behind a stack of old boxes, and waited for the camera to continue rotating past her direction. Once she knew the coast was clear, she proceeded.
"Come on, ponytail! You got this!" Mamba said to herself as she watched Lynn make her way through all the hurdles.
Lynn made it through the storage room and into another hallway, this time with another guard who was napping on the job.
"Heh, easy." Lynn told herself, knowing she could take advantage of the guard's laziness.
Lynn carefully tip-toed past the guard sleeping in his chair, when suddenly…
*Ring tone plays*
The guard's cell phone started ringing, prompting him to wake up. In a panic, Lynn makes a run for it before the guard can fully awaken and realise someone's there.
After quickly escaping the hallway, she found herself beside a staircase, which she used to make her way up to the next level. She quickly came across an elevator. Remembering Mamba's instructions, she knew said elevator only worked if you had a pass, which only employees of the detention centre had, to prevent prisoners using it to aid their escape efforts.
"Okay, here goes nothing!" Lynn said to herself.
Lynn didn't have a card pass, nor a secret code to help her gain access. But she did have the weapon of brute force. She simply punched the electronic box on the outside of the elevator that controlled who could use the elevator. Fortunately, it had the intended effect of disabling the elevator's security system and allowed free access.
"Lynn for the win!" she praised herself as she pressed the button to use the elevator.
On the floor below, Mamba was waiting when she could hear faint footsteps in the background. A guard was mere moments from approaching and seeing her out of her cell…
"Hurry up, Lynn!" Mamba complained to herself.
Just then, the elevator door opened, with Lynn inside.
"Hop in." Lynn smugly said.
"Took ya long enough!" Mamba quietly bit back.
The two then used the elevator to make it to the secret underground floor of the building.
"Can't believe simply punching the thing actually allowed us to use the elevator." Lynn said.
"This is one of Grip's prisons. Cheap tech. What did you expect?" Mamba remarked.
The two then made their way to the control room, but upon approach, there were two more guards outside of it. The girls hid behind a wall so they were out of sight, while they quietly discussed their next move.
"Okay, Lynn-ja, think you can sneak behind those guys and swipe their tasers?" Mamba asked.
"Ha, piece of cake!" Lynn claimed.
After a few seconds, Lynn had managed to sneak her way behind the guards and quickly pull the tasers out of their pockets. She then quickly made her way back to Mamba.
"Now what?" Lynn asked as she handed Mamba one of the tasers.
"THIS!" Mamba roared, before quickly running towards the guards.
Both guards saw the inmate approaching them, and instinctively went to grab their tasers to restrain the hostile convict, but they reached for them and realised they were gone. Mamba then used one of said tasers to stun one of the guards. The second guard then tried to wrestle with Mamba for the taser.
"Help me, Lynn!" Mamba told her.
Lynn was unsure if she was really going to cross that line, but while she debated inside her own mind, Mamba kneed the guard in the crotch and tasered him. Fortunately for Lynn, she didn't need to attack the prison guards like her ally requested.
"Quick, in here!" Mamba told Lynn.
The two girls entered the control room. A room with a series of buttons, levers and devices that controlled the building's security systems.
"Okay, I'll bite. If you want to escape, why have you told me to get us in here?" Lynn asked.
"Easy, this." Mamba replied, as she pushed a big red button that was beside her.
The button she had just pressed was to deactivate the security system in place. The cameras, the lights, and so on. All the security measures in place, minus the workforce itself, were disabled at that moment.
A warning alarm buzzed across the building, alerting the staff of the prison centre that the security measures were neutralised, and also giving the prisoners and juvie inmates a chance to make an escape.
"What is that?! What did you just do!?" Lynn questioned.
"Easy, I've disabled all the security in this place! The cameras, the lights. The electric charge through the fences! Do you know there's even an electronic lock system for all the prisoner cells? They've just been switched off." Mamba smugly confirmed.
"WHAT?!" Lynn asked, shocked.
Prisoners, adult and juvie alike, began swarming out from their cells all throughout the building. Countless juvie and adult prisoners were making a run for it…
…but even with the building's security system having been tampered with, the prison guards were still there to stop them. They pulled out their firearms and forced many of the prisoners to return to their cells.
But they couldn't stop all of the prisoners. Many were still able to exploit the situation and find ways to successfully escape. All while Lynn continued to interrogate Mamba in the control room.
"Why did you do that?!" Lynn asked furiously.
"Because I can!" Mamba pridefully stated.
"I helped you! You said you wanted to get out of here, to see your grandmother!" Lynn said.
"Yeah, well, I had to say that, to get you to help me!" Mamba explained.
Lynn then emitted an audible "Grrr" before launching herself towards the larger girl. Lynn jumped on top of Mamba, and proceeded to deliver a trio of punches to the face. Mamba then turned the tables and flipped herself on top of Lynn, and returned the favour.
"Ready for round 2, huh?" Mamba asked.
Lynn then managed to get her legs between herself and Mamba and kicked the snake girl off of her. As both girls got to their feet, Mamba attempted a haymaker punch but Lynn dodged it, and then headbutted her. As Mamba was dazed, Lynn went for a roundhouse kick to the head, followed by a leg sweep. Before Mamba could get up, Lynn placed her foot over her throat.
"Not so tough without your back-up, huh?!" Lynn said.
"Go ahead, finish me off! It's too late! It worked! All the prisoners are breaking free!" Mamba bitterly struggled to say.
"Why do you want all the prisoners to break free?!" Lynn questioned as she slightly loosened the pressure on her neck, allowing her to speak.
"Because for all the lies I told you, like wanting you to help me and only me get out of here, there's one thing I said that's true. My grandmother is dying, and I do want to see her." Mamba admitted.
"So, why does helping all the other prisoners escape help with that?!" Lynn asked, confused.
"Because she's a long way away and I need help to get to her. Royal Woods isn't my hometown, ponytail! I came here with my gang after running and hiding from the law, but me and my family come from miles away! I was told by one of the adult prisoners that if I helped him escape, he would repay me by taking me to see my grandmother. That's why I had to trick you!" Mamba revealed.
Lynn could immediately figure out what that meant…
"Oh, and let me guess, this prisoner who promised you that, was his name Viribus?!" asked the sporty Loud girl.
"Yeah, as it happens. Does it matter now? You're too late to stop us! Security is down, and all the criminals in this place are getting out!" Mamba said.
"Hardly. The security guards will stop them!" Lynn insisted.
"Maybe some of them, but they won't be able to stop all of them! Many of the people locked up in here have outside contacts to help them escape. Many of them have escape tunnels or secret ways out! Many have been planning escape attempts for a long time, it's not like there's much else to do inside their cells, and this will be the golden opportunity for them to do it. Heck, even a few of the guards here are likely undercover criminals ready to aid the scum of this place break free, the first chance they get! Prisoners escaping prison is hardly rare, Lynn, and this place has just had its security system brought down! Face it, tonight there will be carnage in Royal Woods!" Mamba explained to Lynn.
Lynn wanted to retaliate but before she could form a response, a dreadful and terrifying thought began to occupy her mind. She slowly released her foot from Mamba's neck and froze for a moment while Mamba took the chance to make a run for it. Lynn was about to run herself, but in pursuit rather than escape…
…because it hit her that Viribus was about to escape from prison, and her entire family was in danger!
Well, it's about to hit the fan in chapter 15. Stay tuned for the confrontation between Lynn and Viribus next time. By next time, that will probably be a couple of weeks from now, since I have other commitments to concentrate on. For example, I will be spending the next week writing a discussion piece regarding season 3 of the show and in what areas it has improved in quality compared to the previous two.
As usual, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Any feedback is welcome as long as it's constructive, and I encourage you stick around for more. Check out my DeviantArt for more content.