Waking up from another horrible dream, Lori got out of bed and headed to the kitchen for some water.
"lousy nightmares!" she grumbled.
As Lori walked downstairs, she was still half asleep. As she walks into the kitchen, Lori quickly realizes she isn't in her kitchen. As it suddenly got colder and she saw rows of pews.
"Why am I standing in a church? And why am I naked!?" Lori screamed, realizing her pajamas and underwear were gone.
Lori was embarrassed and confused as she looked around, using her arms to cover her breasts until she heard someone speak.
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony.
Lori looked to see a wedding had appeared behind her. To her horror, it was Bobby's.
"Bobby!?"
Bobby was marrying someone else; his family was sitting in the pews, happy; some were crying tears of joy like Frieda.
If there's any reason why these two should not be wed, let them speak now or forever hold your peace.
Just as Lori was about to say something, she discovered an invisible wall blocking her so no one could hear her. She then heard crying coming from behind her. Again, to her horror, it was Lincoln's funeral. Her family was on their knees, begging Lincoln to come back, who was lying in his casket in his shazam form; Lori tried to go to her family but was blocked by another invisible wall. Lori was in hell on her left; the love of her life was just about to lift the veil to kiss his new wife, and on her right, Lincoln's casket was closing fast; she was losing them both and couldn't do anything.
"no, please, I don't want to lose them." she cried
You already have Lori Loud
Confused, hearing a voice below her. To Lori's shock, the floor had turned into black slime that was glowing red; confused, Lori started to see a face in it, looking up at her. Knowing what the face could see between her legs, Lori tried closing her thighs to keep it from seeing between her legs but couldn't move; suddenly, hands shot up, grabbing her wrists and ankles, and two more pairs sprouted up, holding onto her breasts and butt making her gasp as she was being rubbed and pulled into the slime. Lori tried to break free, but all she could do was scream as the slime consumed and touched her seeing she truly lost her brother and her love one last time.
"Noooo!" she screams, sitting up in bed.
Later, at Royal Woods Mall,
As Leni worked the register at Renninger, she could barely stay awake. Her friends Fiona and Miguel were also in rough shape as they worked on a new family display.
"So you guys haven't slept well, too?" asked Leni.
"no, I keep having crazy dreams," complained Miguel.
"same…here." yawned Fiona.
Suddenly Ms. Carmichael walked in just as tired as everyone else, holding a cup of coffee that was not helping.
"Leni, the new mannequins are in the backroom; could you assemble them and dress them for the display?
"Sure thing Ms. Carmichael."
"Thank you…I'll watch the registers… they're in a big box; there's a smaller box next to it that's where the clothes are …" she yawned.
Leni headed to the backroom to begin her work; finding the box, Ms. Carmichael told her about; Leni removed the top. However, instead of finding mannequin parts, she noticed that the box was filled with something familiar.
"Doesn't Lincoln have all this stuff, and why is it broken?"
Leni saw the box was filled with comics and toys and games, all the things she knew Lincoln owned, but they were all broken; the only thing that wasn't damaged was Bun-bun, who was sitting on top of the piles.
"Bun-bun, what are you doing here?"
Reaching in to grab the bunny, suddenly hands shot, grabbing her wrist and causing her to scream. In doing so, she knocked into some boxes she hadn't seen before, and they opened up. When she turned to see the damage, Leni saw several mannequins come out of the boxes like vampires leaving their coffins. And if that wasn't scary enough, each mannequin looked like one of her sisters.
"Umm... whoever's doing this, it's not funny," Leni called out, watching the mannequins walk towards her on unbending legs. She stepped back, trying to convince herself that this was some kind of sick joke. Then the Luna mannequin went over to the box that had Lincoln's stuff in it and reached into it, pulling out Lincoln's severed head. For a moment, Leni couldn't tell whether it was a mannequin head. She didn't care; she chose then and there to turn away and run out of the backroom. Leni ran back into the store, calling her friends.
"Miguel, Fiona, something is wrong; we gotta!" she yelled as she ran to the display they were working on.
However, to her horror, upon touching Fiona, she saw that she had become a full-sized mannequin; the same had happened to Miguel. Running to the registers for Ms. Carmichael, who appeared to be asleep at the registers.
"Ms. Carmichael, Please wake up; Miguel and Fiona turned into mannequins; we need to!" cried Leni trying to shake Ms. Carmichael awake.
Suddenly, Ms. Carmichael's head fell off, revealing she too, was a mannequin. To Leni's horror, as she watched her head roll to mannequin Lori's feet, the only thing Leni could do at that point was scream as she ran out of the store into the mall. The mall was empty, but that wasn't important; she just had to get out of there. She saw the elevator, so she got to it and pushed the down button frantically. Behind her, she could hear shuffling and scrapping, and although she didn't want to, she turned and saw the Loud sister mannequins were catching up to her despite walking like... well, mannequins. A ding caught her attention and made her look at the elevator in relief.
Until the doors opened and black slime glowing red began to pour out like something out of a scary movie.
The slime washed over Leni and pushed her away, making her fall on the tile floor. She felt cold, like she had showered with ice water, and tried to rub the slime off. But her arm wouldn't move. She looked at it; her right arm was now plaster and immobile—a mannequin arm. Gasping in horror, Leni scrambled to her feet, and in doing so, she could feel her legs become stiff and rigid.
"No! This can't be happening!" She screamed, holding onto a railing with her left arm for balance, struggling to walk with inflexible legs. The Lori mannequin grabbed her right arm, Leni pulled herself as much as she could, and her arm popped right off. This threw off her balance and made Leni fall on her face. The Luan mannequin and the Lynn mannequin then pulled off her legs while the Luna mannequin and the Lucy mannequin picked up her now plaster torso. Leni tried to fight them off, but the Lola mannequin and the Lana mannequin held her left arm, which was turning into plaster in the process.
The sister mannequins carried Leni in pieces into an empty room, where they removed her clothes and put new ones in their place. Leni felt embarrassed and dehumanized, but aside from crying, she could do nothing. What made it worse, the outfit they made her wear looked like something that even a slut wouldn't wear for Halloween. Once dressed, they put her limbs in place and made her stand in a pose that mimicked a Playboy centerfold.
"Why are you doing this?" Leni asked, tears running down her cheeks.
"It's what you're good for."
Leni gulped. "No, not him. Anyone but him."
From some shadows emerged a grinning August Smith, holding a torn Shazam cape in his hands. He strolled up to her while she did everything to make her inanimate body move, but it refused. His face started to become more demonic, and his eyes started glowing red as he came up to her and had his finger linger on her cheeks.
Leni bolted up, finding herself in her bed safe and all human again. She took several deep breaths and checked her body to confirm this.
"You had a bad dream too?" Lori asked from her bed.
Leni nodded. "Like, the worst." She then patted her sheets. "At least I didn't wet the bed," said Leni before she and Lori heard Lily scream and then cry. They got up to go check on her, but Rita was already on it, so they let her be.
Later that Morning.
Everyone gathered at the table to eat breakfast; no one looked like they had slept for more than an hour straight.
"This has been going on for weeks. I can't take it anymore!" screamed Lola, brushing away some stubborn bedhead hair.
Weeks had passed since the dream stone was lost, and while there hadn't been anything major going on, everyone was getting increasingly restless due to the constant nightmare they'd been experiencing. To make matters worse, it wasn't just the Louds; everyone in Royal Woods had been having crazy nightmares, and each night they seemed to get worse.
"I heard Lincoln talking with Ronnie Anne; it's happening in Great Lake City, too," informed Lucy.
"By my calculations, it's everywhere between Royal Woods and Great Lake City, which means places like Hazeltucky are also affected." Informed Lisa, unable to hold in a yawn.
"It's gotta be that bat creep Jeeper; he's doing this," said Lynn Jr.
"This is all my fault; if I hadn't mixed up those tins, none of this would have happened." bemoaned Lynn Sr, resting his head on his arms.
"No, dear, it was an honest mistake," Rita assured her husband.
"Is it okay to say this is Lincoln's and Ronnie Anne's fault?" Lynn Jr asked, getting everyone to look at her. "I mean, they did get those stone pieces, and Ronnie Anne did give them to that monster. They are to blame at least a little."
"So are we then." Lucy pointed out.
Lynn Jr sighed. "I'm not saying we're not. But wouldn't it be wrong to pretend Lincoln and Ronnie Anne aren't?"
"Lynn, don't you think Lincoln feels bad enough about what's happening?" berated Rita.
Suddenly the front door opened. Lincoln walked in, exhausted from last night, as his parents confronted him.
"I know you guys are upset, but."
"Under normal circumstances, we would be, but any luck?" asked Lynn Sr.
"Nothing, I can't find him, not even through the historama!" groaned Lincoln. "Ronnie Anne and I have been searching for weeks; we can't find him unless he wants us to find him, which is probably the case."
"So he's setting up a trap?"
"Probably; what's bugging me is what does giving everyone nightmares have to do with it, and why is that black slime in everyone's dreams?"
Lincoln heard around the school from his schoolmates how they'd been seeing black slime attacking them in their dreams, some claiming to see a face in it; Ronnie Anne said the same thing, telling Lincoln her friends and family have been seeing the same thing.
"How have you been holding up?" asked Lynn Sr.
"I've been Shazam most of the time, so I've been able to deal with it, but once I'm Lincoln, the lack of sleep hits me plus, I can't keep calling on the Stamina of Atlas; people will get suspicious if I don't appear drowsy."
All the girls listened, fearing what would happen to Lincoln when he went to fight Jeepers.
"as if the nightmares of something bad happening to Lincoln weren't bad enough," said Lori.
Elsewhere in Great Lake City
Ronnie Anne was barely able to stay awake in class. Her whole class was in the same boat, although her reason for lack of sleep was different. She and Lincoln had been out till dawn looking for Jeepers, both no sign. Ronnie Anne turned to Sid to see her taping her eyes open, not wanting to have another dream about Ronnie Anne as Lady Shazam is a frozen statue Yoon Kwan possessed by Mr. Mind and spewing black slime on her at a Twelve Is Midnight concert trapping her before she's forced to watch her friend and the rest of Twelve Is Midnight being shattered.
Meanwhile, the teacher was yawning so much that the students couldn't resist doing it, too, and practically leaning against the chalkboard. The principal had earlier that morning declared today to essentially be a free day since every member of the faculty was barely there, and the students were in no shape to retain anything they learned. But the bus drivers were taking some needed rest, risking more nightmares, so the students couldn't exactly go back home. All the principal could do was ask everyone to avoid causing trouble and just wait it out, then they'd leave. There was an unspoken implication that until this situation was resolved, they wouldn't need to come back after today.
"Please tell me you have some sort of spell that can make me sleep without dreaming." Sid pleaded, looking like she'd actually pay money for Ronnie Anne to do so.
"If I did, I'd already have done so." Ronnie Anne grumbled. Weeks ago, she tried using logomancy on her family to let them rest easy, but apparently, magic didn't work on dreams.
"Dreams are a special level of reality, connected to all the magic lands without being one. Mortal magic has no power over them, you need dream magic for that to work, and sadly the historama cannot provide that. The only way you're learning dream magic is if someone from the realm of dreams teaches you. Like the Sandman." Mary warned when the subject came up.
The teacher sat down at their desk, having given up on at least trying to do her job, and instead put in a movie to try and keep them awake.
'What I want to know is what that Jeepers creep is planning. I mean, making everyone have bad dreams can't possibly be it. Why stick around in one area and keep it up? Shouldn't he get bored and move somewhere else, like New York, where he could do more damage?' Ronnie Anne asked herself.
In the past few weeks, Ronnie Anne and Lincoln had to prevent multiple accidents caused by sleep deprivation, like car wrecks, buildings catching on fire, and even attempted suicides. Lincoln thought this might have been Jeepers plan all along, but Ronnie Anne suspected this was too small for the bat demon.
'Assuming he's not trying to get us all to kill ourselves this way, what else is there to gain? Everyone is miserable, exhausted… and unable to fight back.' Ronnie Anne noted some dots starting to connect. 'Holy crap, what if something else is coming? Or worse, what if this was Mr. Mind's Plan B?'
"Something wrong?" Sid asked, seeing her friend look like she saw something.
"Maybe; it depends on if I'm right. But I think I figured out what I've been doing wrong this whole time. Maybe I can fix it." Ronnie Anne assured.
"Do it, and I swear I'll kiss you."
Ronnie Anne eeped and looked at her friend in shock. "Why would you say that?"
"I'm desperate, and I think you'd rather I not kiss your boyfriend instead." Sid remarked.
Ronnie Anne decided to end this and asked for a bathroom break, which the teacher gave without complaint. She left the room and headed to the girl's room, confirming no one was in there.
"Mary?" She called, looking into the mirror.
Mary's face appeared. "Hi Ronnie Anne, need anything?"
"Can you tell Lincoln to meet me in person? I think I thought of something we were overlooking."
"I'll try, but it depends on what's around him." Mary replied.
"Thanks." Ronnie Anne said before Mary disappeared. She then opened a small window in the restroom and used her shapeshifting to shrink down so she could get through it. Outside she returned to normal size.
"Shazam!"
Feeling powerful and much more awake now, Ronnie Anne took to the skies.
Royal Woods Middle School
Things were just as bad for Lincoln and his school. Principal Ramirez had effectively called the day a free day. Though no one could enjoy it, even Chandler was too tired to pick a fight with Lincoln; the only person who didn't seem bothered by the lack of sleep was Mr. Bolhofner.
"This is nothing; I went a month without sleep during the war."
Lincoln rolled his eyes, not wanting to hear another war story. Looking out the window, Lincoln noticed something he couldn't make out at first, he soon realized it was Mary motioning him to go to the nearest bathroom.
"uh Mr. Bolhofner I need to use the bathroom."
"You got five minutes Loud."
Lincoln ran out of the classroom, he knew it would take three minutes to get to the closest bathroom. Once inside Lincoln called Mary, who informed him Ronnie Anne needed to speak to him. Back in Mr. Bolhofner's classroom Chandler was suspicious of Lincoln, so he slipped out of the class to spy on him. Noticing Lincoln was halfway back to class, Chandler hid behind the school building. He watched as Lincoln looked around as if he was making the coast was clear like was going to skip.
"I'm going to catch that loser in the act."
Just as Chandler was about to surprise Lincoln, he realized he couldn't move, his feet were stuck in something cold and slimy.
"What the?" he asked turning
Suddenly, a shadow started looming over him, leaving him horrified before it attacked. Back with Lincoln, he was finally sure no one was near.
"Shazam!"
Powered up, Lincoln flew off, not noticing the small clump of black slime behind the building. Flying off, he found Ronnie Anne for him.
"Ronnie Anne, what up?"
"I think I figured it out; Jeeper is working for that black slime."
"What?"
"Think about it. Everyone has been dreaming of it; in the past weeks, people started seeing a face like it's taking form."
"Wait, Ronnie Anne, I think you might be onto something; remember the dream stone was already filled with negative energy…fear?" asked Lincoln.
"yeah?"
"So what if that bat used it to awaken or reawaken something that feeds on fear, and this entity is using the stone to invade dreams and regain its strength."
"Okay, so we have a working theory; but the hard part is finding Jeepers. I think I have an idea." Ronnie Anne replied.
"I'm all ears." Lincoln offered.
"All this time we've been looking for Jeepers directly. What if we try tracking down other uses of magic in the area? That slime has to be related, and I don't think we ever considered that it might be in the real world. Maybe it's like Mr Mind's slime and has some power in it too."
"Maybe, but that still leaves the problem of finding the slime." Lincoln pointed out.
"Well, here's the thing. I have two ideas for that. Either we go exploring town yet again, this time using our powers to find the slime, which may or may not be findable that way. Or… one of us goes to sleep and sees if that acts as bait for it while the other stands guard."
Lincoln looked confused. "I mean, we've been getting less sleep since this started, but we still have slept. It hasn't come for us yet."
"If it was building up strength, maybe it couldn't. And don't forget, neither of us have ever slept in these forms. Maybe our magic would be too tempting for it to resist." Ronnie Anne guessed.
Lincoln thought it over. "Hmm… you might be onto something there. So which one of us should be the bait?"
Later that night.
After returning to class, Mr. Bolhofner berated Lincoln for being late, though he covered it by saying he fell asleep. For the rest of the day, no one saw Chandler, believing he was skipping school. After explaining their plan to their parents everyone gave their blessing if only to get a good night's sleep. Using the remains of the Royal Woods Spa resort the two set up in the penthouse.
"I don't see why I have to be the bait." said Ronnie Anne in her Lady Shazam form.
"because monsters always go for pretty girls first." Lincoln answered, in his Shazam form too.
Ronnie Anne felt a mix of flattered and annoyed, much to Lincoln's amusement.
"Let's just get this over with."
"Okay, I'm going to put you to sleep, hopefully that will bring in Jeepers."
"I'm ready, Linc."
"Okay, peels llit I yas awaken."
Ronnie Anne felt drowsy as she fell asleep fast, floating in the air over a large bed. Lincoln hid in the shadows waiting, hoping to use their powers as a beacon. After 30 minutes, Lincoln sensed something coming. Landing through the hole Lincoln made, Jeepers immediately spotted Ronnie Anne sleeping; cautious he moved close to see if she was really asleep. Poking her multiple times, thankfully never in the chest, Jeepers finally concluded that Ronnie Anne was asleep.
"What luck. Jeepers will bring you to master," he said gleefully.
As Jeepers moved into grabbing Ronnie Anne, Lincoln appeared out of his hiding spot yelling.
"Awaken!"
"Huh?"
Suddenly Jeepers was grabbed by the neck by a now wake Ronnie Anne who then pinned him to a nearby wall. Jeepers broke free and tried to fly only to be knocked down by Lincoln. Now held by the neck by Lincoln, it was time for answers.
"you're not going anywhere, we have you, now talk; who is this master!" said Lincoln as he squeezed Jeepers's neck.
Jeepers only laughed before telling Lincoln and Ronnie Anne.
"You think you have Jeepers but Jeepers have you." he mocked.
"What?" replied Ronnie Anne.
"Hail To The Nightmare!" he yelled before his eye started bleeding black slime.
"Oh gross!" Ronnie Anne replied just before the slime burst out of his sockets like small geysers, covering them both with the gunk.
Lincoln and Ronnie Anne wiped the slime from their eyes and the first thing they see is Jeepers covered in the slime while his body got softer and gooier. His body seemed to be melting with his skeleton remaining, until it collapsed with the dream stone, now whole, contained where his stomach used to be.
"He… he died?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"It seems so." Lincoln said, picking up the stone. "I wonder, did the stone do this to him? Did it give him power only to kill him after using too much for too long?"
"Whatever it did, I'm glad it's over and everyone can have a good night's sleep." Ronnie Anne stated. "Let's get rid of this thing and get some rest."
Lincoln nodded and the two returned to the Rock of Eternity, putting the dream stone into a locked chamber to keep it from ever being abused again. After saying goodbye and giving each other a hug, the two returned home, returned to normal and went to bed.
"Fight!" A strange voice told them very faintly, but the two ignored it.
Lincoln woke up feeling very rejuvenated and fulfilled. He couldn't remember any dreams, which, after all, was a win. He felt like he could do anything, even without the powers of Shazam.
He went out of his room and walked down the hall, and his good feeling diminished slightly. Nothing was happening and nothing was wrong, but for some reason he had this feeling that something wasn't quite right. Not seeing anything, Lincoln shrugged and went downstairs.
"There's our hero!"
He was stunned enough to jump back when he saw all his sisters in the living room waiting there with smiles on their faces and holding out a cake with his face frosting on it.
"You did it, bro; we can finally sleep again. You're literally a lifesaver." Lori praised.
"Like, you're totally the best brother ever." Leni agreed.
"You gave me my beauty sleep back. I owe you mega big time, Lincoln." Lola said.
Luna came up to him and pulled him into a hug, making Lincoln tense up. "I'm sorry for everything I said and did. I took you for granted, and you still saved us all. You're not a mistake; you're the best Loud there ever was."
"We're all sorry," Lynn added, joining in on the hug. The other sisters put down the cake and joined in on the hug.
"- not — you — danger —"
Lincoln looked around, but all he could see were the smiling faces of his sisters. It wasn't as reassuring as he thought it was supposed to be. "Uh… thanks?"
"We're going to blow off school today and show you how much we love you, Lincoln."
Luan boasted.
"That's right; today is all about you. What do you want to do today?" Lana asked.
'Why does this feel wrong?' Lincoln asked himself.
Over in Great Lakes City, Ronnie Anne woke up feeling like a billion bucks. She had the best night's sleep since the night she bested Mr. Mind. She got dressed and freshened up before going out of her room, seeing the entire apartment decorated lavishly.
"Are we celebrating something?" She asked.
"- not — fake— up–" Some strange voice whispered to her.
Carlota came running into the room from the front door, wearing a fancy dress. "Why aren't you ready, Ronnie Anne? Get your dress on before it's too late."
"Too late for what?" Ronnie Anne asked, confused.
"No time for jokes. Go get dressed, or your mom will be very angry. Now go." Carlota insisted, practically shoving the young girl back into her room. There Ronnie Anne saw a fancy dress that she was certain had not been there before, but her cousin would not let her leave. Sighing in resignation, she put it on.
"You look perfect." Carlota complimented.
"Now, what's this all for?" Ronnie Anne asked.
"Let's go to the roof so you can see for yourself."
Ronnie Anne followed Carlota to the roof, and she saw something that made her jaw drop. Her entire family was there in matching dresses and tuxedos with flowers everywhere, and her mother was in the center wearing a wedding dress. With her father beside her in a tuxedo holding her hands.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the renewing of vows of these two." A priest started.
'Renewing vows? But they split up.' Ronnie Anne asked herself, so confused, but the atmosphere made it clear she wasn't supposed to speak up.
The ceremony proceeded a lot faster than Ronnie Anne would expect any wedding not on TV to be, with her parents talking about how separating was a mistake and they realized they needed to be together. As weird as it was, Ronnie Anne had to admit it was nice to see and hear, but something still felt wrong. Not helped by that muffled voice in the background.
"- Anne, ple— you are —"
The wedding ended, with her parents being declared remarried, with everyone cheering. Ronnie Anne clapped, still feeling awkward.
Lincoln also couldn't help but feel something was wrong too while he sat in the kitche with his sisters; eating the cake. He had to admit, he felt happy that his sisters were actually showing him affection and acceptance rather than the remorse and distancing they had been showing him since the photo was revealed to be fake. But something felt off, like something was going to go wrong at any moment. For one thing, the cake had no flavor, he legit could not taste it. Plus the muffled voice started to become a quiet scream.
"Remember Lincoln Loud, Remember Ronnie Anne Santiago, you both have to Remember!"
Suddenly everything started glitching like bad coding as everything started switching between a black void and normal; the two then remembered something they had forgotten, or was being suppressed.
"You think you have Jeepers but Jeepers have you." he mocked.
"What?" replied Ronnie Anne.
"Hail To The Nightmare!" he yelled before his eye started bleeding black slime.
"Oh gross!" Ronnie Anne replied just before the slime burst out of his sockets like small geysers, covering them both with the gunk.
Lincoln and Ronnie Anne wiped the slime from their eyes and the first thing they see is Jeepers covered in the slime while his body got softer and gooier. His body seemed to be melting with his skeleton remaining.
"disgusting!" said Ronnie Anne trying to wipe the slime off her.
Lincoln dropped what remained of Jeepers and began trying to wipe off the slime too. However, they both realized they couldn't get it off, no matter how hard they tried.
"What is this gunk!?" yelled Ronnie Anne as the slime started spreading more.
"It's alive!" replied Lincoln.
The two began spinning like tops, trying to fling it off, but it wasn't working, and the slime started hardening at the last moment. The two managed to grab each other's hand before being completely encased in a slime shell and everything fading to black. Remembering what really happened, Lincoln looked around to see his "sisters," all wearing sinister grins as their eyes were now glowing red. Suddenly they all attacked him, but he managed to dodge them as he threw the cake at them and ran out of the house. The same happened to Ronnie Anne as she escaped the apartment. As they ran while being chased by their "families," they each called out "Shazam" to transform but couldn't, though it did cause the dream to glitch. The two quickly ran into each other much to their confusion; however, there was no time as they were surrounded.
"what do we do now?"
"Speak—the—word—-together."
Upon hearing the voice, both Lincoln and Ronnie Anne decided to trust it.
"on three," said Lincoln.
1, 2, 3!
Shazam!
Suddenly the whole dream began glitching harder than before, causing Lincoln and Ronnie Anne to wake up. Realizing that they were still powered up, the two broke out of their shells smashing through. Taking a moment, the two saw Jeeper's remains right where they left it.
"Well, that didn't work out as planned," said Lincoln.
"at least he's no longer a problem," replied Ronnie Anne.
"We better call home," said Lincoln.
The two summoned their phones but immediately realized something that horrified them; the date had changed.
"Lincoln, we were trapped in that slime for 24 hrs; it's the next night!" panicked Ronnie Annie
The two flew into the air, and they immediately sensed something was very wrong. There was a dark and foreboding feeling all around them; something bad happened, something terrible due to the ominous silence all around them.
"Ronnie Anne, head back to Great Lake City, find your family. I'm going to look for mine."
Ronnie Anne nodded before flying off. Lincoln looked down before resolving to go to his home; it was as if he and Ronnie Anne had woken from one nightmare into another
"What happened?!"
End of Ch. 17